Golden Week at the East Sea

It's Golden Week in Korea (and China, and Japan). That's one of the biggest holiday periods in this region, and we noticed indeed that the majority of the 50 million Koreans are on the road! It was very busy on the road in some parts today, even with some traffic jams (where it was difficult to get through even with a bicycle). All accommodation is full as well, but luckily we're camping and there's space enough to pitch a small tent. In fact, a lot of Koreans are out camping as well, also "wild" camping - although it's all semi-wild as I mentioned before. It's nice to see how people get out, and enjoy the outdoors.

It's 10am, we meet this "crew" of a group of cyclists, they welcome us enthusiastically, and give us... 3 tomatoes for Ellen, and a can of beer (at 10am!!!) for me. Cheers! Later on we also get a cucumber and some chocolate candies.

Some of the magnificent scenery

More scenery, this one with a strange yellow glow in the sea; we saw this in many places, no idea what this can be

Yesterday was a beautiful day on the road, but pretty hilly. We had at least 7-8 climbs, each a few km, with quite steep gradients sometimes. We enjoyed it, although it was a bit tough at times. We did also enjoy an "all you can eat" Korean buffet lunch, for about 6€ each, enough energy to get us over those hills! By 3pm and after "only" 63km we arrived at a nice beach area, where a lot of Koreans were camping in a nice spot amidst the pine trees, and we decided to stay there as well. It was still early, but there was a cold wind by then, so we sat inside a nice coffee shop, enjoyed a hot latte, and made full use of their good wifi...

Lots of signboards on the way whenever we started a climb. Funny enough, they always said 500m and usually 7% (this one, with 5%, being a big exception) and the only thing we could be sure of, was that it would be a different distance and gradient. It was usually around 1,5-2km long, and 7-10% climbing!

Rustic camping in Korea

Samcheok beach at night

Today was even nicer, more beautiful cycling - I'll let the photos do the talking - and it was mostly flat riding this time. We did have some boring urban bits, and the heavy traffic with jams was also no fun, but that's easily compensated by the great cycling today. After almost 80km we arrived at a very nice "official" campsite, and thought it would be nice for a change to be in such a place and enjoy the facilities. The camping was fully booked however, but these great people allowed us to go in and enjoy a hot shower!!! All clean and happy, we continued for another few km to finish at again a very nice camping spot nestled between the pine trees at the beach, with a lot of Korean campers. They're really admirable, the way they enjoy the outdoors as I mentioned, it's so serene, discreet and peaceful - no loud parties, no loud noise at all. Incredible!

Many beautiful beaches today - perfect for coffee breaks and picnics

A North Korean submarine, captured by the South Koreans and now used in some kind of "unification" museum

Happy rural cycling

It's impossible to describe the friendly people we meet on our way, but it's truly incredible. Yesterday we met a group of cyclists several times, and their "crew" who were following them by car. Good fun, and all the gifts they gave us... Another thing to note, is the presence of army and security measures everywhere. South Korea is officially still in war with North Korea, and you can see evidence around you everywhere. Watch posts along the coast, beaches and other landing spots all fenced up, military bases, jets patrolling, helicopters, US military personnel, etc etc. If you pay attention to it, it's striking, and you really hope that it will never come to a war again...