FURANO: a flourish paradise

New day, new adventure! This time on the road to Furano. Furano and is known for its colorful fields of flowers. Let’s see that!

We were supposed to go on a guided bus tour. But well, I always do things last minute and the bus happened to be fully booked. We couldn’t postpone the visit because the flowers were fully bloomed at the time and we didn’t want to miss it. Plus the weather forecast announced a big blue sky and high temperatures. Perfect weather to enjoy some beautiful landscapes. Plan B activated then: let’s rent a car!

The guided tour visit plan was pretty interesting so we chose to visit the same places. We would have liked to add one but we would have had to be there by 4:30am and we couldn’t rent the car before 8am. Next time maybe!

Our first destination of the day was Biei blue pond.

To get there we drove on the « roller coaster road ». It’s called like this because the road is straight but with a lot of little hills. It goes up and down all the way. It’s pretty funny to find yourself on this road and see the fields and hills running around.

Biei blue pond is surprising. Unfortunately the big blue sky announced wasn’t part of our visit. Nevertheless the pond is beautiful. Firstly because of its flashy turquoise colour. Secondly because of the dead trees in the middle of it that bring a picturesque appearance to the place.

The pond appeared after a dam was built on Biei river to prevent mud floods in case Mt Tokachi would erupt. Its particular colour comes from Shirahige waterfalls. When the water runs down the cliff, it mixes up with aluminium and other chemicals like sulfide. This last one withens the rocks in the bottom of the pond. That’s what makes the blue pond’s water turquoise and makes it special. You can find the same colour in the river that runs by.

Biei blue pond is absolutely beautiful but I would advise to go early in the morning. We arrived there around 11am and it was very croweded. To actually see end enjoy the pond, you need to walk along a small path. With that many tourists walking the same path you actually end up queueing and walking on each others feet. Fortunately at the end of the road there’s an observatory where you can catch you breath and fully enjoy the beauty of the forest with its singular pond.

Our next stop was Shikisai no Oka. It is a little fun fair where you can drive quads or golf cars or get up the little train to go around the place. There’s also an alpaca farm.

The real reason to get there is the colorful fields of flowers. It’s absolutely stunning. The view over the fields and the mountains in the background leaves you breathless. And this time the sun and the blue sky were part of the show!

For our last stop we went to another flower field: the famous Tomita farm. This farm is the most renowed of Furano’s surroundings. It means many more visitors. The main flowers grown there are lavenders.

Lavender soap is made in the farm. We can see the employees working on it. It is also possible to enjoy their homemade lavender icecream in their lavender fields! If you don’t want icecream, try out their lavender pudding or cheesecake and get a refresh with their lavender lemonade. The choice is yours!

Tomita farm stands on a hillside and is surrounded by tree hedges. Visitors can find some shade from the trees along the allees to go from one field to another. It is very pleasant to wander around, especially if you reach the top of the hill where most tourists don’t find the courage to go.

Tomita farm offers a beautiful and harmonious environment. Nevertheless I enjoyed Shikisai no Oka more. It is more colorful, there are more different species of flowers and less visitors.

This day was the best I have spent here so far. It was hot, the weather was ideal and the landscapes were splendid. If you ever visit Hokkaido in Summer, you must visit Furano!