15 Days in Kanagawa & Hokkaido – Day 06 – Shirahige Falls and Ningle Terrace

We said goodbye to Asahiyama Zoo, and headed for a late lunch at the Herb Garden Furano as part of the day tour group arrangements. The buffet-styled lunch was alright though nothing particularly special. The restaurant has a large souvenir and local produce store in front of it, and is a popular stop-point for tour groups as it’s one of the few restaurants that can easily cater to hundreds of diners at the same time, and also has a large car park equipped to handle tour buses.

The next stop after lunch was Shirahige Fall, a waterfall in Shirogane Olsen in the southeastern part of the city of Asahikawa. From pictures elsewhere on Google and Tripadvisor, the falls already look stunning in spring and autumn. But in winter the feel of the cascading waterfalls is really different, with the frosted trees, formed icicles, and the ravine below with blue waters. We spent 30 minutes here – just about enough time for pictures and to get awestruck by the beauty of the area.

The bridge from where you’d be viewing the falls.

The ravine, and the turquoise water of the river below.

Did a few quick and dirty long exposure shots – but these were really not easy to do handheld. And even if I’d brought along my tripod, the just 30 minutes we had would have made it hard to do proper supported shots.

Ningle Terrace was our last stop for the day. Not quite sure what to make of it, but it looks pretty. The small village is really a collection of shops that offer pricey arts and crafts, and boutique items. The shop houses are built using timber, and brightly lit from evening that really produce feelings of a winter wonderland. It was drizzling unfortunately, and also quite crowded. Had a hard time holding onto Peter from slipping and falling at several spots, and also avoiding tourists who were wielding umbrellas in one hand, and their elongated selfie sticks in the other!