Monbetsu - Hamatonbetsu 87 miles I slept uneasy though; the noise from the docks was prominent throughout the night. A seemingly 24-hour operation; ships being loaded and released of their cargo as an arrangement of sirens and horns sounded out continuously. As dawn began to slowly creep in, the low light projected an army of ants trailing up and down outside my tent. I watched them monotonously and just when I felt as if I was about to nod off, I suddenly bolted upright, shaking off my trance. 04:30am, I’d lounged around for long enough. My journey north was to continue. Heading out of Monbetsu, I was again to be subjected to another one of Hokkaido’s consistently straight roads, one that seemed to melt into the horizon and offer very little hope of curvature. My surrounds
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