April 12, 2017

We left Waegwan at 8:15 it was a little chilly but I didn’t wear my leggings as the forecast was supposed to be good.

One of the things that has impressed us about Korea is the amount of greenspace. Although the density of a city is huge, within a few kilometres there are walking trails and bike paths all of them are very accessible. The other thing are the amount of work-out stations located in a city. Within a 6 kilometre distance we counted 6 of these work-out stations that were very well maintained and used.

Today there were lots of little short climbs, barely registering on the elevation scale, but definitely registering on the legs. I would much rather do one long 7% climb than lots of short 12% climbs.

The first part of the ride was along the river on the separated cycle path. As we entered the large city of Daegu and the next certification centre at the dam, we spotted an unusual building. As we had already cycled to the KWater Information Centre to get a snack and visit the washrooms, we decided to investigate the building. It is called the Ark – I guess KWater are prepared for everything!!

There is an area set aside for concerts, and education. As we circled the building a group of school children exited, in pairs, and very well behaved. One teacher was in charge of about 20 children! As we cycled by them, they all shouted Hello and Good-bye as we left.

We got our stamp and headed across the dam along the next section of the bike path. The dam was once again a nice structure, although it did have a giant fish.

Sculptures were lined along the path for about one kilometre.

Then we headed into some small villages and headed up a beejesus hill. The warning sign said 300 metres 12% the actual hill was 700 metres at 15%. A lovely push up the hill! I kept thinking, this was supposed to be a flat ride along the river valleys. The climb was worth it, the scenery at the top was stunning. Even looking back on Daegu was interesting.

We came down the other side of the hill and found a beautiful restored Confucian academy. Although it was 2:00 p.m. we decided to spend the time to see the site. I went to the information office and asked how much it was to enter. It was free and it was a beautiful, peaceful area.

The Gingko tree is over 400 years old.  It reminded me of the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest.

We passed a test track, we think it was for Hyundai cars. I am sure if there was anything top secret we wouldn’t have been able to take photos.

Everything was going really well, the weather was good, the ride was good and then we took a wrong turn!. We followed the signs, but they were to another Temple again up a beejesus hill. We got to the top and realized it was an out an back. We should have stopped when the \”Guards\” told us to!!

We some how managed to find a short cut back to the proper route, but by that time we were both frustrated with the signage.

We had seen signs for a motel (the Riverside Motel) and for some strange reason I thought it would be a good idea to call and find out exactly where they were located. My non-existent Korean, his limited English and not knowing where the heck we were to give him any directions or for us to find the Town where he was located was not very successful.

We found the dam and another certification centre.

A man came to us with a business card and told us he had a bikotel and he would take us to it in his vehicle, he told us it was 10 kms along the route and we could see it from the bike path. We headed out to his motel on the bikes. As we crossed another bridge another vehicle stopped and told us he was from the Riverview Motel. He got his daughter on the phone, who spoke good English, it was going to be another 30 to 40 minutes on the bike or we could get in his pick-up and he would take us there. Although we hate to take a lift, we were both really frustrated and took the lift

The Riverside Motel was a very tired motel, the rooms were clean but small and rather dingy. As we arrived the owner indicated to a restaurant for dinner and had lockers for our bikes.

We dumped our bags in the room, I slipped on my skirt, Ralf put on his trousers and we headed out to the restaurant. It was locked, this really was turning out to be a crappy end to a nice day.

We walked down the road about 100 yards and there was a small restaurant, we went in and were offered a traditional Korean table, which meant we would be sitting on the floor to eat our dinner. If it wasn’t for the fact that there was a very dark cloud hanging over Ralf’s head I would have laughed. Ralf was not in any mood to appreciate my warped sense of humour. Ralf hates squatting down to eat, he likes a proper table. The only benefit was that the floor was warm.

We headed back to our dingy hotel room, showered and got ready for bed.

April 11, 2017

We woke up to the sound of rain on the roof and grey skies. The alarm went off at 7:00 and we turned over and prepared to go back to sleep when there was a knock on the door. The owner and another Korean cyclist (who spoke English) were at the door asking when we would like breakfast and what time we were going to leave. We were not expecting breakfast to be included. We said we would have breakfast at 8:00. The host told us we could stay until the rain stopped, no extra charge. The forecast was for the rain to clear by noon. I like to be on the move early and finish early, and I will cycle in the rain if I have to. Ralf doesn’t like to ride in the rain or to be perfectly honest any weather that is colder than 10 degrees.

We had breakfast and chatted to the Korean cyclist who lives in Arkansas U.S. he has lived in the U.S. for 17 years and returned to Korea three times. He was going to wait until the weather cleared up.

The owner had cycled the 4Rivers route twice and taken six days going from north to south and seven days going from south to north as it is harder. The hills are a steeper grade going from south to north. We saw the medals and certificates for the first time, they look really nice. He suggested we wait until the rain stops as the body gets very cold and it is not good for you.

At 9:15 we started the day in drizzle and cool temperatures, the hills and the river in the distance looked lovely. There were a few little climbs to start the day and Ralf was complaining about his crank, I thought he said brakes and I was concerned about him not having brakes on some of the downhills. We stopped under a bridge where Ralf was able to tighten his crank, so his pedals wouldn’t fall off.

At 10:45 it stopped raining and the sun came out. We were dry by the time we got into Gumi and stopped for lunch.

As we came into Gumi we saw a huge complex of apartment blocks. Who knew that it was a much larger city than we thought it was going to be. Gumi has a very large industrial area that is anchored by LG and Samsung. As we looked across the river from our vantage point on the bicycle path the LG plant was huge. The LG Display factory alone covered many city blocks. Every now and then you would get a waft of chemicals from the various support plants on our side of the river but surprisingly the air was quite good even with the low cloud.

As we cycled out of Gumi we passed this large apartment complex – Ralf did the count of apartments per floor, times by the number of apartments and came to the conclusion that there were approximately 15,000 people living in this apartment complex – a small town! The view of the river and the mountains with the available outdoor green space and a small shopping area this may not be a bad place to live. Live, Work, Play a liveable city?

KWater (Korea Water Authority) have been working on the water quality of Korea Water since 1999.  They have created dams and each dam is different, no boring concrete walls here.

Most of the dams have information centres near them to inform the residents how to conserve water and how KWater produce good water.  Korea is in the top 10 in the world for potable water.  The dams are usually the area where there is a stamping station and more info on the route.

We haven\’t seen very much garbage along the route, the occasional can or water bottle but nothing compared to other countries we have cycled through.  Would you consider this garbage or a  rest area?

We arrived in Waegwan at about 2:00 p.m. and looked for the Bali Motel, we couldn’t find it, but there were lots of other hotels to choose from.

We were expecting to pay more for the M7 Motel, but it was only 40,000 Won ($46.00). Ralf asked if I wanted to check the room, but I told him every room I have looked at in Korea has been clean, I didn’t need to check the room. However, when we walked into the first room the smell of smoke was over-powering. We asked if there was a non-smoking room and he gave us another room. The bikes are in the room with us and we still have lots of room to swing a cat.

As we are in a City, the first since Chenju we decided to have a walk around after settling in to the hotel room.

We found this amazing local market, fruits, vegetables and fish. Although there is an American Military Base within 3 kms of Waegwan we still felt as if we were the only foreigners in Town. There were a lot of smiles and a few hellos by the locals. Unfortunately Ralf couldn’t buy the wonderful selection of mushrooms and make me his special wild mushroom risotto that I love.

We needed to boost the funds and stopped of in three banks and couldn’t get any funds! For some reason Ralf’s card would not allow him to withdraw any money. We went back to the hotel and got my card – panic I couldn’t remember the pin number, it had been so long since I had used my card. Second attempt and I was able to withdraw some cash. We now have enough to keep us going until Busan – we will spend a couple of nights in Busan before heading back to Seoul.

April 10, 2017

We left the Sky motel at 8:15 and followed the route to the Sangpung Bridge without getting lost or misplaced – yeah, we are on a roll!

The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and in some areas when the wind blew they looked like snow blowing across the path. Another few days and as we head further south, they will all be gone.

Lanes of Cherry Trees in full Bloom

The weather today started a little chilly, Ralf wore his long pants and I wore my leggings. Eventually the sun came out, the sky was blue and the wind was horrendous! We had a headwind, crosswind and very very occasionally a tail wind. The head winds were usually when we were climbing a hill. Oh well you can’t have everything.

We had spotted this fellow yesterday as we were heading out to the Ihwaryeong Hill.

We didn’t get the opportunity to chat to him yesterday. When we spotted him today, we had to stop for a chat. He is Russian and has walked through 24 countries over 14 years. We think he has gone back to Russia a few times during the 14 years. After Korea he is flying back to Russia. He cannot get a visa for Japan. He indicated that some countries Russians cannot get visas for or they are very expensive. He sleeps under the stars and walks between 20 to 40 kms per day.

The bike train runs from Jimnam station to Buljeong Station in Mungyeong. It is a tourist “train” that has bikes as the cars. Tourists can rent one bike with four people in it and pedal their way to the next station. It is recommended that you get a group of people together and cycle the distance.

The end station Buljeong has a very nice station building and it is also the location of another stamping station.

The route was very rural today with lots of small farms. We noticed that it was mainly the older women that were doing all the hard labour. Unfortunately, I think it is the same the world over, the older people are still working the farms and the younger people move away for better jobs and an “easier” life.

There were a few other touring cyclists out today. We were passed by one young Korean guy who had a Mohawk style haircut and the hair was braided – very strange. About two hours later he passed us again, he had stopped for something to eat and we chatted as we cycled. I asked him how long it would take him from Seoul to Busan – 4 days he answered and you – 8 to 10 days I said. “You must cycle faster” he suggested, “No we like to enjoy the ride”. We chatted for a few more kms and then he was away speeding his way past the beauty that we stop and enjoy along the way.

We also saw a young woman on an out and back ride with incredibly long hair. She stayed on the other side of the river as we crossed the river following the 4 Rivers sign.

When we got to the end of the Saejae Cycle Route we knew we had to be careful as there were two ways to go – upstream or downstream! The upstream route was an out and back of 70 kilometres. We followed the 4 Rivers sign and crossed the river. When we got to the other side of the river we knew we wanted to go south (downstream). The signs of course were in Korean and when we tried to match them with the words in the Passbook, only half the letters matched. We really didn’t want to back-track again. Ralf tried to ask at a house that was at this junction in the road, but no-one came to the door. Fortunately, we were able to flag down a car that was coming up the trail and ask which way to Busan. The driver pointed us in the right direction and then said we could go on the other side of the river as well. Which is the way young woman had gone.

We opted to stay on the side of the river that had the 4Rivers logo on the signs and headed south. Now you might ask why not follow the compass on the phone or the garmin. Well as we are following a river it often changes directions and we didn’t want to set off south and then find the river or the trail heading north.

The 4 Rivers Route is an amazing cycle route but it helps if you know the Korean alphabet. I read somewhere it is not that difficult to learn, as each Korean letter represents an equivalent English letter.

Once we were going in the right direction it was again a nice route to follow. We are now on the last river of the Four Rivers route the Nakdonggang River. We should be In Busan by the week-end if not before – unless of course we get lost again!!

On the outskirts of Sangju was a huge Bicycle Museum, unfortunately it is closed on Mondays. As we cycled away from it the young woman with the long hair arrived. I guess we had taken the shorter route, unless she had stopped for lunch.

We cycled past the Institute for Ecology and spotted this Confucian Temple. The Lecture Hall (the central building) was built in 1606 and was rebuilt here in 1992 by the Confucian Scholar Society.

The Air Force today were having fun in the sky. Jets flying over us every 10 to 15 minutes, very noisy disturbing our peaceful ride, but just maybe they are keeping the peace in South Korea.

We were supposed to stay in Sangju tonight but for some reason the route takes you away from the “City of Bicycles” into the countryside. By the time we realized we were heading away from the City we had cycled 15 kms past it. We carried on cycling along the path in hopes that we would come across a Town that had a motel.

The wind had taken my legs and I was getting tired and a little concerned that we had no idea where the next Town was. We stopped at one of the rest areas and had a peanut butter sandwich. I even suggested that if the worse came to the worse we could put on all of our clothes and sleep under one of the rest area shelters. We could cover ourselves with the sheets that we had with us and the bike cover. Ralf checked on maps.me, which hasn’t been brilliant finding our location, but he did find a motel only about 7kms away from where we were sitting having our sandwich, and close to the route.

We continued on our way, as were going along the river we spotted a flashing bicycle – with a sign that said it was a place to sleep, or so we thought. We figured that even if it was only a bike shop, we could ask how far it was to the nearest motel.

We found an amazing guesthouse – geared for cyclists. The rooms are very basic with traditional mats on the floors for the bed, with a heated floor and a good clean hot shower. There is a dining room where the owner makes dinner and an outdoor area with water and a coffee machine. There is a bike station where you can clean your bikes and two washing machines. The owner told Ralf we could do washing – I quickly got out of my cycle gear, and got Ralf naked and I threw everything we had in the washer.

At 5:00 p.m. we are sitting outside in the sun relaxing, writing the blog and planning our next few days. Dinner will be served at 6:00 p.m. not sure what is on offer but it will be traditional Korean food. I noticed that he had some Happy Water in the fridge, we should be o.k.   What is Happy Water? – So-Ju is distilled, vodka-like, rice liquor with high potency, but not the harsh Japanese Saki, this is very mild and enjoyable to drink. The label on the bottle has most of the text in Korean except Happy Water! So that is what we have been calling it, I don’t think you should drink too much of it as I am sure it would give you a heck of a hangover.

Back to the blog, after dinner of a soup with green spinachy stuff in it, rice, green beans with spicy peppers and tiny shrimp, buckwheat noodles, some kind of black bean with sesame seeds, cucumber with spicy red peppers and kimchi. A very nice dinner.

We have made our bed for the night – six sleeping mats on top of each other! The Koreans would use one each! The floor has under-floor heating and I think we will be toasty warm.

April 9, 2017

The forecast for today was cool and cloudy, it was correct. Average temperature today was 11 degrees, chilly. We left the hotel at 8:15 and headed down the path to follow the Saejae Route. This section of the Four Rivers Trail is almost all on-road, rural roads or farm roads and is the hilliest part of the route. The overall climbing was 689 metres and the highest point was at Ihwaryeong at 531 metres.

The first part of the route followed the river on farm roads.

We had to take a photo of the River Town apartment block, approximately 60 apartments per block and four blocks, which equates to over 240 units – 2.6 people per unit about 640 people, a small town in Ontario.

We are still loving the colour of the blossoms.

We cycled through a popular camping area that had a lovely waterfall. Across the road from the waterfall was an area of glamping tents.

The road circled around and we were able to see the waterfall from the top. There was a small pagoda at the top of the stairs which Ralf climbed while I looked after the bikes!

Shortly after this area the first climb started, it was only about a kilometre long and an elevation of 212 metres. We then dropped down into the Town of Suanbo, losing all the elevation we had gained. It was getting cooler in the hills and we stopped and I put my leggings on and my heavier jacket. Ralf put his jacket on but not his long pants.

Suanbo is a spa town. If we hadn’t made the error yesterday we would have stayed the night here. There are natural hot springs in this town and it had 26 hotels to choose from. It would have been nice to have gone into a traditional hot spring in Korea.

After Suanbo the real climbing started 5.2 kilometres with an elevation gain of 531 metres. It wasn’t a particular tough climb, (except in the last 1.5 kms, there was two 10% climbs)  just long 5 kilometres of uphill is a long way uphill, fully loaded. Every kilometre there was a rest area for cyclists. We stopped 2 kms short of the summit, for a short break and then headed up to the top where there was a nice restaurant where we were able to warm up.

We asked someone to take a photo of us, this is not us being romantic and hugging we are trying to steal each others body heat!

After we went through the short tunnel we saw the Pagoda and the map of the region.

Then we headed downhill, my god it was cold. I was freezing by the time we got to the bottom.  We stopped for a quick break and spotted this carving in the rocks.

We carried on cycling for a few more kilometres in to the Town where Ralf knew there was a couple of hotels.We were not expecting this grand entrance to the small Town.

We stopped at the first motel the Sky Motel, it is a little tired but clean. There was a sign welcoming cyclists. I checked out the room and the lady owner told us we could bring the bikes into the lobby.  She asked us to sign the guestbook.

Ralf asked where there was a grocery store as we needed supplies. She kindly offered to take us to the grocery store when we had settled in. People are so kind. We were able to get everything we needed except bananas, they only had big bunches and you are not allowed to separate them. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon updating the blog. I hope you are enjoying the journey along the Four Rivers Trail, we are, even with the mapping errors.  We didn\’t get lost today, things are looking up.

April 8, 2017

A frosty start this morning, but the sun quickly warmed everything and we were on the road in light jackets, but leggings and socks.

It was a lovely ride, part of the ride today was on rural roads as well as the bike trail.

When we were on one rural road we spotted a touring cyclist heading towards us. A Korean man who had retired five years ago and was cycling the world. He had cycled in North and South America and Europe. He was now on his last leg from Busan to Seoul. I wonder how he will manage not being on the road everyday. It does take some adjustment, when you stop cycling after being on the road for so long.

We saw some interesting housing. The first house was an interesting build.  The second was a traditional house, with a new house built next to the derelict building.

We passed an area that was obviously very popular for fishing. I have never seen a “stocked” pond fished this way. Everyone had comfy chairs!

We were on the opposite side of the river to Chenju and spotted this area.  There were steps up a hill surrounded by stone cairns, there was a building with a large buddha at the top and a small waterfall garden area.  It was very nice but there was no information as to what it was.  

The route was easy to follow – until we went the wrong way again!!.

We got into Chenju and headed towards the Chengiu Dam. I had previously downloaded a 4 Rivers Bike Trail Information Package in English and I had read about the Chengiu Dam on this pdf. We both thought that was the way to go. Until we got there and realized that it was an out and back route. That added an extra 16 kms to the day.

The dam area was very popular, as there was a cherry blossom festival.  Ralf couldn\’t quite understand the excitement about the cherry blossom.  Until I explained that after a grey miserable winter seeing these beautiful trees blooming represents spring it is similar to the Spargelfests we went to in Germany.

We cycled back to Chenju, a little frustrated after a great ride. I spotted a love motel but the owner wouldn’t rent us a room. He told us to go into the main City and there were lots of places. We found a hotel near the park, which is very nice and the owners allowed us to bring the bikes into the room. We asked if there was a supermarket near by or a convenience store as we needed to buy noodles.  Five minutes later he came and gave us two pot noodles!

The park in Chengju (Tarangelmdae) is lovely, it has a very large play area for the kids, a nice pagoda, a museum for martial arts, and places to rent crazy bikes.

Once we had settled into the hotel and gone to the 7Eleven to pick up our dinner, Ralf headed back to the park to stamp his passbook at the start of the Saejae Bike Route. Ralf met two Russian cyclists who were cycling to Busan and back in 10 days.

Ralf told them where the 7Eleven was, and that there was camping in the park. They gave Ralf a coin from Russia with a Saint on it, she said anyone who helped them they gave them this special coin.

April 7, 2017

We left the hotel and were on the road or trail by 8:30.

We road into Paleyong and promptly got misplaced.

We followed the inter-city trail and not the river trail. One way directed us to the Ipobo Dam, the other had the logo of the four river route on the signs.

We could have followed the inter-city trail it would have eventually connected with the four river route, but we didn’t know that. We retraced our steps and followed the signs to Ipobo Dam.

The route today was very nice and followed the river most of the way. We had to take one rural road which took us up and over a hill and then dropped back down to the river. The hill was a 10% grade and I managed to get up and over without getting off. It was only a short hill.

We enjoyed the scenery along this route.  Each Town takes a great deal of pride in their flowers and parks.

Once again we are surprised to be spotting windmills in Asia.  We noticed a couple that are stores selling herbs.  The pots that make up the wall are Kimchi pots.  Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish made from salted and fermented vegetables, most commonly napa cabbages and Korean radishes.  Koreans eat so much Kimchi they say Kimchi instead of Cheese when taking a photo.

The  Ipobo dam has oval shapes on the top to represent the eggs of a crane, which is the National bird of Korea.  As we got closer to the dam the architect included the shape of the bird in the arches of the dam.

We stopped for lunch at the Yeojubo Dam.  After we had eaten Ralf went up a water tower to get photos from the top. The dam creates 4,950 kW of electricity.

An older Korean man came over to us, he had a really nice road bike and obviously road it a lot.

He didn’t speak English, but we managed to “chat” about the river route and the fact that Ralf couldn’t get a pass-book. He told Ralf to go inside the building where he could get the pass-book. Ralf came out empty handed. The Korean man took Ralf back inside and a few minutes he came back out and started to “chat” to me. Ralf came out with the pass-book and a map of the river route! A few minutes later the guy who gave him the passbook came out, he was the nephew of the older Korean gentleman. The older Korean gentleman was 76 years old and cycles every day. He had a very nice Italian road bike that weighed 7 kgs.

He waited for us to be ready to leave and showed us through the City of Yeojou to the next stamping station about 10 kms along the route. He was a really strong cyclist and left us in his dust a couple of times.

He waited for us to catch up even when Ralf stopped to take a photo.

At the next certification centre, he made sure that Ralf knew where to get his book stamped. While Ralf went to get an extra stamp in the cultural centre, I continued to chat to this inspiring guy. He rode 50 kms every day and usually did it in less than three hours, he had a really good set of legs on him. We complimented each other on the strength of our legs and our arms! He showed us the way to continue and then was on his bike and away.

The cultural centre also had information about the third dam.  After we crossed the dam, there was a very steep decline back to the river!

Even the fish had a ladder.

On this section of the route there are more areas for camping that have showers and toilets and a raised camping platform.

It was a lovely warm day with a high of 25 degrees. We really enjoyed the route and the scenery.

We crossed over a small island to get to Guramni.  There were a few people setting up tents for the week-end.  I am not sure I would be camping at the moment, it is still a little chilly for me at night.

We got to Guramni at 2:30 and decided to stop as the next place for a hotel was over 30 kms away.

We thought we had found a guesthouse but the complex with guesthouse, cycle maintenance and café was closed. Two ladies came out of the small medical clinic and one of them spoke really good English. She told us there was a guesthouse in the village and to ask at the grocery store. Ralf went into the grocery story and they called the guesthouse, the owner came over to show us where the guesthouse was located. I had read that some of the guesthouse do not have a traditional European bed, instead they have a mat on the floor. We weren’t sure what we were going to get. Fortunately, we have a bed, although there is also a mat on the floor if we choose to sleep on the floor.

After rinsing out the cycle gear and hanging it outside on the balcony, we went to the local grocery store and bought a beef curry with microwave rice for dinner and some beer.

The fish restaurant that was located next to the guesthouse, was very popular with locals and visitors to the area, it was a busy spot for a Friday night. We were offered fish for dinner, but didn\’t fancy picking the fish or eel from the tank. 

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!

April 5, 2017

We arrived at the train station about 9:15 and bought our tickets. We passed through the gates heading towards the platform when security stopped us. Bikes are not allowed on trains during the week, only on the week-end! We asked how to get off the island (with the bikes). We told the security that we had asked yesterday if we could take the train with the bikes and we were told that we could take the bikes. Ralf was very calm and asked what time we could take the bikes on, if it were possible to day. The security went of to get permission, he came back and said we could take the bikes on the train in one hour 10:30. We waited on the platform for an hour watching three trains come in and leave, some of them were busy others were not. We were told to get on the train at the very front or the very back. We opted for the front as I figured the train would stop close to the end of the platform. There were three designated doors for bicycles.

It was cloudy and threatening rain and a little chilly – going from 34 to 9 degrees (real feel 40 degrees to 4 degrees) was a shock to the system. I had my leggings on and my heavier cycle jacket and socks. While we were waiting at the train station Ralf switched from his cycle shorts to his long leggings. I have no idea how he did it without flashing the CCTV cameras, or maybe he did!

At 10:30 we were on the train to Gansom, 17 minutes later we were off the train and trying to work out which way to go to the waterway.

The plan had been to cycle to the very start of the route at Ara Waterway lock which entailed cycling away from Seoul and then back-tracking along the same route towards Seoul. We found the waterway and headed in the wrong/right direction. Wrong direction for the start – right direction for Seoul.

It had been cold then it started to rain and continued for the rest of the day, getting heavier as we entered the outskirts of Seoul, we cycled into a headwind. Not a great start for the first day.  At one point when we thought we had to be across the river there was a bridge that had elevators to take us to the bridge level and then across the river.

After crossing the bridge we discovered that we were heading towards Seoul and not towards the start of the waterway.

However, the bike path is amazing. Away from traffic and along the river/canal. There are rest stops and toilets and even bike maintenance stations. 

At one point the designers of the bike path created a waterfall.

After following the Ara Waterway to the connection with the Hangang River route. We continued into Seoul.

Seoul is a huge city with approximately 10.9 million within the city limits, 24 million in Greater Seoul area.  Where do you house all those people.  In large apartment blocks!

We had booked a hotel in the Gangnam area of Seoul, it was the easiest part of the path to get away from and find a hotel. Plus I thought it would be kinda of cool to stay in Gangnam – Gangnam style. We missed the road by one street and had to ask for directions. The hill up to the guesthouse was really steep and we both had to push the bikes. The guesthouse is almost like a hostel, except with private rooms and bathrooms. When we got to the hostel I asked to see the room. I knew it was going to be small! We upgraded from a miniscule room to a tiny room. In the miniscule room you could not swing a cat, in the tiny room we had enough rooms to put the bags and move around a little. The Polaris guesthouse was very nice and clean it has a common room with a food and coffee. Breakfast was included and we could help ourselves to noodles and drinks. The bikes were stored in a storage area

After we had sourced our dinner (7Eleven) we spent a couple of hours chatting to the receptionist (Audrey) she is from Kuala Lumpar but wants to travel with her boyfriend when she has finished her studies next year.

April 4, 2017

A very productive day for me. After a peanut butter sandwich and a coffee for breakfast I headed out to get some supplies and a sim card for the phone. Ralf worked on the bikes.

I checked with reception at the hotel, we can leave the bike boxes here while we cycle around Korea. We are booked in for the two nights before we fly home on April 24, 2017. That is a relief, because it was difficult to find boxes in Bangkok, the closest bike shop to the airport is 25 kms away on the mainland.

I found a supermarket and the prices are lower than at the convenience store. Then I headed to a phone shop. There used to be restrictions on buying sim cards in Korea and a lot of people will rent a phone at the airport because it is easier. I had done some research and thought I might be able to get a sim card locally or if not I would go back to the airport and get one there. The local phone shop was very helpful, although at first they wanted to sell me a package for $60.00, wow that is expensive. I asked if there was a smaller package available. After a little discussion with the manager I was able to get a package for $35.00 including $10.00 for the sim card.

I got back to the room and Ralf was still working on my bike. I left again to get us some lunch from the dunkin donut that is located around the corner.

I cleaned and oiled the bikes and we are ready to go. No idea where we are going, but we are ready!!

After Ralf finished his bike we headed out to the train station to make sure we can get the bikes on the train. Yep we can put the bikes on the train as we are only going one station which will take us off the island and put us on the mainland. We will then cycle 8kms back to the start and retrace our steps all the way to Seoul for tomorrow night. Dinner was interesting, I thought I had ordered bimibap, I did but it came with a soup which had shellfish in it. Fortunately the bimibap was good.

Looking forward to the ride tomorrow.

April 3, 2017

Ralf does it again!!

We were up early again for our flight to Seoul, South Korea. The taxi was on time and had a vehicle big enough for the bikes and the bags.

We got to the airport and found the Korean Airlines Check-in counter very easily. We ensured that the person at check-in knew that the bikes were not going all the way to Canada and we were stopping in Korea for three weeks.

Then it happened, the lady checked Ralf’s passport!! “Your passport has less than six months before it expires”. “This may be a problem when you get to Seoul, I have to call the immigration to make sure that it will be o.k. for you to travel”.

We both knew that Ralf needed a new passport in September! Although some countries request that there be six months left on the passport, we figured that as this is the last country out of four we should be o.k. Apparently not, Korea requires six months remaining on a passport! She disappeared with Ralf’s passport. Great I guess we will be heading straight back to Canada. The lady came back without Ralf’s passport and proceeded to weigh the bikes and bags. We didn’t have to pay for the bikes as they were included as part of the two bags per person. We still had the problem with Ralf’s passport! The phone rang, rapid gobbledygook down the phone. The lady looked at Ralf and smiled, “it will be o.k. I wanted to make sure that you would not be taken to a special room and kept there for hours when you got to Seoul”. “Everything o.k. I will get your passport”. Ralf had been “pre-approved” entry into Korea.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Once you have cleared passport control and security you enter the duty-free area.  The first thing you see is the depiction of the Scene of the Churning of the Milk Ocean or as Ralf and I like to refer to it as the Tug of War.

The airport at Bangkok is huge with designer stores all the way to the gates. Just in case you need to get rid of the rest of your Thai Baht, you can go to a Gucci store or Rolex store etc!

The flight was good a little bit of turbulence. I watched a great movie “Lion” with Dev Patel, make sure you have a box of tissues if you watch it, it was a tear-jerker.

At Incheon Airport our bikes and bags were already waiting for us when we cleared passport control. The bikes were x-rayed and we were on our way. The lady at the Tourist Information office called the hotel for us and we were told to wait inside. Within minutes the driver was there, helping us with the bikes to the waiting mini-van.

The hotel is nice with lovely under-floor heating. We need it, as it is chilly outside. We went to find something to eat, and had to wear our puffy jackets.

Ralf will put the bikes together tomorrow and we will set off on the last part of the Grand Adventure Part Two on Wednesday morning. We have noticed that things are quite expensive. We popped into the convenience store to buy some yogurt for the morning and maybe a beer for tonight. Average price of beer is about the same as at home, yogurt and milk is expensive as well. May be tomorrow I will find a supermarket and it might be cheaper. We knew that Korea was going to be more expensive, but it is a bit of a shock after living cheaply for the last few months.