Dormy Inn Asahikawa and Sounkyo

We then head towards Daisetsuzan National Park.
We drove from Shari Cho to Asahikawa where we stayed at Dormy Inn Asahikawa   6-964-1 5 Jodori  Asahikawa, Hokkaido Prefecture 070-0035 +81 166-27-5489. We stayed for 1 night and we paid (¥ 8900 + ¥500 carpark)

This hotel is Asahikawa has surprised us. It was a rare gem of a place. Simple, compact and has all the amenities that will make your stay very comfortable. Nice clean room, well appointed linen, towels and toiletries. The room though small, is not that small by Japanese standards. I consider it compact and has thoughtful touches and design that makes the compactness functional without being in the way. Things fit in nicely. For example, instead of a closed wardrobe, there is the open wardrobe, with the bottom just nice to fit in our large luggage. And the cabin bag tucks in just nicely under the counter-cum-desk-cum-tv cabinet. Even the tv-cabinet has overlaying shelves that creates utilitarian space for charging our electronic devices.

An air purifier/humidifier and a trouser press are also provided.

The hotel has a very nice onsen and is freely accessible but all the guests. The toiletries provided are of very good quality Shishedo range. We love the indoor and outdoor onsen located on the hotel’s top floor. 

After the bath in the onsen, you will be pampered with free ramen in the coffee-lounge, available for guests between 2130-2300 hrs (while stocks last).We really enjoyed the complimentary ramen as the noodle was cooked just right and the broth was well flavoured.

There is also a range of coffee available from a coffee maker in the lobby.

Complimentary Japanese Yonaki (Ramen) noodles are available from 21:30-23:00 on a first-come, first-served basis.  

I highly recommend staying in this hotel.

We stop at one of the many popular Michi-no-Eki (Roadside Rest Areas) to enjoy the local products. And I had the most delicious milk. For someone who does not like the taste of milk, you can trust me when I say that the milk in Hokkaido is really the best. However, it's not the milk you find in the supermarkets. You have to buy the milk that comes in small bottles and they are only sold in some roadside stations. 

And please do try the melon in Hokkaido. They are really the best!

We drove to Sounkyo which is situated at the foot of Mt. Kurodake. This giant gorge  stretches for 24 kilometers and forms the center of Daisetsuzan National Park. Down in the valley, three kilometers from Sounkyo, there are two beautiful waterfalls, Ginga no Taki and Ryusei no Taki, which can be viewed from a large parking lot or from a small observation deck reached via a steep walking trail in about 15-20 minutes from the parking lot. Another five kilometers up the valley is the Obako rock formation.