Today's journey is brief. The plan was to fly to New Chitose Airport, and catch our flight back to Singapore from here. But feel free to connect this itinerary with any other itineraries I have here.
Okhotsk Bazaar
オホーツクバザール
8am-5pm. Opens everyday
Arrived: 8:30am.
Yes, this place smells touristy, feels touristy so must be touristy. There are several designated parking lots for buses. But where better to find local goods than this bazaar. Okhotsk Bazaar has just about every edible gift available on their shelves, ranging from cheese snacks and melons, to live crabs and locally produced ale. Since it was on our way from Dormy Inn Abashiri to our next destination, let's stop for a moment.
Lake Notoro
能取湖
Suggested parking lot: 〒093-0135 北海道網走市字卯原内60
Arrived: 9:20am.
The best season to visit the southern beach of Lake Notoro would be in Autumn. Clearly we were there at the wrong time. The parking lot was empty, the public bathrooms had its shutters down, and the glasswort is still green. But do bookmark this place, and drop by during the right season.
What we wished we saw. Lake Notoro in Autumn © Zekkei Japan
The Lake Notoro has a relatively high concentration of salt compared to other lakes because it is a meeting point for both freshwater and seawater bodies. This results in the perfect breeding ground for the Ubaranai Common Glasswort Colony. In between early September to early October, the glasswort colony change their color to red. The spacious coast, bathed in crimson red, is a sight to see.
Tea @ cafe&cake 風花
Tel: 0152-48-2006
10am-4pm. Closed on Wed
Arrived: 10:15am
Time is a bit tight at this point because we have a 2pm flight to catch, so it’s either lunch or cakes. We haven’t much cakes so far this trip, and our sweet tooth was whining for some - so we chose to have tea and cakes.
cafe&cake 風花 is a cosy cafe with a large display of freshly made cakes, biscuits and jams. As we dined, we noticed several people coming in to order whole cakes to take away. Just before we left, we took away a cream roll cake to eat before we flew off.
Fly out @ Memanbetsu Airport
女満別空港
From here, we flew back to New Chitose Airport.
Memanbetsu Airport is small, just like most domestic airports in Japan. Having said that, they had quite a number of shops second floor, some of them selling fresh produce like asparagus spears, crabs and other shellfish.
Our Nissan car rental return point was just opposite the airport. We could have crossed over but this is one example of top notch Japanese service. After we returned the car, Nissan Car Rental had a van to send us to the doorstep of Memanbetsu Airport. ありがとうございました！
Back to New Chitose Airport where we started our journey. Thank you for following our trip! [Click on me to return to the beginning of this itinerary]