Hokkaido Day 4 (Saturday): Asahikawa to Abashiri

Read also our earlier trip report too:

Day 1 (Wednesday): Hakodate

Day 2 (Thursday): Hakodate to Sapporo
Day 3 (Friday): Asahikawa to Biei

After 2 hikes during our trip - Mount Hakodate on Day 1 and Bogakudai on Day 3, it was time for us to head to Abashiri.

Abashiri is almost 4-hours away by train from Asahikawa so we were looking at another long train journey.

Breakfast was ekiben bought at the train station and we ate them in the train. I wanted to have a hot drink and fortunately some F&B outlet at the AEON Mall were already open by 8.30am and we bought a hot cocoa drink for me.

Saturday was quite relaxing as we spent it on board of the Limited Express Okhotsk 1 train from Asahikawa to Abashiri and then we head to the REPC (race entry pack collection) for the Okhotsk-Abashiri Marathon that I had registered for.

There is a supermarket located across the hall where the REPC was held and we went there and bought some food stuff before walking to our hotel for check-in.

We checked-in at Toyoko Inn Abashiri which is located very conveniently right across Abashiri Station and it seemed that a lot of runners running in the marathon were checking-in at the same hotel too.

And we got a room with such a gorgeous view! Don’t you agree?

We noticed a sign put up for guests, informing us breakfast will be served earlier on Sunday to accommodate the marathon runners. So nice right?

Indeed, when we checked-in, the staff would ask the guests whether they’re coming for the marathon.

We head out again at 4.45pm and this time it was to head to the town hall for the Marathon opening ceremony. It was just a small affair, but the hall was packed to the brim with runners intending to listen to the invited runners (which included Olympian) who briefed us on the marathon course.

The ceremony was concluded with a lucky draw but alas, I wasn’t lucky enough to win anything.

Afterwards, we went to the shopping street nearby for dinner. Fortunately again, Abashiri town has many restaurants open at night and we had dinner at a family restaurant that serves both Japanese and Western food.

A novelty, we had take off our shoes and put it in a locker before being ushered to a table.

At 8.00pm it was still early (for our standard) so Hubby suggested we head out to an onsen at a town nearby.

We took a local train to Memanbetsu town and head to an onsen there. Just like the onsen in Hakodate, entry fee was 420 yen per adult and we had to bring our own amenities and toiletries. No biggie, as always, we came prepared.

We took our time dipping in both the indoor and outdoor baths because we had about 1.5 hours to spend there before the next train arrived.

After the soak, I relaxed at the sitting area located at the front counter and watched a TV show with a few other families who had just finished their soak.

Hubby and I also had a nice bottle of milk while relaxing there.

By the time we reached the hotel, it was almost 11.00pm and I decided to sleep “early” to be ready for Sunday’s marathon.

Next up: The drama of entering and running Okhotsk-Abashiri Marathon 2018