Originally Posted by
waddo
We both have Surly LHT, wife with mousachio handlebars for easier braking. My routes are intricate and minutes planned over a couple of months, usually using mountain/country roads with little traffic. I also make the route based on places I want to visit: temples, shrines, historic/natural/hiking places and whenever possible abandoned buildings which will definitely feature in this trip.
Plenty of abandoned buildings in Hokkaido! I always wondered how the police would be about a little urban ex. I had look in a few buildings, some were like they just switched out the lights and walked out, though I did notice that one 8 story hotel near Lake Toya had been bought by the Chinese and flattened, much to my disappointment, was going to have a proper look that trip, last time I looked it still had brochures from the '90s sitting on the counter.
I had a look in an abandoned hotel further on the mainland once, had everything there, even yukatas in the cupboards, but somebody had attacked the kitchen with an axe....