Suanbo to Gyeongju

Written by Bruce:

Where were we...

So the weather has finaly broke and the km's are piling up...526k, one flat tire, and wonderful hospitality from our hosts.  The last few days we have made some great new friends and enjoyed some wonderful weather.  Temps have been in the 80-90 F range with  moderate humidity.  A few hills have posed early challenges to our green legs but all with "happy endings"...

Once we left our new friends Jack and Jay at Coco's Guest House...

we immediately faced a series of climbs culminating in a 600m summit and a quick rain shower to cleanse us of our sins.  

We found a somewhat dilapidated but peaceful camp along our route where a lovely Korean couple bequeathed upon us a cold bottle of Hite (which we had been lamenting just prior not purchasing on our ride from town).  Another early morning of K-pop listening, lycra clad local cyclists awoke us and we hit the trail again heading to Gumi and a warmshowers famiily host.  On the way we came across the most germane attraction possible for us...the Sangju Bicycle Museum.  

Old, one-of-a-kind, alternative materials, you name it and they probably had it on display at this tribute to the two wheeled iron horse.

The Hong family of Gumi treated us better than one could ever wish.  Our first taste of Bibimbap (Chiara was mistakin about it earlier, that was a noodle dish that wasn't quite the same) a traditonal Korean dish, a mapfulof directions for the next few days riding, a hot shower, a comfy spot to sleep, and a history lesson on the great president Park Chung-Hee made for a fulfilling and re-energizing nights stay.

A little aside here for all you fellas out there thinking about traveling...bring yourselves along a little lady.  They are irreplaceable when it comes to making your stay wth a host family easier and more fruitful.  Chiara has been the belle of the ball as far as the women of Korea are concerned.  Hugs, smiles, laughs and long goodbyes, gifts bestowed upon us in spades and endless queries of marriage have become the norm as we make our way south in this wonderfully gracous land.  Not that yours truly isn't worthy of such accolades but I must admit...Chiara has made this journey so much more than just a bike tour.  

We encountered a bit of trouble shaking off the comfort of our host, finding the first Tern bicycle dealer in Korea, and route finding (we are venturing off  the established Korean cycling route on our own).  This made for a late departure from Gumi and later arrival to our camp spot.  As we are now departing from the well-marked and virtually care-free Four Rivers Trail system, to the bit more hectic "choose-your-own-adventure" way through Korea riding on roads wth small shoulders and construction traffic. It was a good early test that we feel we passed with flyng colors, making to our destination before dark.   Urban camping has become a thing we are getting used to.  Each town seems to be built along rivers, canals, streams, or a body of water.  The resulting water front parks serve as a place for enjoyment for locals by day either walking, cycling, fishing or picnicking and by night become ideal locations to throw up our tent near the ubiiquitous publc toilets (the cleanest we have ever seen) and water fountains (seriously, there seems to be a public toilet every 12 feet...South Koreans surely do not want for bathrooms).

Gear note:  Big Sky International Revolution 2P tent- Time and again now we have been impressed with the ease of set-up and spaciousness of this shelter.  Its compact size and weight and its free standing external two pole construction make for the easiest and fastest "popping" of a shelter I have experienced.   I can't say enough about how happy we are with this tent to this point.

And while we are on the topic of accommodations in Korea, Chiara and I discovered the "Love Motel" while searching for a place to lay our heads recently.  Though Chiara is quickly picking up the symbols of the Korean language, we have been at a loss to discover why these motels, which can be rented by the hour or night, and have a bowl of complimentary profilactics at the counter, are denoted by what appears to be a steaming bowl of soup prior to the name on the huge signs overhead?  These establishments are not always places of shame or reproach in Korea, as homes are often very small here, much smaller than what is considered acceptable in the US.  Often couples must escape to one of these locales in order to have time alone...though I doubt there is not the occasional bit of infidelity with those practicing man's oldest profession. (Try to get you a photo of this soon)

Today was a short jaunt over a few hills to the beautifully historic and slghtly trendy town of Gyeongju.  We are still discovering its significance in Korea's past.  The ancient kingdom of  Silla, which seems to have links to most of the greatest archeological discoveries, has a signficant mark in this region of the country with giant burial mounds, simiilar to the great pyramids, and temples strewn throughout the beautiful mountain countryside.  We decided to splurge for two days on a traditional Korean guesthouse called a Hanok.

We will update you again in a few days as we make our way east to the coast and then south to Busan.  Only a week or so more in Korea before we head to the land of the Rising Sun.  Hope you are enjoying the ride as much as us.

Love,

Bruce and Chiara

Meet Your Hosts- Chiara

Hello folks!

You got to lear a little bit about Bruce, now I'm going to tell you more about me.  Hopefully not too much, need to leave a little mystery, right?

I was born in Eastern Montana, 38.5 years ago.  Yes, the flat part.  Nope, not a mountain to be seen.  Nowhere near Bozeman, but thans for asking.  I lived in Sidney, MT the majority of my childhood, and it was a rad place to grow up.  I had great friends, and way more freedom than your kids have now, believe me.  I think my free-range 

I went to school at University of Montana, where there are mountains.  I started really cycling more there, enjoying getting out of town and into the mountains on my cheap bike in my Cons and cut-offs shorts.  Post college (degree in social work) I move to London, UK with my dear friend Sarah (moment of silence, she's no longer with us) where I worked and played for 8 months before teaching Enlish in Milan, Italy for a while.

Then...Potland! Where I've been ever since.  I love Portland. Man it's amazing. I moved there partically because I had couches to sleep on (thanks Matt and Katie, I know 3 months was a long time!) I've been working with small children for years there, lately as an Early Childhood Special Education taecher in the David Dougas school district.  I love that I have always worked with really diverse populations since being in Portland. Love it.  And I'm going back to my jobby-job after this trip.

So, you ask, what do I do in my spare time?  Great question.  I cycle a fair amount between touring, weekend rides, and mountain biking. I even raced cyclocross this year a bit and I liked it.  I cook.  Passably, says Bruce.  But I have really started enjoying making a lot of things from scratch that I used to buy at the store.   I paint and fix things.  I hang with my cats, Augie and Stella.  I spend with my friends as much as time allows.  I read a lot.  Books, longform articles. 

In terms of places I've been, I was lucky to live in the UK, which was a real shocker to a little Montana girl like myself.  Same with Milan, huge international city but without the benefit of knowing the language.  While in Milan I spent some time traveling by myself through Easter Europe, Croatia, Slovenia, and Hungary.  I've also spent longer periods of time in Guatemala (1 month) Mexico (1.5 months) and Brazil ( month),  I like to focus on things when I travel, so I have always worked on languages and in Brazil I studies capoeira, a martial art that I trained for 20 years.

In the last 7 years I have been so lucky to explore a fair amount of the Pacfic Northwest on my bike.  I have  been down the California coast, through chunks of British Columbia, rode from the coast of Washington through Montana with Bruce.  We totally didn't kill each other!  Matter of fact, we found we really like riding together. Hopefully just like this trip!

What do I want from this trip you ask? So many things.  I want to ponder my life decisions, and make sure I/we are headed in the direction  I/we want to be.  I want to unstrap myelf from my normal life to see things new again.  I wnat the challenge of not being able to go home to my bed for a year.  I want to seee alll the new things.  I want Bruce and I to keep having a blast even though this will not be particularly easy. I think that pretty much sums it up.  Thanks to all who are reading this!

Xo, Chiara

Riding Seoul through Suhi-Ro

After three very enjoyable days in Seoul, it was time to leave.  We knew the weather forcast was looking pretty grim (100% rain all day), but we decided that we needed to leave early in the morning and try to ride as far as we could even though it would be raining and windy throughout the day.  We actually routed ourselves nicely from our guesthouse through the city and to the Han River. It was so easy!  After our initial ride into Seoul, I wasn't sure that we would be able to actually find our way out, but we did.  Riding through Seoul next to the canal was a lovely experience, it was a Sunday, the streets were very quiet, and it was a nice way to say goodbye to a city by which we were really impressed.

So now we know what they mean by "the rainy season"...to say that it was wet would be an understatement.  It poured all day, and we rode into a headwind most of the day to boot.  The city buildings and atmosphere melted away as we made our way into smaller towns and villages and open outdoor space. Bruce and I had picked up ponchos the evening before and we were so glad that we had, as even with the ponchos we were faiirrly well soaked to the core.

       

We made it about 45 hard-fought miles before we decided that it was getting late, we were starving, and we needed to camp.  At the beginning of the day we had seen so many lovely campgrounds we just assumed that we would come across one soon after we decided that it was time to set up camp.  Ummm... not so much.  We stopped at a small grocery store to pick up provisions, and backtracked to the last place that we had seen with a slightly dry spot for a tent, a bathroom, and a water source.  It was a bizzare place, some type of childrens museum out on the trail with no car access or parking to speak of.  We cooked our ramen under an art piece and staked our tent in the dry area below an underpass.  

    

Between the noise from the cars passing overhead, the trains next to us, and the wind and the rain it was definitely not a night of good sleep.

The next morning the rain had let up a little, so we cooked what we though was going to be breakfast cereal (it ended up tasting a bit like under-cooked cardboard with some chocolate milk mix thrown in, as Bruce had raided the free box at the hostel and taken lots of packets of different one-off things) and ate it with the instant coffee (the staple breakfast drink...to our surprise, not tea).  As we set out we found...wait for it.... a bunch of picturesque campgrounds just miles from where we camped. As it goes...

An aside here.  There are some frustrating things we are finding about touring in  probably any country in which one does not know the language.  1) It makes map reading very difficult.  2) Sometimes you aren't quite sure what you are eating.  3) You often don't know when food will come along, and where you are going to be able to find a place to stay. 

It takes a lot longer to do thngs than in the states, or even in a place where at least letters and words are recognizable. We have been practicing our two words of Korean now to comfort (hello and thank you, and those two took awhile) and I am excited to learn more.  I am trying to really pay attention to the character system so I can recognize some things.  I have guesthouse and bke down, for example.  Anyway, so far it has been fun learning and exploring, but can certainly be a challenge when you are looking for food and lodging.  Aside over.

The next day of riding ended up being a bit more of the same, through really pretty scenery but once agan in showering rain and headwind. We ran across an Aussie guy named Wayne on the route and had our first conversation that didin't need hand gestures and translation.  It was oddly comforting. We found a campground on a little island that was amazing, no one was there, we grabbed a little pagoda and threw our tent up next to it, we even had our own bathrooms. We hadn't ridden far, a little under 40 miles (but a lot foor the conditions) and I really pushed for us to stay as the uncertainty and the previous night made the decision rather easy.  We also needed to spend a little time working on Bruce's bike, it must've gotten thrown around pretty brutally at the airport as his derailleur hanger was bent, as was his rack.  

Day three- What an amazing day! We woke up at our lovely campground with no rain!  Our clothes had pretty much dried up since we had washed and set them out the evening before.  We choked down a weird noodle-concoction from the night before's leftovers and more nstant coffee and set out in the sun.

What a beautiful ride!  We passed through so much farmland, we saw peppers, rice, eggplant, peaches, apples and so much more.  South Korea is fascinating, as according to the Lonely Planet the population density is super-high but as 90% of people live in high-rises there is a ton of open green space, and it is so very green right now being the middle of the rainy season.  

  

Everyone has been so very friendly.  We have seen a lot of cyclists on the path, lots of "hi's" and waves, bells dinging, smiles and bows.  A fellow traveller named Kim bought us some fresh cold water at one of the many stops along the way, and when we went into Cheongju we stopped at a small bike shop.  The owner was beyond helpful and refused to charge us for a quick tune-up.  We recommend looking him up if you ever need in this area and need any bike help...

    

After a few more hours of picturesque riding, when we started looking for a place to staythe night....preferrably with a shower.  After one false start at an idyllic and exorbenantly priced "glamping" site we met Jack who took us to his brand new guesthouse, "Coco's", named for their shaggy black dog in the front yard.  He and his wife Jay filled us full of delicious traditional Korean food and we even got our first taste of Korean wine "Makgeolli" (it taste a little like bubbly sake, and it is often mixed with ginger ale...really nice treat.) 

Side notes:  I think we need to adopt the Korean way of keeping our bodies covered, as we've already got lots of sun and sunscreen is expensive here (or has skin whiteners).  Seriously, it's amazing how dedicated they are to staving off sun damage.  Many cyclist are in spandex head-to-toe, even masks that cover almost their entire faces.  They look like cycling ninjas.  

 So far I cannot recommend this trail enough despite a few blog posts we have read.  It is certainly not the most adventurous, but it is amazing to have a dedicated, well-marked bike-and-walk only trail through the whole country.  And South Korea is only adding to this trail system.  As we write they are creating new paths along the coastlines and all over the country. It feels like the govornment is willing to put it's collective money where it's mouth is in terms of the health of it's citizens.  There are little free excercise equipment areas everywhere along this path. Here's me looking super uncoordinated having a stretch.  And unlike what you might think, they are used a lot by the locals.

Until next time...talk again down the road.