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Korean Four Rivers Trail II

Here it is, second part of my cycling trip through South Korea. This time I'm cycling around Jeju island and then after an interesting ferry ride going north towards Seoul.



Map courtesy of Wanderlog, the best travel planner app on iOS and Android

Jeju

This is where I left off last time. A ferry to Jeju. At that time I didn't know I'll be going on a small boat over very rough sea with everyone around getting sick and K-Pop hits on TV. What a start 😰

There is day six so I survived somehow. Around the island there's a 220km cycling path. 220km of ride on a beautiful, mostly quiet coast. I'm doing it clockwise and having a lot of coffee breaks

Occasional small climbs, beautiful weather, sea

On the top of the hill I've found a small cemetery

Hundreds of stone figures made of volcanic rock can be found along the way

What supposed to be a cycling path became a place for drying seaweed. Not everyone follows the idea of dedicated road for bikes

And sometimes it feels like they are some sea creatures crawling towards you. A scenario for new Korean horror movie

Coastline is dotted with small islands, some of them uninhabited

First day of cycling on Jeju ends in Seogwipo - the southernmost part of the island. Jeju is known for its sunsets and sunrises - perhaps that's why it's a top Korean spot for honeymooners

Next day, next plan. How about staying at a temple? Korea developed advanced templestay program and I tried my luck in Yakcheonsa. Unfortunately one has to book in advance. It's not going to work 😕

Rainbow in the fountain instead of bed/futon in the temple

A shameful BMC ad 😊

I've been cycling quite a bit, but how on earth did I end up in Mali??

Leaving touristy/resortish part of the island proves that there's also normal life in fishing villages on Jeju

By the end of the day I ended up on a ferry to some random place on the mainland, was placed in a staff's quarter as the only foreigner on the boat and got nice Korean family as a company

Ok, arrived. Night. Where am I? Where do I sleep tonight? Anyone speaks English? Adventure!

Back to Seoul

Got a hotel. Something between Star Trek and Indiana Jones

Waking up on the space ship made me feel energised. The longest day on the trip starts with cycling amid rice fields

Not a real cycling path today, but my navigation decides to lead me on the interesting paths anyway

Cyclists everywhere

Selling ice cubes in a plastic cup ready to fill with juice/coke/water - simplest ideas are the best!

Perhaps not a cycling path but still a great quality road with no cars whatsoever. Makes you want to ride.

My app says that the ride was equivalent to almost 5000 Cal. That's 35kg of Kimchi... I need more condensed calories today 😅

Today's destination - Jinju - is full of really fancy hedges

But seeing this in the night was scary 😳

Right from day one I hate street lights in Korea. I don't think I ever had to spend such a long time waiting from the green light. In Jinju at least there are umbrellas making the wait more convenient

Another day and I'm on back on a cycling path.


Completely by chance I passed by one of the most important Confucian academies. Almost empty, quiet, a great place for a break

I'm not the only one having a break here

n front of the academy a giant tree, could as well be older than the academy itself

Still amazed by all these bridges created only for bikes

My cycling gear never looked as good as on these "gold" hangers in a hotel in Gumi-si 😉

Today only a short ride to Andong-si. On the way there's a bicycle museum. In front of the museum a bridge

Then the path leads along Nakdong river over these wooden - yes, you guessed it - bicycle-only bridges

At the end of the day I arrive at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hahoe village. People there still live in traditional Korean houses difficult to find on other parts in the country

The place is surprisingly empty - tourists must have already left.

Tonight's accommodation is on the other side of Nakdong river

The day starts with the best breakfast I had in Korea - thank you Daekyong! 🙂

This day features the steepest climb of the whole trip. But before I go there I'm enjoying view of Hahoe village from a cliff on the opposite side


In fact there are no pictures from this day - I was dying on the climb and had no energy for taking photos. If you want to go there - you've been warned. Evening in a small village near Guinsa temple

Next morning I'm going to the temple. Before I go I have an unique opportunity to brush my teeth using bamboo salt toothpaste produced by LG

Next morning I'm going to the temple. Before I go I have an unique opportunity to brush my teeth using bamboo salt toothpaste produced by LG

The temple, or rather whole complex, is massive and is built almost vertically on the slope of a mountain

View from the top was worth the climb

Time to go. Not sure where I'll end up tonight, but I'm slowly getting close to Seoul. Street mantis goes with me.

Last accommodation before Seoul was bit weird. This I've found in the room. Don't hang your children??

A quiz for today - what's this?

Views on the last day of cycling as beautiful as on the first one, which makes sense because I'm back on the path I already used at the very beginning

Time to go back. As a bonus, the first person I meet on Saturday evening back in Seoul is a Korean guy who learned to speak Polish. In an interesting way he did.


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Location: South Korea

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