Day 21, Leg 18

It's been a rough day, and I'm dead tired. I made it to Jeokgyo-jang Motel (W80,000 for two nights), and the room is as simple and primitive as I remember, so I'm supplying my own WiFi network. I'll write more about today's adventure tomorrow, but right now, I've got clothes to wash and a sandman to appease.

not exactly my route, but close enough

about 3.2 kph; extremely slow

Note the lack of fog.

a turnoff Naver told me to take

a factory belches fumes

morning sun behind apartments

a famous general's grave

insect-riddled wood

forward to Mushim-sa (temple), or back to the detour?

joyride

This, friends, is garlic. A farmer told me when I asked.

a bridge view of the Nakdong River

More later.

PHOTO ESSAY

leaving the Hong C

quiet neighborhood in the very early morning

The Hong C is on a hill; I'm looking down at the main road through town.

starting down

This is definitely all new to me.

a type of petunia

Venus high in the sky ("morning star")

This part feels kind of "meh."

A sign of things to come: a lot of today's walk will be along roads with little to no shoulder. Breaking left ahead.

A side road, but there's some morning traffic.

The sign declares, "Mailbox!"

no escaping the huge farm marshmallows

Instead of yukgaejang (a fatty, spicy beef soup), this shop sells the chicken version: dakgaejang.

Hole-in-the-wall Chinese resto: Seong Weon Ban Jeom. Whenever you see ban jeom in the name, it's Chinese.

abandoned?

Supposedly an old-school tea room.

Saeronam Church

a spiffy shwimteo

now crossing the Cha-cheon (Cha Creek)

Cha-cheon 2nd Bridge

morning construction

digital zoom to catch the burd

I have to follow Naver Map because all of this is totally unfamiliar. We are not on the proper trail, kiddies.

Cell tower gleefully beaming its cancer everywhere.

Glove in hole—that's a new one!

Truck, bus, imported-tire specialists.

I ended up taking a piss somewhere around here. There was no one around, pedestrian-wise.

Solar panels to seem to dominate.

long shadow = sun is low, just risen

a slight uphill

A tunnel. Shudder.

heading into downtown

teeny-weeny forklifts... electric, maybe

A lot of apartment complexes have these high walls to dampen traffic noise.

How'd the top of my trekking pole get in the picture??

apartment sunrise

moving out of downtown to somewhere quieter

stay classy, random chairs

Still following Naver Map as if my life depended on it.

The English says, "Korea Automotive Technology Institute."

"Spoidah!" said the Aussie.

more shoulderless roads

Flirting with the path... I really thought about going back onto the path here, but that would've added at least 10K.

traffic

gravesite

more graves

I imagine these gravesite properties must've been secured long ago. Real estate is expensive in this tiny country.

I'm about to see a big, formal gravesite.

an initial peek

It dominates the hill.

Someone important lies here.

a monument for Grandfather Jeong Am Gong, I think (but who is that?)

Can't read that at all, sorry.

the monument again

alcohol offerings... or disrespectful litter?

Back on the road we get.

no escaping gravesites

another big plot

I never get tired of the farms.

I'm not sure about that second syllable, but this could be Mok Dan 2nd Village.

Here begins a series of photos of vehicles that whooshed by me relentlessly. It got ridiculous. And no road shoulder.

I had to stop every 20-30 meters.

A brief interlude as I photographed this nifty structure.

Then back to the madness.

It just never ends.

Somewhere around here, I decided...

...that I would never take this shortcut again.

Critters have been working on the wood.

outbuilding covered in ads (for cars, real estate, construction work, etc.)

retro rounded corners, stairs on the outside... real Korean architecture

Oh! A sign for the Four Rivers and Nakdong River trail!

A sign for Mushim Temple. The path next to the temple is scarily steep. I did it only once.

squash flower

I think I'm moving back onto the regular trail now. God decided I'd been tortured enough.

I'm heading to the right.

going straight = going forward (toward Hapcheon-changnyeong Dam, written here as Changnyeong-hapcheon Dam)
going right = going back to Dalseong Dam

a reminder that I'm next to the Nakdong River

and a reminder that I'm on the right path (Four Rivers + Nakdong)

The journey to becoming jerky begins.

Keep to the right.

This stretch is nice, if narrow, but it always fills me with trepidation because Mushim Temple is close.

Looks like the skeletons of drowned trees.

In the distance: Mushim (No Mind, important Zen concept) Temple and the steep path next to it.

The spider racked up many kills. See them floating in the foreground?

This says "Nakdong River, Mushim Temple, 300 m," but it's pointed in a weird direction.

top row, horizontal: "national resting place"
big font, middle: Mushim Temple
left, vertical: a view of the world
right, vertical: Nakdong River

Animal assholes don't care about the Buddha. (Or maybe they do.)

I'm nearing an important decision point.

My choice: (1) go straight toward Mushim Temple and endure that horrible hill, or (2) go left and take the detour that goes around the mountain. It's a longer walk, but flat. I did (1) in 2017 when I didn't know any better, and ever since then, I've opted for (2) because I'm old, tired, and lazy.

And I'm opting to take the flat detour. So down we go, toward the farmland that skirts the local mountain.

Before I do the detour, I stop for a bit.

And off we go.

chilies

sad

garlic, garlic, garlic

cow house in the distance

cabbage

nice image

The sign on the pole is for my motel: Jeokgyo-jang.

another Jeokgyo-jang Motel sign

I'm getting close to the end of the detour.

a sign for Guhak Village

detour thisaway

colorful pallets

swerve right

Guhak Village (with potheads); the owl says, "Village with medicinal spring; colorful village."

More untouched farm equipment reclaimed by nature.

This, a farmer told me, is garlic (마늘/maneul). I'd been seeing it everywhere. (I wrote this caption way before I wrote the previous captions, which is why garlic is mentioned before this pic.)

An-ri (An Village); Saechigol-burak (Saechigol Village)... no idea what saechigol means.

another slight uphill

See the dog? I could certainly hear it.

up, up, up

Journey toward jerky-ness almost complete.

graves

bus stop for An-ri

more graves

This might be a Chinese quince. My understanding is they're not edible for long.

I think of it as an elephant testicle. Too small for that?

We're long past the end of the detour, I think.

Hello, ladies.

interesting tractor wheels

Yeonji Restaurant (samgyeopsal/pork belly, kalguksu/knife-cut noodles, chicken & fish soup, etc.)

Even though we're done with the detour, this stretch through town is new to me.

Nae-dong (Nae District)

An-ri Village, Home of Hares

This could be a heathbell flower.

Ibang Village Office (or is it "Office this way"?)

Hare's Song Garden?

another shoulderless road to walk along

I've seen a lot of these. What are they?

Old-school homes still abound.

Dongsan Village (also known as "the hares' home, this way" [or "Ibang Village"])

nice property

from another angle as I pass by

bus stop for Ok Cheon (maybe "Jade Stream")

Ok Cheon Village

I can imagine some stooped old people using those stairs when it's dark, in bad weather.

more myo (graves, tumuli)

joyridin'

It occurs to me that I'll be approaching Jeokgyo-jang Motel from a different angle.

some sort of shrine

"sharp curve" ahead

passing tons of garlic

another shrine

Masu Village (no indication that this is the hares' home)

Hye Myeong Temple 혜명사/慧明寺 Wisdom/Enlightenment Clarity Temple (Clear Wisdom Temple?)

more myo

myo, myo, myo, kitty

I'll be heading left.

nice sprays of flowers

You always see these huge cracks in the concrete walls. Maybe stop using that material.

This looks particularly vibrant.

more graves

Persimmons! Always tempting to steal one, but there's a risk they're unripe.

Big stone: Ibang Culture Village (poss. "foreign-culture village")
small tablet, center: Inam Village
medium tablet, left: no-crime village

Haein grilled ribs (probably beef and/or pork)

We're close to our destination. Another bridge to cross.

the Nakdong River

final bridge

Here we go.

Geokpo Bridge

Lots of gloves along this bridge, as you'll see.

flags warning to be careful of forest fires

The shortcut took me away from Hapcheon-changnyeong Dam. I missed it this time around.

Jeokgyo-jang Motel. I'll be here for two nights.

celosia

a different type of celosia...?

The lady at the motel remembered me from previous visits. She gave me some crunchy (but ripe!) persimmons to feast on, which was nice of her.

This mosquito-murdering spray is called "Happy Home." Ah—you can see the English.

guardian kitteh

Menu name: 좋은 데이/Joeun Day, i.e. Good Day

The resto owner was very friendly. I got fried shrimp and donggaseu.

And strawberry smoothies, which were watery.

Donggaseu with sides. Lots of flies in this place.

My old pal Bodhidharma (Dalma-daesa), First Patriarch of Zen, founder of kung fu.

startled kitteh

my motel, lit up for the evening

Ouch. It was a long walk despite being a shortcut.

I sometimes wished the toe would just fall off and spare me the nuisance.

Sigh...