South Korea and Japan 2026

Sapporo   I hadn't done any research on what to see and do in Sapporo, so I was happy to just follow along with some of my favourite people.  Many people had already started to disperse today, but we saw a few sporadically.  Some have left for home (or the next trip), some have changed hotels, and some are at the same hotel for another night or two.  I had to change rooms (from a shared room to a single), so packed up and moved bike box and luggage to store in the lobby for the day.  Then I walked up to the Hokkaido University Botanic Garden.  As far as botanic gardens go, it was underwhelming, but it is associated with the university and apparently primarily serves a scientific and educational purpose.  It was, however, a lovely quiet place for a walk in downtown Sapporo.  It was established in 1886 and preserves a small part of the forest which formerly covered the Ishikari Plain.  In addition, there is an alpine garden, a greenhouse, and a...

Lake Shikotsu - Sapporo We woke up to wet pavement this morning, but just a little drizzle that was gone shortly after we got underway.  A short delay for the scheduled group departure as Gary fixed a(nother) flat tire.  I count myself lucky that I didn't have any flats during the trip, nor did I have any other significant mechanical issues.  We rode less than a km to the lake and had some group photos done, with everyone wearing their shiny new tour jerseys.  I'm sure there will be some pictures available at some point. And then we got headed off in the right direction. Then we had a nice ride by the lake for about 9 km.  Pretty misty still........ There were about 7 of these snow sheds in a row. Google AI tells me that Lake Shikotsu is a stunning, crytal-clear caldera lake located in Shikotsu-Toya National Park, just an hour's drive from Sapporo.  Famous for its vibrant "Shikotsu Blue" waters, it is Japan's second-deepest lake and its northern-most ice-fr...