It looks like there may be a bike route along the river , but it was growing dark so we took a taxi to our hotel--the 'Green Grass' in Kangnam-ku. We caused a small riot when the taxi drivers argued over which one of them was going to take us. We wanted a big taxi because of all our gear, but small taxis were at the head of the rank. Or maybe not. Unclear. But we got a big taxi. At a big taxi price.
Heavy Saturday night traffic--stop and go most of the way, so it took about an hour. The GG is a pleasant clean middle-grade place in the commercial district south of the river. About $60 for a single. We had a beer and then went out for dinner in the neighborhood. We had a good tofu and seafood stew with rice and kim chee and beer for $6 each. Very good and filling.
Then we set up our bikes, which took about an hour. While Peter finished his bike, I walked down to the Intercontinental to get the local dial-up number for IBM.net. On the way back I also bought an AC plug adapter in a store near the hotel. Korea is 220 v--I had brought my transformer, but forgot the plug adapter. I also got a phone adapter: Korea seems to be mixed RJ11 and a local 4-prong affair.
Back to the GG, but I could not get my computer to dial out even after setting up a dial string with a 9+. The same problem as I found some places in Japan earlier this year. I should have better luck when we get outside Seoul, where I can get a direct line.
Then we took the subway downtown (45 min) and walked around a bit and did some shopping for maps and dictionaries. On the subway, the young and middle-aged passengers graciously offered us their seats, a gesture that we interpreted as relating to our age, rather than to our ethnicity. Since he is a year older, Peter got more offers than I did. We stood, as a matter of principle.
We went to the Youngpoong Bookstore--a huge clean well-lit underground place. Two floors several hectares in area. Certainly the biggest bookstore in areal extent that I’ve seen, although Powells in Portland or Tattered Cover in Denver might have more books. Unlike shops in the US, with their vertical shelves, all the books here lie flat on knee-high horizontal tables, making it easier to browse. But a somewhat inefficient use of floor area. The place was thronged with shoppers and readers.
Then to the central KNTO office. Not too much in the way of stuff. But they did have 2 excellent large 3-D relief models. One of Korea, the other of Seoul. The one of Korea was about 30 m long and gave us an excellent picture of the terrain that we are going to enjoy over the next few weeks. Some of it vertical.
Lunch--a bowl of noodles with miso and tofu. Then the subway back to Kangnam. We stopped off at the Hyundai Department store where we bought bread and jam for tomorrow. A necessity, given the apparent absence of places open early for breakfast. The food floor of the Dept store was a colossal place stocked chiefly with luxury items and prepared food. Much like Harrod's in London or Takashimaya in Tokyo. Very crowded with Sunday shoppers.
Central Seoul looks good. Very pleasant, modern, and clean. Quite a contrast to my visit in 1977. Crowded on Sunday. Folks are well dressed and look fairly prosperous The stores that are open are full, and folks seem to be buying.
Weather is perfect. Scattered clouds, temp 70F. Gentle wind from NW. The paper said that the biggest typhoon of the year was due to strike the Pusan area, but there is no sign of it up here.
We headed east on Tehran-ro--a busy arterial. Morning traffic out bound was not too bad. We got to the Olympic stadium, but could not get down to the river there due to construction. So we went north on the highway for about a km and then dropped down to the Han River --to find a beautiful bike path that we followed for about 9 km up the river.
Just about the time we were congratulating ourselves on having made an easy escape from Seoul, the bike path along the river ended. We were uncertain as to our location and boxed in by a express highway not shown on any of our maps. So we had to backtrack on the bike path for about 4 km before we could find an underpass to cross the highway. Then we headed south and southeast on residential streets, riding by the compass, since we could not relate anything on the maps to what we were seeing on the ground.
Leaving Seoul
Click on the picture to view the photograph
After about 10 km and an hour wandering around and getting conflicting directions from pedestrians, we came to the suburb of Hanam and were set right by a friendly taxi driver. We crossed the Han on the Pal'dak bridge (not shown on my map) and headed up the river on the east side.
At 1130 we stopped at Nungnae--a pleasant village where 3 rivers converge to form the Han. We had an excellent lunch of noodles and kim chee. Then we stopped at a fruit stand for dessert.
Then across the river again to highway 363--and then a very pleasant spin with light traffic up the river--light to moderate headwinds and several serious hills but excellent scenery. Then we were forced back across the river to highway 46--4 lanes of busy traffic. Very unpleasant grind up the valley to Kapyong where we arrived at 1600. We decided to stay there--we needed 2 more hours to get to Chunchon, and only about 1 1/2 hour of light left.
We found a very nice yogwan for $15 per single, with bath. They had only 1 Korean style room left, and Peter won the toss.
Dinner of grilled chicken and cabbage and onions and more, with kim chee of course. $8 each with beer included.
A pretty good first day, although we lost a couple of hours getting out of Seoul. We hope that most of the traffic is behind us. 85 km for the day. Weather: cloudless sky, 50-60F with brisk north wind. The temp dropped to about 40F as soon as the sun went down.
Kapyong is a pleasant place. Nondescript, but small and with a nice friendly feel to it.
I left town about 0800--Peter about 15 min before.
We headed north up the valley on highway 46. Foggy with mist rising from the river. And a lot of steam rising from a canvas concreting shelter, as they cured a big deck slab on a new bridge being built parallel to the present bridge.
Moderately heavy traffic, but most of the highway has 4 lanes and a pretty good shoulder. We had one 400 m tunnel but it was wide and well lit. [All of the tunnels that we rode through on our trip were wide, dry and well-lit. Korea has the world’s best tunnels, we opine]
I got to Chunchon about 1000, by which time the temp had risen to about 60F and it was turning out to be a beautiful day. In Chunchon, I went to the Tourist info place and got a bunch of stuff on Kangwon province. I also ended up being interviewed by the woman at the info desk about our plans for our visit to Kangwon--where were we going? Why did we come to Kangwon? Where will we stay? etc. I was the first foreign visitor in 2 weeks.
There is a US Army base in Chunchon, but I saw no evidence of it as I rode through the city. CC (pop 300,000) is a very modern and pleasant place--very clean with wide streets and not much congestion. I rode through the center and out to the NE through nice rural countryside, with rice fields and light traffic. I crossed the river at 1115 just below Soyang dam and started the climb up to Opongsan. I got to the pass--about 750 m--at 1315. A beautiful climb with light traffic and nice views of the valley to the south. I had a snack at the pass and rolled down the valley.
At the bottom of the hill I met up with Peter. We decided to take the direct route to Yangu. The traffic is so light that we figured that the tunnel would be OK.
Which turned out to be the right choice. The tunnel--800 m--was well lit and with few vehicles. Taking the direct route saved about an hour of climbing.
The ride along the north side of the reservoir (Soyangko) was very nice. The road runs well above the water and allows good views to the east and west. Light traffic, and a good wide road. Quite sinuous--we rode 40 km to get about 15 k of forward progress. Also quite a few rolling climbs and descents, in the range of 6 to 10 pct.
Finally we climbed away from the reservoir for about 200 m and then rolled down to Yangu where I arrived at 1715, with about 30 min of light to spare. Peter had arrived earlier.
We got a good yogwan for about $17. Western style. Not as folksy as last night, but very clean and quiet.
Dinner at a "Chinese" place. An excellent bowl of noodles and seafood for $7 each including beer.
Yangu is a quiet pleasant place. Full of Korean soldiers. But they were all gone by 2000--presumably back to the barracks.
93 km for the day and quite a bit of work. Weather perfect. Cloudless, 40-65F. For the last hour of the ride, it was cold in the shadows in the canyons, so I had my jacket and long pants on after 1500.
An excellent day--one of the nicest rides that I’ve had in a long while.
It was a nice gentle glide up the valley until we turned to the east about 10 km from Yangu at about 0930. Then we had a 4 km, 8 pct climb up a side valley where we had a 600 m tunnel. As before, the tunnel was well lit and with light traffic. We saved about 10 km and quite a bit of climbing by taking the tunnel, although the old road would have been nice, with some good views down the valley. At the start of the climb, the fog was pretty well gone and the temp up to 45F.
Fishing boats on the east coast
Click on the picture to view the photograph
Drying of squid
Click on the picture to view the photograph
I got through the tunnel at 1015 and then enjoyed a nice 20 km glide down to Inje junction. Light traffic and a gentle grade that didn't require much braking. The valley is forested, with rice and soybeans in the bottom.
Then we joined highway 46 for about 8 km until the 2 highways split again. Lots of traffic headed for Soraksan National Park. After the split, it was a very pleasant climb-- gentle--about 2 pct, with steep valley walls and the stream tumbling down a rocky bed. Good views of the peaks of the Soraksan mountains to the south. Several military checkpoints waved me through without stopping.
Then the turnoff for the Alps ski resort and Kansong at 1300. The climb up to the pass at the Alps didn't amount to much, and I was on top by 1350. On the way up I was stopped by a Korean mountain biker--in his van-- coming back from a ride. We chatted for a while, and I learned that Peter was just up ahead.
Then another beautiful glide down the valley to Kansong, with more military and police checkpoints, none of which stopped me. About 20 km of level or very gentle down valley. I got to Kansong at 1430. Pushed on to Kojin along the coastal plain where I met Peter at 1500. We decided to have a late lunch in a friendly roadside place . Vegetable fried rice and soup for $4 each. Then we went on into the center of town where we got a yogwan for $17. Not quite as nice as the ones before, but both rooms have views of the harbor.
85 km for the day
Kojin doesn't appear too prosperous. Sort of grubby actually, but maybe this is a reflection of its being a weather-beaten fishing village. There seem to be about 100 squid boats based here and there are racks of drying squid everywhere in town. The other activity is the Navy--there is a squadron of patrol boats based here. Their pier is just outside my window. We are about 30 km from the DMZ.
After dark we went out for dinner. Excellent squid sashimi with many side dishes-- cooked clams, tofu, rice, kim chee, etc. The squid was sliced longitudinally, in a bed of lettuce and seaweed and some other stuff, unidentified. Very tasty. $9, beer included.
There was much activity in the harbor overnight as the squidders came and went . All of the Navy patrol boats went out at different times. After dark, every time I looked out there were many squid boat lights, some over the horizon, but sending out a bright glow. I figure that the average squidder must have about 50 kW of lights, suspended on brackets about 2 m above the deck. They probably need to wear sunglasses when they work, and must have some pretty hefty onboard generators.
I finally got on the internet, by hot wiring the pay phone in the hall at our yogwan. A non-destructive and reversible process, for which I paid the proprietor the long- distance charges. There must be something about the Korean PBX lines that have confounded my earlier efforts. After I finally got everything organized, with some messages to send, the IBM dial-up line in Seoul was busy. So I gave up trying to send.
Children
Click on the picture to view the photograph
We left town at 1000, headed north to the DMZ. After about 20 km, we were stopped by a police roadblock. After a fair amount of discussion, we found that we could not go further north on our bikes but that a shuttle bus was available for those on foot. Private cars and tour buses could go ahead, after their passengers were inventoried and registered.
So we waited about 30 min for the next shuttle bus. We were in a large group of buildings, mostly souvenir stands and snack places. Also a propaganda flick in Korean was showing, but we missed it. There were about 300 people there, in various stages of clearance, registration, snacking, and souvenir shopping.
The bus to the north had only about 10 of us, for the 10-km ride to the south side of the DMZ. Army everywhere, including another checkpoint, where we were counted.
The "Reunification Observatory" was well done. Perched on a hill overlooking the DMZ with North Korea in the distance. Scenic as well as historically interesting. Unfortunately there was nothing in English and we were the only non-Koreans in evidence. About 200 folks there, coming and going all the time. I got a copy of an English summary translation of the remarks of one of the tour guides.
View into North Korea
Click on the picture to view the photograph
Then back by bus to the first checkpoint, arriving at 1300. We then headed south on our bikes. We had an uneventful ride south along the coast to Sokcho where I arrived at 1615, Peter shortly before. Not a bad ride...heavy traffic after Kansong, but the road is a new 4-lane highway with the outer lanes coned off. So we had a lane to our selves for most of the way into the City.
Sokcho, pop 80,000 is a bustling modern port. We found a good yogwan on the edge of the central area along the harbor for $19. I ‘d worked on my Korean phrases for “ I’d like 2 Korean-style rooms with a view of the sea”..but it turned out that the rooms on the upper floors were closed. But the landlady understood what I was trying to say. So I’m making some progress.
At 1900 we went out for another great meal..much the same as last night except that the sashimi was mackerel. I think the Korean style sashimi (hoe) is better than Japanese. Here they serve it in a bed of greens and veggies, with interesting sauces and side dishes. $9 each, beer included.
Then I tried to get on the internet. IBM was not busy for a change but the line quality was so bad that I could not get connected. Turned in at 2130.
85 km for the day. Cloudy all day, temp 45-65. Light rain from 2000, heavy by 2200. SE sea breeze after 1100, so we had a headwind for most of the day.
