Day 6, Leg 5

Today's route is one I practiced on a lot: Yangpyeong to Yeoju, 33 kilometers. Today was my first time in a long time doing it with a pack on my back, though. I didn't keep close track of time, but I think today's segment took over ten hours. I got up at 4 a.m. per my promise to do so, but my intestines took the controls and kept me on the porcelain throne for the better part of an hour, purging all the stuff they should have purged during my day of rest. By the end, I felt like a nearly empty toothpaste tube that's been relentlessly squeezed until every last bit of toothpaste has been coaxed out of it. Only then did my guts relinquish the controls. By the time I left Motel Paresse, it was 5 a.m. So much for leaving at 4:30.

The initial part of the walk was fine, but the one major hill left me out of breath. I had to stop several times along the slope; I took the opportunity to photograph things I normally don't see during the nighttime practice walks that I've done along this route. Then at around 8:50 a.m., as I was resting at the leisure-sports park, the skies opened, and it started to rain. From that point on, it was rainy until I was nearly at my motel/hotel at the very end of the walk. 

I ended up not picking up face protection yesterday evening, so I counted on hitting the NSR (Never Stop Riding) store that, according to memory, sat just past Ipo Dam. When I got to the building and saw it in daylight for the first time in years, I was shocked to realize that everything had changed. Luckily, there was still a bike store, but it was now called the Velo Lounge, a combination of French (vélo = bicycle) and English. A couple managed the store; the man was friendly and helped me find a head covering for the cold; his wife showed up a few minutes later. She was friendly, too, and had lived in Germany. I spoke a bit of German with her; she told me she also managed a Velo Lounge café by Yangsu Station, and she said I was welcome to come by anytime for a free coffee.

There were no other exciting encounters today. With all the rain, there were very few bikers, so I had the path mostly to myself—an introvert's dream. The rain varied from a light drizzle to a more steady downpour, once again belying the AccuWeather forecast of sporadic precipitation. Honestly, I don't know why I bother with AccuWeather at all. It's utterly shitty. I took a lot of pictures at first, but once it started raining, I took pictures only occasionally. That was too bad because there were so many things I wanted to photograph, mainly because it was daytime, and I could see everything.

Bits of wisdom from the day:

● Practice hill training (i.e., staircase training) and walking encumbered before going on these cross-country treks. Being out of breath sucks balls.

● Get a lot of core training in to avoid back problems. I'm feeling it at the end of each walking day. 11-12 kilos isn't much at the beginning of the day, but by the end of the day, it's a burden.

● Keep wearing synthetic and mixed-fabric socks on these walks. I was thankful, today, not to be wearing cotton. With my feet already looking the way they do, they'd have been destroyed had I worn cotton socks—the choice of idiotic hikers everywhere. Cotton absorbs water, but it doesn't wick it away like Gore-Tex. This leads to blistering and other discomforts.

Having remembered that a cluster of decent-looking motels sat at the far edge of Yeoju City, I ate lunch at a makguksu resto, then walked until I reached the J Motel, which also goes by Hotel J and J Hotel. The front-desk lady was nice; we talked about my cross-country trek a bit. I now have a very nice room with an awesome view of the South Han River for W55,000. The room has no computer, but everything else is spot on. The place feels more like a hotel than a motel, frankly. But W55,000 is a motel price. I'm going to remember this place the next time I come through here.

Tomorrow's walk to Jangsu Pension is going to be ridiculously short: 16K. So I can afford to sleep in a bit. That pension is interestingly primitive, but it's in a forested area, so it's kind of nice. The address for Jangsu puts it in technical Yeoju City, but you have to leave the city proper to reach it. 

Righto—info and images follow.

a good 33K walk today

nearly 5,000 calories burned

Yangpyeong, 5 a.m. departure

an early bridge

a tomb I've missed despite passing it a million times

des fleurs

I saw only a couple spiders today.

total rice harvest while cosmos flowers stand guard

Shwimteo. I had to include at least one.

What can I say? It was a rainy-ass day.

Yeoju Dam, seen after crossing

someone's vroom

The new hat worked out fine, and it even kept out most of the rain because the day wasn't windy. With the rain falling mostly straight down, it didn't enter through the hat's mesh all that much, and whatever rain did get in was too insignificant to feel. Ironically, the day didn't start out that cold, so I didn't need to use the new gloves, nor did I need any face protection.

Sorry to say that, with so few photos taken today, even the full photo essay isn't going to have that many pictures. I almost feel I should come back at some point to take "make-up" pictures. Ah, well: the show must go on.

PHOTO ESSAY

leaving the Paresse(?) motel

out by the river (South Han at this point)

a Jesus base

Galsan Park, the sign says

rabbit and moon

the first of many hydrangeas

little furry buddy, making his (her?) way through the cold

golf driving range

rectangular shwimteo

"Careful! Snakes"

The smiley face is slightly left of center—long, horizontal mouth, two little eyes

Gukto Jongju: we're on the right path.

Who's up at this early hour (6:09 a.m.)?

faerie bridge

the Hyeondeok-gyo (Present Virtue Bridge? "Hyeondeok" sounds Buddhist)

looking out over a crick

crick, other side

The sky is lightening.

This part of the walk provides a weird taste of both farms and suburbs.

turning left here

taking the right fork here

And soon, we go up a hill—the only big hill for this segment.

Andeok-ri Stone Tomb

info about the stone tomb

I think this is a white cleome or spider flower.

And this is, I think, a pink gaura.

globe amaranth

I have to look all these plants up via Google Image Search. I should learn all their names, in both English and Korean (and maybe French, too!).

Up the hill we go.

Kissing cherubs are cute, especially compared to the assaultive angels at the Jeju Museum of Sex.

a bit of hill left

nearing the top

sharp curve
steep-slope area
deadly accidents
happen in this area
bicycles
absolutely decelerate

going downhill now

Imagine coasting down this on a bike.

looks like a fusion of barn and church

the weirdly American-looking suburban lane that puts me back in the States

back down toward the river

more suburbs

more cabbage

Gumi-ri (Gumi Village)

red canna lily?

cosmos

another sign for Gumi Village

closer

barely visible turtle

a spray of pot asters

regular asters

minor hill—there and gone

Ipo Dam seen vaguely

The leisure-sports park: I cross the park and end up back at the river's edge.

Yeoju Dam (top); Choongju Dam (bottom)

following the crick to the park's entrance

archery center

The park entrance is here; the Four Rivers path also goes this way.

Haja Pori Bridge

Gaegun Leisure Sports Park

the bull that guards the restroom (lights up at night)

The region is famous for its beef.

the shwimteo where I often take a break

commemoration for the SsangYong Tug of War demonstration

Yangpyeong of the pure water... Hanu beef!

almost at the water

This was recently dedicated to General Monclar.

a woman passes me

sign for a café and convenience store (800 m ahead)

squash flowers

squash!

Black-eyed Susan

the short stretch with all the stacked hangari

at the convenience store while it rains

the back of the store

my full-moon cake that tastes like a Twinkie (nostalgia factor)

Ipo Dam, not far now

Velo Lounge bike shop

I texted this pic to my brothers... never got a response.

P11 = pylon #11 (of how many?)

Sometimes, when it rains a lot, moisture enters my shoes, and the pumping action as I walk produces this disgusting foam. Doesn't matter which shoe I'm wearing: this always happens.

Because of the rain, I couldn't take many pics, so we're skipping way forward now.

Yeoju Dam in the distance, meaning the walk is almost done.

approaching the dam

the sign for Yeoju Dam

This is also Gongdo Bridge. The cylinder on top is modeled after an old Korean rain gauge.

a rare Joro spider on the dam/bridge

crossing the South Han

King Sejong's Hunminjeongeum (old Korean alphabet)

the dam seen from a bench on the other side of the South Han

continuing on... about 6K to go

Choongju Dam about 75K ahead; Paldang Dam about 60K behind

If you go up the stairs, you'll be on Sejong's "Forest Bathing" Path.

Forest bathing (sallimyok/산림욕) is a thing in at least Korea and Japan. You walk through the woods and breathe in the fresh, rejuvenating air. There's apparently something to this idea: trees and other plants emit phytoncides, compounds that prevent rot.

fisherman with a lot of rods

almost at the edge of town

This bridge is the 30K mark on today's 33K trek.

Hari Pedestrian Bridge

lunch in town

pet stylist (멍멍/meong-meong = arf-arf)

in Yeoju

It's the J Motel!

Or is it the Hotel J?

the usual amenities, often proffered at the front desk once you pay

my view from the first floor... not bad

rainy, suck-ass day, though