2017 Korea Bicycle Adventure:
3rd Leg, East Coast back to Seoul
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| Busan - Pohang |
With the sunshine back dominating the skies, I
left Busan pointing the handlebar in a northerly direction.
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| Right after morning coffee that is! |
Along the coast was an all familiar sight of
daily Korean life, as a coastal fishing community.
As I got closer to Ulsan, the countryside
disappeared and huge Industrial Plants took over the scenery.
It was rather overwhelming, riding past the
world’s largest shipyard, the second largest oil refinery and other industries
on both sides of the road.
For about 20km the pleasant ocean smell got
replaced with that of oil, steel and chemicals.
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| Thermal Power Plant |
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| Oil Refinery |
Leaving Ulsan was a similar picture, as I rode
10km half way around the Hyundai Motor Factory, the world’s largest automobile
assembly plant.
On few occasions I tried to get some photos of
the plant, but because of the security wall and the ever present guards waving
their arms at the sight of a camera, I came up empty.
As it was an interesting to experience Korea’s
Industrial Heartland, I much prefer the pristine ocean views.
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| Back to Breathing Fresh Air |
So I was back happily pedaling again along the
coast toward Homigot, Korea’s most eastern point, passing some interesting
theme lodgings, cafés and exclusive bike
trails.
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| Flat Fish Porridge Restaurant (my translator tells me) |
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| Just Breathtaking |
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| The Hand of Coexistence |
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| Homigot, Most Eastern Point |
Soon after riding around the peninsula, Pohang
came into view, or at least “POSCO”, one of the largest steel producing
companies on this planet.
Although humongous in size, it seemed much
cleaner than the Ulsan
area.
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| POSCO Steel |
Actually I quite liked Pohang’s beach front,
with its boardwalk sculptures, restaurants and entertainment.
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| Pohang Beach Front |
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| No Shortage of Eateries |
Somewhere in one of the lodgings, somebody had
mentioned the Island of Ulleung-do, which was off of my radar at the time.
As I got to Pohang cycling past the ferry
terminal, I decided to stop and check out the departure schedule.
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| Pohang - Dodong Ferry |
The next morning, I was on my way to
Ulleung-do. After a bumpy 3 hour ride in the Sea of Japan, the Catamaran docked
in Dodong Harbor.
The first glimpse of the Island was
impressive, hilly with mountains in the background, and all the greenery's
reminded me of parts in Switzerland.
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| Dodong Harbor |
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| Dodong |
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| Harbor of Jeodong |
All the vegetation does come at a price, that
of little sunshine and lots of rain.
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| Rainy Naesujeon Lookout |
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| Bongrae Falls |
The time on the island I spent biking, hiking
and an around the island cruise.
At this time, the road around the island is not
completed yet, so I only rode half way around.
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| Coastal Hiking Trail |
I’m very grateful to Mr. Lee & Mr. Jung,
as I got to see and taste a lot more, through their local knowledge and
language.
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| Elephant Rock |
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| Whale Rock |
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| Photogenic Seagulls |
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| The Three Amigos |
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| Pumpkin Makkoli Toast |
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| Honghap-bap (Rice with Mussels) |
The ferry ride back to Pohang was a lot
smoother than previously and my stomach was fit for another Korean meal. A good
thing I’m fond of Kimchi and all the local fares in general.
Often Korean restaurants don’t serve an
individual the same as a group, or couple.
Finally I found a place that served one of my
favored dishes, beef bulgogi, which concluded Pohang’s visit
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| Beef Bulgogi Meal |
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| Pohang - Gangneung |
Continued following the coast, with
breathtaking views kilometer after kilometer.
Crab Country turns on the appetite 😀
As I got closer to Gangneung and the border to
North Korea, in many places ugly security fences along the beach front are
taking away the beauty and serenity of the waterfront.
Some more agriculture fields around Gangneung
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| Working the Rice Paddies |
Gangneung itself has a beautiful beachfront
lined with boardwalks, cafés, restaurants and is going to be part host of next
year’s Winter Olympics with Peongchang.
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| Gangneung Beach Front |
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| Upcoming 2018 Peongchang Winter Olympics |
A short while north of town is the famous 38th
Parallel, the division of North and South Korea, even though the actual border
at this point is still ways away to the north.
Although I never saw much wildlife, what stood
out was the ever present call of the cuckoo throughout the day.
The most exciting wildlife would have been an
owl family near the town of YangYang, in the same location as the Naksansa
Temple.
The site was masterfully chosen on a cliff overlooking the Sea of
Japan, by both the Buddhist Monks and the Owls! 😀
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| Owl Family |
Now the point had come to leave the lovely
beachfront with the excellent, well designed bicycle lanes and turn inland
again toward the west.
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| Last Glimpse of the Ocean, sigh... |
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| Gangneung - Seoul |
By the city entrance of YangYang the Pine Mushroom is greeting the
visitors, as the area is famous for their fungi and every October a 5 day festival is being held.
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| Pine Mushroom! (NOT to scale) |
Now I started to follow Route 44. At first it
was a gradual incline toward the Seorak Mountains, and then the road started to
climb at a steady 10% as it crossed
the Hangyereung Pass, Korea’s highest pass of 920m.
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| Part of the Seorak Mountains |
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| Road leading up to the pass |
The riding was better than expected, a 2 lane
road with a good surface, wide shoulder and little traffic.
As it turned into a 4 lane road before Wontong,
traffic got really heavy, but the shoulder doubled as well and it still felt
safe riding amongst all those
speedy Koreans.
It was safe enough to fix another flat, which
was #3!
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| Puncture #3 |
Eventually I turned onto route 56 towards
Chuncheon and it turned very peaceful again.
It was back to a 2 lane road, following a
small stream winding up a picturesque valley, then crossing 2 small passes
before reaching Chuncheon.
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| Chuncheon in the Distance |
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| Chuncheon River Trail |
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| Leaving the City |
Along the trails it is obvious that the
Government is taking health seriously, as exercise equipment can be found
everywhere and sometimes in unlikely places.
Koreans are also taking sun exposure rather
seriously, including their hiking and biking attire, which takes a while to get
used to.
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| Daily Hiking Attire |
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| The same goes for most Cyclist's |
From Chuncheon to Seoul it was back following
the Upper Han River, as it is part of the 4 rivers bicycle trail system. As
previously, the entire design and construction of those cycle ways are just out
of this world!
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| Superb Bicycle Paths |
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| Hotels come in all sorts of shapes & colors |
Cool street Art
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| Street Art |
To keep the memories alive, back in Seoul I
met up with the 2 hikers again from Ulleung-do for a nice Korean BBQ.
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| Typical Korean BBQ |
As always, eventually all trips come to an
end, although the mind can rest at ease as the road keeps on going, just
waiting for the next adventure…
Denial of the completed journey might still
linger on for a while…
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| Yang Clan |
Jin and his fellow bicycle enthusiasts
from the café, who had some good suggestions, which had come in handy.
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| Bicycle Enthusiasts |
Memories and new found friends will remain...
I also would like to say a BIG thanks to
Kristie’s Family, especially her brother KyungMo for all their support.
Conclusion: Late spring cycling is excellent, great weather, NO bugs, fabulous bicycle lanes, very relaxing, beautiful countryside, super friendly people...,
Cycling Korea can definitely remain on my list!
Keep the tires rolling… Tony
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