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Rausu marked the end of the cycling portion of the trip. The following day, I took a bus back over the pass (rather than struggling up it again or taking a roundabout route just to get back), and hooked up with another bus that took me back to Shiretoko Shari, the nearest train station. From there, it was a long train to Sapporo. I arrived on the day the Toya-ko G8 summit ended, and I expected the station to be a security nightmare... but things had already wound down and I had no problems.

So the rest of the trip was devoted to exploring Sapporo... and this is one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions: the Sapporo Beer brewery. Although beer tours are not what they used to be (meaning no longer free), the old buildings are impressive. Rather than take the tour again, I elected to sample one of their only-on-the-premises beers, called “Haskap Ruby” (probably a seasonal); it almost seemed more like pink champagne than beer. Any Japanese beer gains points with me for not being the standard lager (of which I nevertheless drink copious quantities during Japan’s muggy summer).

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