Tag Archive: drift ice walking


A Blog Summary: Eastern Hokkaido (February 2019)

Filed under: Asian Holidays, Food Trip, Japan, Travel, travels — Leave a comment
March 1, 2019

This is one trip packed with so much adventure. Judging by the itinerary, our giddiness was rightly justified. There was an element of fear especially for some adventures unfamiliar to us. Like winter sports. Like water sports. Make that ICE water sports. But here we are, still grinning from ear to ear, happy that we survived this trip without mishaps and with so many happy memories. This is our story.

Ready to Rumble

Drift Ice Walking

Wildlife-Watching Cruise

Snow Walking & Frozen Waterfalls

Speeding Over Frozen Lake Akan

The Red-Crowned Cranes of Kushiro

Camping 101 in Ikoro Forest

Food Trip in Tsurui

Jingisukan in Sapporo Beer Garden

And should you need a local tour operator for your Hokkaido trips, here’s one we’ve tried 3x and highly recommend. This coming from a satisfied customer.

Hokkaido Treasure Island Travel Inc

Travel Planner: Megumi Takeda

http://www.hokkaido-sightseeing.com/en

mailto:info@hokkaido-treasure.com

Hokkaido is ❤️

Excitement Overload!

Megumi and Nobu – our Hokkaido gems!

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The Ice Walkers (Shiretoko)

Filed under: Asian Holidays, Japan, Travel, travels — 1 Comment
February 19, 2019

In Russia, it’s called Okhotsk Sea. In Japan, it is called the Ohōtsuku- Kai. Among the many adventures in Shiretoko Peninsula is “drift-ice walking” where you’re suited into this swimming gear that feels like a mini-sauna but absolutely keeps you dry while you are flailing about off this marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. Best time is from January to March but peak season for drift ice is February. The week before we arrive, temps were hovering around double-digit negatives but this group of adventurous foodies from the Tropics brought sunshine with them. Temp was at zero Celsius which the locals compare to “spring weather” and “too warm” for winter. Luckily too, it wasn’t windy at all! How’s that for an auspicious morning for water adventure?

Ready to Rumble!!!

Those ice floes! No, we didn’t do the ice walk here. 😜

Before we set out to do “the walk”, we struggled putting on these suits. Oh, how we struggled! I had to go on my back, lift my legs to get our guide pull the suit up my legs and thighs. It doesn’t stop there. Getting my head through the “hole” and finally zipping me up was another struggle. And just when I was getting the hang of walking in this suit out in the open, frozen sea, I slipped! But slipping in and out of water in between drift-ice walking was really this morning’s activity. The guides made us walk towards a certain area off the frozen Sea, by the breakwater I think, then challenged us to jump while saying “I love Japan”. Jumping together on what our hindsight tells us must be thin ice was all it took to break the ice. We floated for a while, then some of us climbed over the floating ice slab. Then there were those who quickly gained the confidence, jumping here and there, breaking more ice! At some point, one of the boys jumped in and went down body limbs, head and all!

Getting into it is an adventure by itself!

We’ve met others who went ice diving. I cannot imagine how they put on their more complicated gear and what nerves of steel they must have. What we did was nothing compared with their adventure. But I’m sure we drew more laughs as we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves lying down on the icy sea and floating among the ice floes. Some of the pictures and videos are simply too funny to be posted. For sure, we’d talk about this adventure for many years to come. 🥶😜🙄😊

Check this out:

https://youtu.be/ooAfed1M7ZY

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