Woke up around 6:15 am today as wanted to go up the ropeway to Mt. Asahidake before the drive to Sapporo.   Didn’t have time to hit the onsen before though.   Had a selection of “western” items from the breakfast buffet today,  along with some iced coffee and orange juice.

Afterwards,  packed and checked out and then drove down the road to the ropeway and headed up the mountain in the cable car.   Beautiful day out so some nice views at the top.   Did the 1.7 km loop around to various viewpoints.  So many little flowers around,  which probably really grow in late July,  early August.

Saw some steam coming out too!

After completing the loop walk,  headed back down the gondola to the parking lot.

Got into the car and drove the roughly 2.5 hours to Sapporo to return the car near the station and my hotel.   The GPS took a brief scenic route through a farm area, which maybe was the fastest way to get on the expressway but it had me questioning it for a minute.   Great day for driving – sunny and not much traffic.   Not sure if there’s a speed limit on the expressway but I was definitely doing 140 km/h at some points and I wasn’t the fastest one!  A few 2 km tunnels today but not as many tunnels as the other day.

Managed to make it into Sapporo and to the rental car office.   Very quick process – pulled in,  a guy came out,  walked around the car,  got in and checked the mileage,  checked my gas receipt and took the keys and I was off.   I asked directions to my hotel to make sure I was done!  Just under 800 km of driving around Hokkaido.

Walked the couple of blocks to the hotel.   Definitely warmer here than in the mountains!  Hotel check in wasn’t until 3 so left my bags and headed to the department store/mall next door, by the station for some lunch.   The restaurant floor was busy but the restaurants have a machine you plug in the number of people and it spits out a number and then you sit down until they call your number.   Waited a few minutes but not too bad.

Had a katsu lunch set and a couple of beers.

After lunch,  headed back to the hotel and got my room.  They had already put my bags in the room for me!

Took a brief rest before getting ready for my omakase tempura dinner at an amazing tempura restaurant.   I believe it had 2 Michelin stars until Michelin stopped coming to Hokkaido.   It was an amazing experience and the Chef and other staff were great.   Only 9 seats,  all at the counter so it’s a very intimate setting where you can watch them at work.   The food was great and I tried to get photos of all the courses but definitely missed a few as it’s critical to eat the dishes right away.

A very good dinner and managed to make it back to my hotel in the metro despite the bottle of wine I drank 😆.

A view from my hotel window