I started the day so full of Hope. My first day of traversing the infamous hills of Korea after a rest day and what type of weather hits? Thunderstorms.
Well, I suppose it could be worse. Moon had to leave a lot earlier than I, he was taking a ship to Fukuoka and left at 6:00am, right in the think of the wet mayhem.
My goal for the day is to cycle from Busan to Changwon. Not far if you draw a straight line across the map. However, there are very few straight lines (going East to West) in Korea. Almost all roads make like a diamond weaving pattern, like argyle, making switch paths around all the mountains.
Even here, at the 25th floor apartment of my WarmShowers host, the rain will wake you up at 3:00am and dare you wait for a lightning to strike and brighten the darkness for only a moment.
It's hard to tell, whether it's preferable to cycle in the heat or in the rain. I wouldn't prefer either I suppose. Cycling in a wet downpour can be just as bad as cycling in dry 35° heat.
Before leaving, Moon and I snapped a quick shot together. You can see he is ready for the rain, while I am ready to wait it out for an hour over breakfast with his very pleasant mother. You can also spot his red pannier by our feet.
Breakfast is usually a let down in Asian, if you can even find it. Since leaving home over two and a half years ago, I've come to rid my morning hungers and settle on a hardy lunch.
Today's morning meal, therefore, is truely a rare treat! Veggies, salad, noodles, rice, and some rare beef! I couldn't help but finish it all with a smile and thanked Moon's mother many times before She had to carry off to work herself.
Shortly after I was saying goodbye to Moon's father and waiting for the elevator to take me and my bike into the wet mess of imminent traffic and unavoidable splashes of accumulated water kicked up from street pot holes from cars and buses.
I was advised to take the subway out of the city. Maybe I should have, because the traffic was horrendous, really bad for cycling. Anyways, after many battles with motorized vehicles and red lights, I made way out and into some OK uninterrupted stretches. I wanted to stay along the coast since the highways, although legal to cycle on, where still packed with cars and large trucks at this point.
I don't know what these are. They are strung all along the street rails.
A cool tunnel I got to cycle through.
Sometime around mid day I found a run down museum to stop off at and have lunch. The architecture looks modern enough but the complex is certainly deserted. Maybe it just wasn't ready for a grand opening yet.
Moons family is so nice - some parting gifts from the family: bananas, chocolate, and rice puffs.
I'm not to big to admit that I struggled to get to changwon. The roads are not as clearly market as I needed, and I definitely took some switchbacks across roads I wouldn't normally have. But, that's part of it. Anyways, I made it to the prefecture/region I was to meet another host, and the sun was still out, so I was happy.
In Japan, you find these everywhere. I am glad to see onigiri
in Korea too because they make for an excellent quick, cheap, and effective snack.
Internet is surprisingly available in Korea. Often I'll stop to look at my iPhone map and notice that somewhere along the way I picked up a free signal which triggered all my message notifications.
Point being I was able to meet up with Phil, photoed left. Married to Heather, they have a son Austin.
Well, it turned out that Heather and Austin were visiting the States for a week, so it would just be me and Phil.
Being that the wife and kid were away, "want to risk the rain for a walk to the pub?" asked Phil? I answered quickly. I never need much convincing.
It did, sadly, start to rain on our way over. "We'll just have to stay in the pub until we dry off then," said Phil. I agreed with a laugh and told him that indeed, he is very English.
And so one beer turned into another, and another. Then, we upgraded from shitty Korean beer to something better, and bigger. The mug read 50 at just below the head line, but we agreed they are a little bigger. I think we finished these and ordered two more a piece before we were dry enough to walk home again.
Cycling can really through off your metabolism. Sometimes one beer gets you drunk, other times you go out drinking and feel like Superman. Last night was the latter thankfully.
I woke up somewhat refreshed, having slept on an actual bed rather than the floor, and ready to cycle some more.
And so was the first day of traveling through Korea. Hopefully the routes get easier, and the drinks keep coming. All is well and I am in excellent spirits.
Much love,
-A
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