Day 11, Leg 9

It was a cloudy, gloomy day—very English. Once again, the Korean national weather service came through with a correct prediction: there was no rain during my walk, and there was a bright period for about two hours around lunchtime. The weather service also predicted that the morning would be warm in comparison to previous freezing mornings, and it was: at about 8°C (46°F), I didn't need my gloves, my poncho, or my robber's mask. This will be true tomorrow, too. I'm wondering whether I crossed some sort of "temperature line," such that my mornings will henceforth all be warmer. When I looked a few days ahead, I saw more warm mornings lined up. 

This could be the temperature paradox at work—something I've talked about on previous trips. Basically, as time moves forward, temps everywhere on the peninsula get cooler. But as I move southeast, average temps get warmer. It could be that, in going this far south, I'm now avoiding those frigid northern mornings. Or maybe all this is just a fluke.

I'm at the Limons Spa Hotel in the Suanbo neighborhood, arriving after a 25K walk. It's not a bad room for W60,000 a night, but there's no computer, and the room doesn't have the brace of charging cords found in cheaper motels. Luckily, I came prepared, and I'm taking advantage of my room's several outlets to recharge my power pack and my phone. WiFi is good here, but you have to find the service's name and password on the server router. I stayed here in 2020; the front-desk service was a bit snootier back then: I remember the guy asking me whether I'd made a reservation, which is a ludicrous question when you're at what is essentially a motel. 

The day started off dark and foggy. I checked the weather in the morning before I left at 5:15 a.m., and the first thing to pop up was a fog warning. That's more for drivers than for walkers, but it did add a layer of creepy mystery to the outdoor ambiance as cars zoomed by, emerging briefly from the mist before plunging back into it. 

I shutterbugged as I usually do. When I took a photo of a convenience store that was just opening up, the older gentleman running the place barked, "What are you photographing?" ("뭘 찍어?"—rather rude in tone) Not this again. I turned to him and said, "Why are you asking?" He faltered a bit but brushed my question aside, mumbling something I didn't quite catch. I kept my tone neutral and explained I was doing a long walk and was photographing whatever interested me. That seemed to satisfy him, and we parted ways, with me feeling irritated yet again. 

Much later in the day, I was at a hyugeso (rest stop) to buy some snacks, and the lady who rang me up spoke to me in a mixture of English and Korean. She saw my tee design and asked if I was heading for Busan. I said yes. Later, when I finished and was going to throw away my drink containers and wrappers, she saw my intention, brusquely gestured toward the back of the rest stop, and curtly said, "Out! Out!" in English, having apparently forgotten we had spoken in Korean just minutes before. The more I think about it, the more I think she wasn't intending to be rude (she was trying to tell me to use the outside trash bins, not the inside ones), but in the moment, I felt she was talking to me as if I were a dog. I didn't say anything; I merely nodded to show I'd understood her. I threw the garbage into the containers out back and then left, fuming. It took me a while to think through the situation, but I kept having these esprit d'escalier dialogues with her in my head, calling her a bitch for being so fucking rude. Eventually, I calmed down, but I'd still like to go back and lecture her about not talking to human beings as if they were dogs. And what still peeves me is that we had spoken in Korean, so she knew she could have said what she needed to say in Korean. I wonder if she just wanted to show off to the other patrons that she could communicate in English with the foreign clientele. It wouldn't be the first time for me to see that.

Anyway, the walk took me past some familiar scenery. Because I'd hopped off the Four Rivers trail to get to the G Motel in downtown Choongju, my walk this morning started out off-trail but, after a few kilometers, brought me back onto the proper path. 

There were some changes along the way, though—mainly new cafés along the route. Near the end of the segment, a new shop was visible; it sold carved stone heads. Hundreds of them were on display, in many shapes and sizes, but all humorously expressive. 

Once I got to the Suanbo neighborhood, I sought out the restaurant where I'd eaten a tasty 버섯전골/beoseot-jeongol three years ago—a hearty mushroom stew. I ended up in the wrong restaurant, but these people served their own version of the stew, so I ordered that. This one was better: it came with thin slices of Korean beef (한우/hanu) instead of being vegetarian. One day, I want to try my hand at making this myself, although I doubt I can find the varieties of mushrooms that went into the stew. 

My feet were fine until a bit past halfway, so I sat myself down, broke out a water bottle, and downed another half-dose of ibuprofen. It helped. I am routinely cinching my hip belt to the sixth hole. It may be a few days before I get to Hole #7, which is currently the final hole in the belt. I had less of a runny nose today, and the cloudiness meant I didn't have to break out my hat. Even with this new, smaller hat, the brim still bumps up against the backpack a tiny bit, so I'm glad whenever I have the chance to leave the hat inside my backpack.

Saw a lot of cast-off gloves, dead snakes, and even some Joro spiders. One spider, incredibly, was as dew-covered as her web. I praised her for her obviously powerful meditative technique. It takes spiritual skill to sit perfectly still for that long. 

Below will be the usual complement of visuals—from a map to stats to ten images meant to serve less as a chronicle of the day and more as a series of impressions. Enjoy.

I still don't know where the Suan Dam is.

nearly 4000 calories burned

All these drivers probably got up earlier than I did.

I liked the spooky lighting effects around this tree.

foggy morning

goat making a satanic head gesture

a view of the path

serpentine mortality (one of several such tableaux)

spiral stairs, deracinated and tossed aside

dew-covered spider with powerful meditative technique

I wonder what this chair's story is.

pumpkin squashes are everywhere

While it pains me to limit myself to ten images, I know this makes things tolerable for those lacking the patience to slog through a slide show of hundreds of images. As always, the patient readers and viewers will see the full set of photo essays after I'm back in Seoul.

Tomorrow's walk is, I think, the shortest walk of the whole trek: only 13K. So I may as well sleep in and then take my time walking. There's a 3K hill along the way, but it's not that bad. The following day will have a 5K hill. Luckily, that hill happens right at the very beginning of the walk, and it also isn't that bad.

PHOTO ESSAY

dark, spooky beginnings

morning traffic

uncanny lighting

a safe side road/bike trail

Buddhist grounds 1

Buddhist grounds 2

Buddhist grounds 3

"뭘 찍어?" the man asked rudely. "What're you photographing?"

The sign says, "Dee Dee Chicken" (or maybe "D-D Chicken")

Coffee Danwol

A cold morning to be outside, there, Goat.

It's laying a hex on me.

I didn't know tiny homes had become a thing in Korea.

Following the path means moving away from the main road.

I took a piss at this spot.

This is the Dalcheon/달천, which could mean "Moon Creek" if dal/달 is pure Korean. So I'm likely wrong.

a quiet mountain road by the crick

Wild peppers(?) just a-lyin' by the roadside.

another dramatic death

The tiny characters at the bottom of the rock are for "Choongju-si," or Choongju City.

Choongju Great Forest Mountain Fortress

Another dog that likes to bark loudly at strangers.

Another ubiquitous Lion's Club lion.

on the right path

As you can see, this is for sorting and recycling trash.

the Seoulun Creek

I'm looking straight ahead, but I'm going right.

Here, the harvest looks to be more or less done. Progress varies from place to place.

Lots of these exits off to the left to various restaurants and places to stay.

discarded spiral stairs

Hyang-san Village #3 (blue sign: "Water-source Protection Area")

sashimi restos; it's too early to be open

another defender of the realm

Snake turned into a dotted line.

when you've had time to dry

Cafe Open... is closed.

a place serving coffee and dessert

The vertical banners next to the square white banner: (yellow) bindae-ddeok (mung-bean pancake), (green) ddeokbokgi (finger-shaped rice-cake in red sauce), (purple-ish) eomuk-tang (fish-cake soup), (dark blue) samgyeopsal (pork belly), (red) donggaseu (deep-fried pork cutlet); the building off to the right, in the background, has a sign saying, "Last convenience store."

Still on the right track.

gravesites

Sheetgye Bridge (didn't want to write "Shitgye")

Dewy spider, holding still in the cold morning.

another unique-looking shwimteo

I need to go up on that bridge someday.

Lots of campers parked here. Or caravans if you're British.

My mortal enemy: glamping. Supposedly "glamorous" camping. Waste of money.

digital zoom of the bridge

The dodgy path to stay off the road.

It's hard to camp anywhere in Korea without finding yourself in a crowd of people.

shwimteo with windows

Togye Village Community Center

"garden cosmos"

a type of marigold, I think

squash flower

teeny squash

farm road that I'm not going down

morning glory

somewhat Georgia O'Keeffe-ish squash flower

shore loox lahk corn tuh me

"landscape (scenery) point"

another digital zoom of that bridge

pagoda, stairs, bridge

chair of mystery

another gravesite

oil drops looking like negative meteors

a humble grave

the squash who would be king

In sunlight, the reflection is supposed to hasten ripening of the apples.

Togye Bridge

I failed to note which creek this was.

brown warrior

house being built

I wouldn't mind a property like this.

tent storing something (someone?)

moss/lichen

competing textures

The white sign under the triangle says, "Saejae Bike Path."

"No entry—Private Property."

squuuuiiiiiiiiiish

After a long rain, I bet this creek looks like a river.

It just never ends.

another sign for the Saejae Bike Path

howdy, ladies

becoming one with the pavement

ever-present hangari (clay pots)

Munsan Presbyterian Church

bus stop for Munsan

A sign for both the Four Rivers and the Saejae, which are the same path for now.

more cabbage up close

rickety, rotted-through shwimteo

mystery squash

the enclosed bus stop for Mun-gang

classic Korean architecture (outside steps to the flat roof)

chrysanthemums... or Golden Mums? same thing?

another sign for both the Four Rivers and Saejae paths (with "Saejae" repeated on the white sign at bottom)

another sign of the harvest

the spa hotel I never stay at

the sign for that hotel

dilapidated gas station

downright leathery, this snake

Gloves: "We die together!"

more of those double signs for the two unified paths

and again

the harvested, and the to-be-harvested

We're swinging right.

Weontong Bridge

It's frustrating, sometimes, when you're trying to get a perfectly pristine shot, and pollution intrudes.

Rice paddy Mohawk.

A 원통/weon-tong is a cylinder... so this is Cylinder Village (원통마을). I jest, of course.

You should see this harvester in motion.

Swingin' right again along a farm road.

Yet more of these mysterious bottles at the edges of a farm property.

amaranth

dangling, pornographic squash flowers

giant grub with burst butt

looks armored, but then I poked it, it was eerily soft

shwimteo, 500 m ahead

See the silvery pheasant statue?

I guess you see it now.

Garden (Yard) Rock Shwimteo

Four Rivers National Path Saejae Bike Trail Integrated Informational Map

The Four Rivers path, from Incheon in the NW to Busan in the SE. We're on the longer red segment. 

And we continue.

It looks as if the mountainside's been shaved.

Meeting Plaza, the sign says. Food & coffee, convenience store, jokgu field, guest house.

Korean tow truck

My camera refused to focus on the Michelin Man.

sitting out front, only a few more km to go

crossed the road, now looking back

looking forward to the side road

3K to the certification center in Suanbo

I need to find out about these tall cairns.

Osan Village

nice fall colors

Cafe Spring (as in "spring water," not "springtime")

I'm always left to wonder why stuff like this never gets cleaned up.

Café, Hot Springs Village

coming up on the gallery of stone faces

There's a white sign in back for 미륵불/mireuk-bul, or Maitreya Buddha (Buddha of the Future).

turkey-tail (Trametes versicolor) or bracket fungi

You know it's the same artist because the teeth all look the same.

Why am I vaguely reminded of Drew Carrey?

I really liked this one. He's(?) different.

A reminder that this area is famous for its pheasants.

ring-necked pheasants in particular

1 km to the cert center

Sora Garden

Noporan Village

not Lion's Club for once

...or is it?

so close

almost in town

Hot Springs Bridge

missing teeth

We're officially in town. I can rest in a minute.

the cert center

Water Bath Park

Zodiac signs with explanations

commemorative shrine

The top three characters are Su-an-bo, the name of this place.

Where I stopped to eat: O Mi Ga, the Five Taste Family.

my beoseot jeongol (mushroom stew)

banchan (sides)

my motel: Limons Hot Spring Hotel (really a motel)