Hokkaido Camp/Touring Planning: #2 How to Plan

Today’s topic is to introduce how I plan my Hokkaido Touring. 

 I discussed in my last blog episode about how to get to there from Tokyo/Kanto area and my choice was the Niigata-Otaru ferry.

Now, my starting point is set.  From the Port of Otaru, I will go north.  Before I go to the details, this is how I plan my trip.

1.  Pick up places/sightseeing spots/nice roads/good food.  I go through the Hokkaido guidebook, web, or map and pick up places I like and you want to go.  Then, I sort them by general area (e.g. Otaru area, Northern, Easter, Shirtoko, Middle…etc).  It does not have to be too specific at this stage.

2.  Choose about 10 places I definitely want to visit while I am in Hokkaido.  For example, those are the places I picked up last year:

Ororon Line Rd. in Northern Area near Wakkanai

Soya Misaki (Soya Cape) in Wakkanai (northern tip of Japan)

Rest-house Tokoro, a sea food restaurant in Tokoro near Abashiri (famous for big scallops)

Shiretoko Peninsula, UNESCO World Natural Heritage, and taking a cruise

Shiretoko Odan Rd.

Kaiyo-dai, Kaminoko Ike Pond and Lake Mashu-ko in Nakashibetsu area

Naitai Kogen Farm

Asahikawa Zoo

"Jet-coaster" Rd. in Furano

3. Based on those must-visit places, I lay out a general trip schedule/plans and check roads/directions.  Since I camp when I can, I do not have to make any reservations for my accommodation and this gives a lot of flexibility with my trip planning, allows me to change destinations when necessary.

4. If you have a Navigation, you can pre-set/bookmark their locations.  I had my iPhone and could use it as a navigation, but you must be careful that there is no mobile signal once you are out of city area or major roads.   I registered them along with other sightseeing spots and restaurants…etc.  Also, I registered several business hotels, youth hostels, motels/rider's houses*…etc in each area I visited in case of bad weather.  While I was there last year, I camped 3 nights, stayed in a riders house, youth hotel, and business hotel for 1 night each.

*rider's house is a dormitory style accommodation like a youth hostel.  You shared a bedroom with others, but the fee is very cheap (about 500~2000 yen).  Most of users are motorcyclists or bicyclist.  They are very friendly and you can exchange lots of information while you are there.

If you are planning to go on a camp-touring, I would suggest you to stay in a hotel or other accommodation facility every other night or every 2 nights.  With my case, a bad weather was one of the reasons to stay but I also needed to stay in a hotel so I could do my laundry.  Also, sleeping in bed was very helpful to recovering my strength from the long ride.

My original plan was to stay there for 4 nights in Hokkaido (incl. Ferry, total 6 nights) and gave myself 2 optional extra days (I had 10 days vacation).  I ended up using those extra days though.

Since I was there after the Obon Season in August, there were less tourists (still lots of bikers) and it made easy for me to reserve a return ticket online.  I booked a ferry ticket for Tomakomai/Hachinohe in Aomori a few days before my returning day by using a computer at a business-hotel I stayed in Asahikawa.

Well, that is pretty much it.  If you plan too much, you will feel bad if things don't go as you planned.  I prefer keep it general and flexible.  When you are traveling in Hokkaido, you will definitely meet lots of riders from all over the places and we exchange information about where to go, visit, and ride as well as what is good to eat around the area.  It is a long journey.  Sometime you maybe slow down, want to spend more time in one place, bad weather forced you to change your destination or to make you stuck in one place, a machine trouble...etc., many things can happen (hopefully only good things happen and no troubles) and those thing would affect your plan. 

This planning worked very well for me.  I hope this will help your trip unforgettable, not regrettable and hope this would help your trip too!

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にほんブログ村

Please also visit my other blogs:

500bm (my original blog about motorcycle and camping in Japanese)

50bm (about movies and books in Japanese)

Hokkaido Camp/Touring Planning: #1 How to Get There

In Japan, we say there are 2 types of motorcycle riders: those who have been in Hokkaido and those who haven’t.

That’s how much we, the Japanese riders, admire Hokkaido and we see it as a very holy place for us.

In this episode, I would like to talk about Hokkaido Camp-Touring.

Everyone thinks about it riding there someday and those who have done it always dreaming about going back again.

From where I live in Tokyo, Hokkaido is not an easy place to go.  I would need to get some time-off and it will not be a cheap trip... 

If you don’t mind renting a motorcycle while you are there, you can take a few hours flight and it won’t be hard to find a motorcycle you want to ride around.  But I am sure everyone would want to take your own.  There is no doubt it would be more memorable!

Currently, there is no road that connects Honshu and Hokkaido.  If you want to ride your motorcycle in Hokkaido but you don't live there, you will need to get on a ferry.  

There are several ferries available departing from ports in Honshu.  If you are in Tokyo/Kanto region, a ferry from Niigata to Otaru in Hokkaido and from Oarai in Ibaraki to Tomakomai in Hokkadio are the most popular routes.  You can also ride up to the north and take a ferry from Sendai in Miyagi to Tomakomai in Hokkaido, from Hachinohe in Aomori to Tomakomai, or from Aomori City to Hakodate.

Last year, I finally managed to get the holiest place for Japanese riders.  My choice was to take a ferry from Niigata to Otaru on the way and coming back from Tomakomai to Hachinohe.

Like other riders who have been in Hokkaido, I really enjoyed and want to go back again, hopefully this year too...

And like the last year, my budget and time off I can take will be limited again (well, mostly budget problem with my case), I am trying to find the most economical, yet, easiest and shortest way to get to Hokkaido so that I can spend more time and make my trip-money worth while I am there.

At this stage, I am planning (or hoping…) to take days off after Obon Week (Japanese summer vacation time) from August 17, 2013 (Sat) to August 25, 2013 (Sunday).  This helps lowering the ferry cost by avoiding the summer peak season when the fare normally is set higher than regular season.

Here are the comparison for several ferries from Tokyo to Hokkaido:

	Route	Niigata ~ Otaru	Oarai ~ Tomakomai	Hachinohe ~ Tomakomai
	Distance to the Port from Tokyo	318 km	126 km	664 km
	Riding Hours to the Port	4h02m	1h44m	7h43m
	Gas Consumption	15.9 L	6.3 L	33.2 L
	Gas Money (160yen/litter)	¥2544	¥1008	¥5312
	Expressway Toll	¥2650	¥1950	¥5750
	Cost to get to the port	¥5194	¥2958	¥11062
	Ferry Company	Shin Nihonkai Ferry	MOL Ferry (Sunflower)	Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen
	Fare	¥16100	¥31500	¥14750
	Departure	10:30 AM (Aug 17)	01:45 AM (Aug 17)	08:45 AM (Aug 17)
	Arrival	04:30 AM (Aug 18)	07:45 PM (Aug 17)	04:00 PM (Aug 17)
	TOTAL COST TO HOKKAIDO	¥21294	¥34458	¥25812

* riding distance and hours are from Ikebukuro area in Tokyo (where I live) to each departing port

* gas consumption is based on my motorcycle (2006 XL883) overall average gas millage: 20 km / litter

* expressway tall fees are the discounted fare by using ETC (late evening/early morning discount)

* ferry fare is based on the single-size bed fare (not individual/single room but normally shared with 2 or 3 passengers per room)

After comparing my time and budget, Niigata-Otaru is, again, my first choice.  Other two routes, by looking at their arrival time, may seem to allow me to start my trip in Hokkaido from August 17, however, I will be arriving there late afternoon or night time to Tomakomai;  I will need to go to the place I stay for that night shortly after my landing.  So even you are getting there, your trip for that day is very much over and you will be paying for the accommodation in addition to the ferry fare.  Also, from my experience, you do not want to ride during the night time (so many bugs...).

Another reason I like the Niigata-Otaru ferry, although I will be arriving on August 18, I get there by 4:30 a.m. and will be on my motorcycle by 5:30 or so.  I can use a full day-time for riding.   

I have a plenty of time to rest on the ferry so I will be physically and, of course, mentally (with a great excitement!) ready for a long journey.  You will be spending night in the ferry so basically the ferry fare is including your first night accommodation too.  Good deal!

Compare to Tomakomai which is the southern part of Hokkaido, if your first destination is in norther area, such as Wakkanai, the northern tip of Japan, you will save a lot of time by starting from the port of Otaru.

If you are planning to ride southern and/or central Hokkaido during the first part of your trip, Tomakomai will definitely a good starting point.

Well, you know some options to get to Hokkaido now. In the next several episodes, I would like to talk about good places to visit (ride) from my last year's experience and also places I would like to go this year.  Also, I will be introducing what you need and prepare.

Hope you will enjoy riding Hokkaido this year too!

If you enjoy this blog, please click the below icons for blog popularity ranking.

Thanks!

 

にほんブログ村

Please also visit my other blogs:

500bm (my original blog about motorcycle and camping in Japanese)

50bm (about movies and books in Japanese)