Daily Mileage: 44
Total Miles: 343
End Location: Hakpori
We woke up to a soaking wet world. A cloud enveloped us and hung over the river, blasting us with cool and moist air. The tent was the wettest it has been all trip, and perhaps all year. As we shook it out pools of water formed and dropped off. It was a joy cramming it all into its tiny sack and strapping what was basically a saturated sponge to my bicycle. We started riding after getting ready and made it two minutes before having to get off our bikes and walk them up a large hill. We ascended to some Buddhist temple and it was cool seeing these really large statues and old buildings through a shrouded sun splintered mist.
We finally made it to the top and descended down to another certification center. There are 27 certification centers along the Seoul to Busan route, and you can buy a passport book to get a stamp at each of the booths. If you collect all the stamps you can turn in the book and get a medal for completing the route. It seemed like a pain in the ass so we didn’t bother with the book, not like we knew where to buy one anyway, since they weren’t selling them at the very first booth, so it would be pointless to collect stamps if you already missed the first one. People will just have to take our word for it when we tell them we rode our bicycles from Seoul to Busan.
At the certification station we stopped and grabbed some breakfast at the convenience store there. At all stores like this you can buy bowls of instant ramen noodles and they have hot water for you to use to rehydrate them. We’ve had a lot of these instant noodles. They are pretty good and really cheap, usually about a dollar, and available pretty much everywhere. I’ve started to eat these pork things on a stick that are pretty good as well. You heat them up in the microwave. The ones I’ve had tasted like honey ham and they are meaty and satisfying.
At the store we met a fellow cycle tourist heading the other direction. His name was George and he was from Mexico. And as a bonus, he spoke perfect English.
“There’s not much in the way of food stops for the next 50 kilometers,” he began telling us. “I had to eat some emergency tuna and I ended up getting a huge rash on my stomach.”
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, the rash has gone down, luckily. Just bring enough food for that stretch. Oh, there are two killers hills coming up for you as well.”
Both of these aforementioned hills required us to get off our bikes and walk them up a few kilometers to the top. How the people that built this route thought anyone would be able to ride up a 13% grade is beyond me. It’s asinine. The hills slowed us down but the views from the top were pretty grand. Korea is strange in this way. One minute you can feel like you are in a mountain paradise, and then when you descend down a few kilometers you are suddenly in an urban farm with large apartment high rises nearby. There doesn’t seem to be any true wilderness here, or at least the parts we have seen. There is always something someplace. Whether it is a farm or a shrine or a small community or a towering city. South Korea is dotted with things across the entirety of its landmass.
We are camped in a park overlooking the river and mountains tonight. It is our last night before finishing our ride tomorrow in Busan. We are meeting up and staying with my old college friend and roommate who has lived in South Korea for the past 7 years, and who currently lives in Busan. I haven’t seen him since we both graduated in 2009, so it will be great to catch up with him before heading out again on our way to Japan.
I’ve really enjoyed my time cycling South Korea. It has been a great experience. My only regret is that I didn’t know much Korean. Part of the fun of cycle touring is meeting and interacting and talking with the people that live in the area you are cycling through. I still have little concept of what Korean culture really is, because nobody has yet been able to explain it to me. I can look and observe but this gives little context to why something is a particular way, or how it works.
Language is really important, that much is true. If I learned anything out here, that would be it. 
