Road Trip 2010!! … interrupted
I started my road trip on Sunday. I learned from how I packed last year and adjusted things accordingly. First of all, my backpack is lighter. The tent and sleeping bag are now tied to my bike’s backrest with a cargo net. Less maps as well. I bought a phone book sized road atlas last year, only to have it wrecked by rain. Finally I packed less clothing. The big lesson from my daily travels last year was if you’re going to drive a couple hundred km a day, then the load strapped to your back should be as light as possible.
This year for reading material, I’ve got ‘Jupiter’s Travels’ which is about Ted Simon’s four year trip around the word on a triumph motorbike. I’ve also got a ‘Short History of Nearly Everything’ by Bill Bryson on my ipod. After my first departure I actually forgot the Travels book and had to drive back to the apartment to get it. K took the opportunity to get some send off shots which we had both neglected the first time I left.
Day One
I drive through Daedunsan Provincial Park as I head South. The weather is unbelievably hot! After my first 40 km I pull over at a small rest-stop to buy some water. My rest stop turns out to be a historical site. It marks the location of Korea’s first victorious land battle against the Japanese. Sadly the site itself is closed so I get no photos.
I make a few other photo stops as I ride along, but now it’s mostly just me, my bike and my thoughts. The purr of the engine and rush of air as I drive by is calming, it’s almost like meditation for me. I love the feel of driving on small roads, bikes don’t provide the same sanitized experience you get from a car. Here you feel the sun, the heat, the shade, the bumps and the sway of the bike. I never liked driving in a car, but from the moment I got on my first motorbike I was hooked. It’s late evening as I get into Jeonju, I’m tired and quite dirty, so I decide to wimp-out and look for a jimjjilbang or sauna. A soak in a hot bath and a nice hot shower would be a great way to finish my first day of riding. Unfortunately I can’t find any. So with night falling quick I make my way to Moaksan Provincial Park. Setting up camp at night isn’t my idea of fun, but I’ve got my head lamp so it shouldn’t be a problem. The sun is down once I reach the park and I look around. No campground. Oh well, the parking lot is gravel so I unpack the tent and set up for the night. There’s a crowd of Koreans nearby singing, they take no notice of me. It’s a relief because I was worried about someone coming up and giving me the ‘finger x’, the Korean gesture for ‘no’. There’s a brook next to the camp, and after a little bit of time on Jupiter, I’m asleep.
Day Two
I slept in fits, up briefly at one-thirty, two-thirty, and for the last time at three-forty-five. I check my maps to see what’s next, I’m either going to Mokpo or Wando. But to get there I have to decide what city is next. I settle on Jeong-eup. So I get out and start packing up my stuff. By now it’s 4:30 in the morning. A man pulls up in his car and starts doing stretches in the parking lot. He sees me and we speak for a bit, his curiosity is piqued. It’s not everyday you see someone on a motorbike, complete with camping gear out here. He tells me in broken English that he’s a tri-athlete and that yesterday he cycled twenty kilometers. I explain that I’m camping and headed for Jeju. He points in a large circle at the mountains behind us. Now my curiosity is piqued, I tell him if he waits 5 minutes I’ll go with him. So after he guides me through a few stretches we make our way up the mountain. I thought we’d be jogging a fair bit so I left the camera behind. It was more of a brisk walk, and about halfway up I was wishing I had it.
The view from Moaksan was breathtaking. It wasn’t even six o’clock, there was a clear view and you could see the sky in layers of orange dawn breaking into the blue sky over little mountains draped in mist and cloud. Lesson learned, bring the camera. At the peak you could see Jeonju, and it’s neighboring city, Kimjae. My guide has set a really fast pace and I do my best to keep up but even at fifty-two years old he’s clearly capable of going faster and is taking it easy on me. As we hike we communicate via broken English and Korean. I teach him how to say his job in English, he teaches me to refer to him as hyeong (older brother) instead of the more formal seonsaengnim (teacher). It’s a friendly gesture. After we get off the mountain he introduces me to a couple he knows, I’m given grapes fresh off the vine and some much needed water. He wants to grab a bite and share a beer before I’m off. I take him up on the offer of food but explain that I can’t drink beer, too much driving ahead of me.
I follow his car back into the city on my motorbike and we eat some bibimbap. Jeonju is famous for it’s bibimbap. It’s a good hearty meal after a 10 km hike. Before I take off I prepare,I put on my contacts so I can wear sunglasses on the road, and sun-block to save my skin from the summer sun. It’s beautiful riding. A two-lane road and scarcely any traffic. When I do encounter any traffic, I slow down and wave them on from the shoulder. I’ve noticed Korean drivers have a tendancy to tail-gate. Better to have them in front of you than behind. Somehow I missed the Jeon-eup turnoff so I’m on my way to Sun-chang. I stop for the occasional photo-op.
It’s almost lunch time now and I stop by a little store to call tourist info and sort out my reservations for the Jeju ferry. It’s the perfect spot with a nice tree that provided shade for my bike. Some guys pull up in their truck, again a foreigner on a bike in a remote area has them talking to me for details. They look over my map and recommend a port to leave from called Nok-dong. It’s not on the map but they tell me it’s easy to reach from Sun-chang. When I call tourist info I find out there may not be a ferry the next day because a typhoon will hit Jeju Tuesday afternoon that will last until Wednesday night.
This puts a considerable crimp in my plans. The idea of riding and camping in a tropical storm isn’t very smart, so Jeju will need to wait. I settle on Mokpo, I’ll have to drive through Damyang, Gwangju, and Naju to get there. I took one small detour along the way, ‘Traditional goju-jang folk village 3km’. I couldn’t resist, true to the advertising this whole village consists of shops selling various Korean jangs (pastes). An old lady waves me in and starts feeding me samples along with shi-kye, a traditional rice drink. We take a photo together and I buy one of the prepared side dishes and once again I’m on my way.
The village was my last detour for the day, I want to reach Mokpo early. I arrive in Mokpo at 5 o’clock and the first thing I see is a tourist information office. The tourist info people are amazing, they provide me with a map, show me jimjjilbangs on it, and even help me find a bike shop. My plan isn’t to camp out in Mokpo, but rather to park the bike and head back to Daejeon. By 7 o’clock I’m on the KTX and heading home. I thought about travelling around the south coast a bit, but the forecast isn’t on my side and the idea of getting a taste of that tropical storm as it moves on from Jeju isn’t particularly appealing. I’m glad to be home and looking forward to Thursday when I’ll hit the road again.