April 6, 2017

 A lazy start to the day, we had breakfast in the common area of the guesthouse and said our farewells to Audrey.

We were on the road at 9:15 a.m. negotiating the streets of Seoul to find our way back to the river and on to the cycle path. As we went under the subway, to the river we noticed the graffiti.

Then we saw the sign, the sign indicated that the graffiti was permitted with rules.

The day started off cool and misty, eventually the sun came out mid-afternoon.

We cycled out of Seoul past the Olympic stadium (this one is for you James). James is a friend of the family and competed at the Seoul Para-Olympics.

All along the river we saw the high-rise apartments, however, the river has some great green space and of course the cycle path.

There was a large area that was set outside for various activities – Inline skating, racing stadium, rail bike zone, novelty bike experience zone, baby’s bike education, children’s bike education park, central square, children’s playground, and x-game zone.

There are hundreds of  bike rental facilities. During the week-end in the summer these paths are crowded with cyclists. We saw quite a few cyclists today, enjoying the path.

It was a lovely ride away from any vehicles along a designated two-lane cycle path. The path has two wide lanes for cyclists and another lane for pedestrians.

We passed an area with a lot of poly-houses, all of them were growing vegetables.

Eventually we left Seoul and moved into the next Province, a welcome to Hanam City and the next section of the bike path.

Spring is one of my favorite seasons and it is coming to Korea. I knew we might arrive at the right time for the cherry blossoms to be blooming. The forsythia is in bloom and some of the cherry trees are blooming.

We passed this wetland area that had some large grey herons. The overgrowth on some of the trees almost looked like camouflage.

We are not sure if these bunkers are remnants from the past, or protection against the future.

We passed from the Hangnan River into the Hangnan River south. From Paladin Bridge we were on an old rail-line. Along the route they kept old lines or old carriages to remind you this was an active line up until they built the new line.

The new active rail line ran parallel to the path we were on. We went through about 6 tunnels, one of them was called the Yangdam Art Tunnel – inside the tunnel the lights changed colour it was really neat.

We stopped at one tunnel and two couples on rented tandems stopped to chat or at least take photos of us.

We saw one other touring cyclist, he didn’t speak much English but we said hi.

We spotted a bike shop and added more air to the tyres. The little pump can only get the pressure up to about 60 psi and I like mine to have closer to 80 psi. The owner of the store was very impressed with us, but then told me that he had cycled the route in four days and added the extra route to make it 1,000 kms!

Ralf bought a phone holder for the bike from the store. One of the Dutch ladies we met in Vietnam had a great phone holder on her handlebars and we wanted one similar so that Ralf can navigate with the phone.

While we were at the bike store we chatted to another cyclist who spoke really good English.   Were told to go to the café near the bike shop as it had excellent chicken soup. I am not sure what was floating in the soup, it looked like intestines but the soup tasted good.

We stopped regularly to take in the sights and take lots of photos. Both of us have been really impressed with the route. We did get misplaced once, the river heads north and south at one point. We headed north, it was only when I noticed on a road sign that the Town we were heading for was not on it that we checked and realized we were heading in the wrong direction. There was a nice bridge on the path which is where we made the turnaround.

The route signs are all in Korean characters, the only sign that has English on it is the one that has the emergency contact information.

At about 4:00 we decided that as we were coming into a large Town, we would look for a hotel. We spotted one from the trail, but it was on the other side of the A6. Then we spotted two more and we were able to get off the trail to check them out. The first one was a love motel. I wasn’t sure at first, if it was but then I noticed the hourly rate. The love motels are generally cheaper than the regular hotels/motels.

We have stayed in some dreadful places on these trips but I was amazed at the rooms in this motel. I asked to see the room before spending the money and I was taken to see three different rooms. They all looked the same to me – Queen sized bed with clean sheets and a clean room, a fridge, a water dispenser, a large screen TV and a very clean bathroom. I went downstairs and told Ralf I thought it was a love motel, but it was very clean. Rather than go next door, we decided to stay at this place. Ralf dealt with the payment and was given a sealed plastic envelope which had everything you might need for a night of passion. Toothbrush, shampoo, skin lotion and of course two condoms.

As we were bringing the bags and bikes inside the other touring cyclist turned up. The owner was rather startled and asked if there would be three or two. No, no we said only two – He said “not allowed three”. I laughed and said no not three, he seemed very relieved!

After we had showered and settled in we went downstairs to ask where we could eat. The owner recommended two doors down and showed us which restaurant – good soup. We had a very spicy beef soup with rice. After dinner we went over the road to the 7Eleven for some milk and yogurt for breakfast.

We are eating a lot of mystery food. Some of the restaurants have photos and we pick something, otherwise we pick the cheapest thing on the menu which is usually soup with noodles and a spicy mix of vegetables. Everything has tasted good up to now, and it hasn’t upset our tummies. I have a sentence in Korean, on the phone that says I am allergic to shellfish. It has raised a few eyebrows – especially if I am in a restaurant that specializes in chicken!