Day 23, Leg 19

I'm at the Heitz Hotel, which is really more like an upscale motel. The price is the giveaway: W50,000 a night for two nights. Real hotels are generally over W100,000. For W50,000, though, it's a very nice place: big bedroom, huge bathroom, and good facilities. It was a goodly 33K walk to get here, and I took my time, but I made it. 

It feels a bit silly to have another day of rest tomorrow right after having one yesterday, but because my feet are in nearly constant pain now, during this final week of walking, I don't feel guilty about giving my dogs some more time off. I was expecting my left toe to be a nasty, oozing, bleeding mess by the end of the day, but while there was some ooze, there was no bleeding. The toe wasn't a problem until about the final 7 kilometers of the walk, and all it did was complain politely. My right foot was hot and cold: it would sometimes scream in agony and be strangely quiet at other times. Both feet survived today's trek without falling apart on me, and that's the important thing.

I left Jeokgyo-jang at 4:45 a.m. People in the motel were already up and about. No matter how early I wake up and putter about, someone is always up before I am. I see this, too, when I'm walking beside roads: no matter how early I'm up and out, people are already out there driving. Even on remote roads, you get the occasional car at 4 in the morning. Just a reminder that this is a small country, and there's no escaping civilization.

Overall, the walk went well, but I forgot today was Sunday, so several refueling stops ended up being closed for God- or Buddha-fearing reasons. I did visit one shyupeo/슈퍼 (Konglish for "supermarket," but really meaning a convenience store); it didn't have much variety, but as local stores go, it was run as a very tight ship, with everything neat and clean instead of dilapidated. Stores run by old people can be good or horrible: the sodas in them can be flat and outdated; the candy bars can be covered in fat blooms indicating premature aging after too much exposure to changes in temperature and humidity. This store was run by a strict, middle-aged woman who obviously knew her stuff. Everything in her store was on point.

Those store-related thoughts aside, the walk was a steady push forward. The one big, mean hill was right where I'd left it, just before the segment's halfway point, but it was longer than I remembered, and I had to stop quite a few times on my way to the top. I looked for where I'd etched my name into the soft rock in 2020, hoping to add "2023" to the list of years, but when I found the etching, I saw it had faded to almost nothing, so I didn't bother adding a new year to the list. The list itself isn't even visible any longer.

The weather forecast kept playing with my heart. Initially, the rain had been pushed back to lunchtime, then it got pushed back to 2 p.m., then back to 6 p.m. Basically, it didn't rain at all during the walk, despite my worries about having to endure another cold, wet day. The day wasn't really cold, either: I took my jacket off within a hour of starting the trek.

I arrived in Namji and immediately went looking for a pharmacy, but it was Sunday, so all the pharmacies were closed. In Korea, don't get sick on Sundays, or you're fucked. Also closed was my beloved NeNe Chicken, so I stopped at the Chinese place next door for "linner." The server, a middle-aged woman, seemed almost flirtatious with me, or maybe she's that way with all the customers. Anyway, I'll do the pharmacy and NeNe Chicken tomorrow. 

For now, a chicken limerick:

O alas, how my soul, it is stricken
for in Namji, there is no damn chicken
on a Sunday, no cluck

and my brain, it goes FUCK
but tomorrow, the chick I'll be lickin'

Sometime in the afternoon, a dude in an SUV passed me, did a U-turn, braked, and called out, "Are you American?" I don't really like it when conversations begin with my being accosted out of the blue, but I tiredly nodded yes, and thus the conversation was joined. The guy turned out to be a veterinarian who lived in the area but had spent some years in America, so we spoke mostly in English. He may have been missing his time overseas, and when he saw a foreign face, he seized his chance. I complimented him on caring for animals; he told me that walking across the country was his dream—a sentiment I've heard from other people as well. We parted amicably; the guy didn't want anything other than to say hi. I guess I can relate. 

Speaking of animals: a cat hanging around the entrance to the Heitz Hotel became my instant friend. It was sitting in loaf position on the asphalt when I arrived; it meowed and sauntered up to me, winding around my legs and accepting my scritches while purring—a real people cat. Reminded me of our old family cat Mozart, who also loved people. I wish I'd had a can of tuna to offer the cat. Maybe I'll buy some tuna tomorrow, assuming the cat's still around.

So tomorrow's mission is pretty much just to rest my feet again. I have two more 30K walks ahead of me; the other two walks will be much shorter. Rain is still forecast for tomorrow; it's supposed to be steady until about noon, after which the sun will come out. I'll leave my motel room around lunchtime to pick up some chicks—I mean, fried chicken—as well as some pharmacy items: bandages and blood-stopper powder.

Info and images:

Today's path diverged from the Four Rivers at the end.

lotta walking today

Batman symbol in Jeokgyo-jang

The fog is back.

another bridge under construction

This frog is dead.

Mean hill: that just about says it all.

slow ascent up the hill

the view from the top of the hill

shell-shocked victory after climbing the day's toughest hill

another awesome tree

bamboo forest

My waist size is holding steady at the belt's seventh hole. This may be about as far as I go this trip. Too bad; I'd love to lose a few more inches. I think I may have lost almost a backpack's worth of weight (10-11 kg). We'll see once I'm back in Seoul.

PHOTO ESSAY

morning in the Jeokgyo-jang Motel

out early

taking the trail out of town

Fog obscures the farms.

looking across the river

the 낙동강/Nakdong River

Flash pic confirms I'm on the right path.

Oh, to be born with a square butt.

not the sun

The morning fog seems to be lifting a bit.

Changnyeong-haman Dam, 36.5 km (a bit beyond my range for the day)

127 km to final goal

This is a 축산단지/chuksan-danji, literally a "livestock complex." What's this really called in English?

construction in the mist

Could be a Korean carabid larva (Carabidae).

flock

flock receding

that grub again

124K forward to goal, 261K back to Andong Dam

This frog might look alive, but it's very much derd.

Ugh. Fucking litter.

Changnyeong-haman Dam, 31.5 km

Who wins—man or nature?

tucked-away graves

This spider is also derd. Not by my hand.

first view of the hill from hell

부곡마을/Bugok Village

Turn right to go up the mean hill.

And so it begins.

family plot

You see a three-part sign that says: 낙, 樂, knock. The character means "fun" or "pleasure," and it's pronounced nak. Hence the awful "knock" pun.

Up and up we go. I'm starting to feel this.

The big graffito says, "You can do this!"

Someone exuberant came by almost two weeks earlier.

so many voices

I feel as if there's a pun I'm missing here. "In graffiti (낙서, nakseo), one does 樂書 (also pronounced nakseo)."

mercilessly upward

One thing I didn't feel was like ejaculating.

This says "Mushim-sa—FUCK." Mushim-sa = No-mind Temple with its own steep hill next to it.

continuing upward

Soon-seok + Yun-jeong

I assume the surname is LATKIN, not LATRIN.

"The Gukto Jongju ain't no thang." Roughly.

"Save me! Fuck!"

I can't read Arabic if that's what that is.

It just never ends.

Good God.

Per ardua ad astra = "Through effort to the stars."

Kim So-yeong idiot! Nyeah!

a study in contrasts

Inside the arrow, it says, "Seoul." But that's the wrong way, so under the arrow, someone wrote, "No, it's not, you devil."

my old graffito, barely visible after three years

almost at the summit

Thank you, Jesus. This shwimteo means the summit is only a few meters farther along. I stop here.

about to cross the border into the village of Burim

I need to check whether this certification center is new. It feels new.

the look past a frazzled Kevin to the river far below

the old Gukto Jongju sign

the reassuring Four Rivers + Nakdong River sign

"Slow: watch for irregularities" (maybe unevenness in the bike-path surface?)

I'll be turning left soon.

more myo

turning... soon...

I've turned.

yet more myo

The dead are all around us. Watching.

More. I feel sorry for the family that as to climb up there just to maintain the graves.

Unam-sa 운암사/雲岩寺, Cloud Rock Temple

rambling on along the road shoulder

tempting to explore by heading down the stairs... but, no

So many valleys are beautiful like this.

another gravesite

lonely shwimteo

ernerther derd frerg

I'm about to cross over the river.

박진교/Park Jin Bridge

There's a biker/walker lane, but it's a bit narrow. Most Korean drivers swerve away from pedestrians, though.

a shot off one side of the bridge

a shot off the other side

a rather skinny-looking Joro spider

looking back

116 km to final goal, 269 km back to Andong Dam

the patio of the nicely run convenience store

Changnyeong-haman Dam, 21 km

A 7% grade for only 84 meters isn't tragic.

Some gloves seek privacy to make out.

gravesite in the distance

several, in fact

fucking glamping

mausoleum?

113 km to final goal

the dog-paw cloud

The yellow signs indicate the Nakdong River bike trail. The Four Rivers path also goes rightward.

This is the spot where Naver Map and the actual trail part ways. I'm going left, but one day, I'll explore the path that goes in the other direction. On Naver, going right looks like the shorter way to go, so what gives?

the path I won't be taking

I've made my choice. I'm going left 'til you lead me to the right...

Big sign: "A (Something—what is "옻"?) Village Full of Happy Aromas, Myeongpoom Village"
Small vertical sign: "Chilhyeon Village"
Are these two villages next to each other? Are they two names for the same village? Yeesh.

bus stop for Chilhyeon Village

those lovely fall colors

myo

Good God, I'm looking at these and seeing macarons. Must be hungry.

Creepy. That would ward me off!

Once again, a road with little to no shoulder. But this is the route I've always walked for this segment.

locked-up shrine

locked-up dawg

more of these stacked thingies

noble arfer

What's the hanja? Maybe 내/애 견/천 재/자 (nae/ae gyeon/cheon jae/ja)...? When I looked the characters up, each had two pronunciations and two major meanings (with plenty of sub-meanings). Note, too, the graveyard in the background. I have no idea what these three characters mean when put together like this.

Based on the next photo (below), the small Chinese characters say Gujin-san (Gujin Mountain, read right-to-left), and the large characters are a temple's name: 호앙사/Hoang-sa, or Ho Ang Temple. The ho character might mean "moat."

There it all is in Korean. Hoang-sa.

the temple

The circle with the three dots is a symbol for the Three Jewels (sambo) of Buddhism: the Buddha, the dharma (teachings), and the Sangha (the religious community).

Rural Koreans really love these shipping-container shelters.

return of the zinnia

a sign for Gogok Fortress (Drumbeat Valley Fortress)

Chilgok Creek

Sojae Bridge

striking color, but notice the big, inevitable crack in the wall

myo

Gloves died while mating.

Namji, 8 km away.

a rather unkempt myo

Aji Village, says the rock

graves

a striking tree

the punk-rock tree

"Watch out when surface is frozen."

minor hill

Whoa—a lotta persimmons.

...and we're already going down.

more graves

Bamboo forest looking like a whale's baleen-lined mouth.

This tree wore the wrong dress to the party.

Seongsa Village

This is the village that sits pretty close to Namji.

snow-on-the-mountain (Euphorbia marginata)

cock's comb? amaranth?

cosmos

I'd recognize these anywhere.

Something took a bite out of that roof.

persimmons

myo

a stately grave

going straight = Changweon/Namji

Gwandong Village, Namji-eup—home of chilies, cucumbers, and rapeseed

on the right: a sign pointing to Yeonhwa-sa (maybe Lotus Flower Temple?)

another small hill as I move toward Namji proper

one of the last of the local gravesites

wet belt

more insect activity inside the dead tree

Namji proper in the distance

a tomb of some kind, all by its lonesome

I'm still dodging occasional traffic.

munch, munch

straight ahead to Namji

myo

And here we go. We're just about in town.

This poor guy was so agitated when he saw me that he ran back and forth.

It'd be funny if his chain were longer, but many dogs are stuck with short chains.

At least he's guarding his territory.

The church I always photograph once I get into town.

cabbage

sea squirts

maybe sea bream?

arrived at the Heitz Hotel (motel, really)

not the friendly cat I'd mentioned

There it is, in loaf position.

Rubbing my legs. Such an extravert.

How can you hate that?

After checking in dropping of my backpack, I strolled out in search of food.

apple? tomato? persimmon? (persimmons generally grow on trees)

geraniums?

almost certainly geraniums

The vaunted NeNe Chicken... is closed on Sunday.

But the. Chinese place is open. The standard tangsuyuk and gun-mandu (fried dumplings) for me.

Tangsuyuk is basically sweet-and-sour pork.

The mandu were all quite crunchy.

Gyodong Jjambbong was the Chinese resto's name.

Clothing items washed, now drying... that's all a TV is good for as far as I'm concerned.