One of the trials of a being a techno-geek cycle-camper is finding power to charge all your gizmos and whatsits, and wireless to access the internet. After packing up and leaving the campground early on, we wandered round Akan township, looking for power. No good location appeared (we were chased away from outside a town office when it opened, and the bathrooms, although warm, weren’t the best spot to hang out) showed itself until we stumbled across the free foot onsen that had both power and wireless available from it. The only downfall was that it was not the warmest spot in the world – lukewarm spring would have been a more accurate descriptor than hot spring.
Once fully charged we leave the onsen and find food at Lawson (similar to 7-11) down the main street – it has hot food, tables and chairs, AND power and good wireless! Paydirt. We sit on our laptops, buying more food occasionally.
Eventually we feel obliged to move on, and arriving at the campground we find they’ve now opened, and we pay Y630 each for what was free the night before (and their laundry still isn’t open). But at least the onsen there is toasty warm now. This makes up for the raven which comes to steal our matches while we’re sitting warming our feet.
Location: Akan Lake, Akan National Park, Hokkaido, Japan
Distance cycled: 10km (rest day)
One reply on “japan day seven – hunting for electricity and wireless”
bad raven! but that’s a pretty lake spot to stop for the day :)