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After a relaxing afternoon at the lake and a nice stay at a toho-yado, I set out the next morning on the long trip down the Sea of Okhotsk coast. I’d heard it was pretty level, at least in the beginning, and that turned out to be true: long coastal stretches like this, with rocky beaches to the left and greenery and wildflowers to the right. I made such great progress that I decided to cancel my evening reservation and try to make it all the way to Lake Saroma more than 170 km away. Circumstances conspired to ensure that I didn’t quite make it, as you’ll hear in a moment. First, let’s do some sightseeing.

Sometimes an ability can be a liability. This imposing roadside monument with a mysterious message written in big red kanji characters would look very impressive if you couldn’t read Japanese and therefore didn’t know that it merely urges drivers to turn on their headlights sooner rather than later...

Story & PhotosHokkaido_Okhotsk_Story_%26_Photos_1.htmlHokkaido_Okhotsk_Story_%26_Photos_1.htmlshapeimage_13_link_0
Nuts & BoltsHokkaido_Okhotsk_Nuts_%26_Bolts.htmlHokkaido_Okhotsk_Nuts_%26_Bolts.htmlshapeimage_14_link_0
AlternativesHokkaido_Okhotsk_Alternatives.htmlHokkaido_Okhotsk_Alternatives.htmlshapeimage_15_link_0
RouteHokkaido_Okhotsk_Route.htmlHokkaido_Okhotsk_Route.htmlshapeimage_16_link_0
HOKKAIDO OKHOTSKHokkaido_Okhotsk.htmlHokkaido_Okhotsk.htmlshapeimage_17_link_0