It's been over a month since we arrived in Korea from Chengdu. Meanwhile, we have left Korea behind us, and arrived in Japan. Time flies! Time for a summary about the Korea leg of our trip. Overall, Korea was very nice and we're definitely happy it has been part of our journey. Maybe it hasn't been as impressive or surprising as some of the other places, but in return we had very comfortable cycling, wonderful people and great food. Here we go...
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Temple door with the typical Korean yin and yang symbol
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Cycling in Korea has been different from the previous countries, and it's a bit double. Different in the sense that most of the time, we were on cycling lanes, even on long distance cycling routes. It's super easy, almost no need to navigate, no need to pay attention to traffic - other than the many other cyclists. It's easy, and that's good, almost too good: in a way it was too easy. There are numerous positive sides to cycling in Korea, along those cycling routes: hardly any traffic, easy cycling, quiet and peaceful environment to travel through, avoiding cities, easy to find good camping spots, meeting many other friendly cyclists. There is a downside to it as well, although that is less obvious. In a way, you don't ride through the "real" or "normal" Korea as the bicycle routes try to avoid town areas, and therefore you don't experience the country, it's people and culture that easily. On the practical side, being on the cycling route - especially the 4 River cycling path - it's hard to buy groceries (even though there are convenience stores everywhere once you get in a town area)! It's certainly overall positive, and strongly recommended also for people who want to try a first bike touring trip.
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| Collecting a stamp at the 4 River cycling trail |
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| Camping along the route |
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| Wonderful East Sea sights |
Important to understand about Korea, is that it is very densely populated: about 50 million people on a surface of 100,000 sqkm - of which a big part is uninhabitable because of rough mountain terrain. It means a population 1,5x denser than Belgium; in any case, it's one of the most densely populated places on earth... in that sense, it's incredible that so many people can live so well, in harmony, well organised, with hardly any visible pollution, hardly any littering, no plastics all over the place (although way too much plastics are used in packaging!). Of course, when touring around the country it means, that you're nearly always in "human territory" and hardly ever surrounded by nature. There is a lot of agriculture - obviously, as these 50 million people need to be fed as well - and funny enough, a lot of that is small scale agriculture (and as I wrote in a previous post, mostly taken care of by the older generation). There is beautiful nature too, only it's difficult to access, especially on a bicycle; Seoraksan was a fantastic example of such beautiful nature.
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| Beautiful Seoraksan |
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| A village along the way, where we had a tasty dumpling soup for lunch |
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| Harbour on the East Sea |
We've come to know the Koreans as incredibly friendly, helpful, polite people. I have known and worked with Koreans since 15 years, and knew this already, but traveling through the country exceeded all expectations in that regard. We've had so many examples where people spontaneously started to chat with us, asked if they could help us, gave us their recommendations, went the extra mile to help us out in unexpected ways. We heard a lot of people complain about the communication barrier and while there certainly is a huge barrier, we thought we always got things sorted out (sometimes with patience, and always with good spirit!), and the Koreans we met always did whatever they could to make themselves understood. There is also another side to Koreans which we got to know a little: a "keeping up appearances" side (probably more the older generation though): expensive car, branded clothes, expensive watch and other apparel, lots of make up, various other status symbols... It's a real contrast to the spontaneous, happy, genuine encounters we've had with so many people and therefore, it's intriguing and fascinating. In any case, we mostly remember Koreans as incredibly friendly and think back with very warm feelings. Keeping that in mind, it forms a contrast with the war threat you can sense everywhere: the military bases, the fences, the soldiers; in South Korea it surely felt to us mostly as a desire to unite with the North, while necessarily being prepared at any time for what could happen...
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| Very friendly people everywhere |
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| Many beaches were fenced along the East Sea |
The highlights of our Korea trip were, funny enough, mostly the places where we spend a day or more. We loved Seoul, and keeping in mind that we don't like big cities, that's a big exception! We had a great stay in Sokcho, definitely in combination with Seoraksan. But we enjoyed our time in Gyeongju most of all, even though it was a bit busy in the days leading up to the Golden Week. Cycling-wise, it's probably also the road (904) to Gyeongju that wins the price of the highlight, one of the few parts off the cycling trail. The cycling trails itself were definitely mostly nice as well; I'd summarise that as nice and happy cycling, although not impressive. The 4 Rivers was very nice, perfect for a couple of days as we did. The second part, on the East Sea was a bit mixed. There were beautiful views, some great riding, some messy riding (especially the first 2 days, before Pohang) with several (very) steep (often unnecessary) ups and downs. 1 week along the East Sea was maybe a little bit long, without highlights and things mostly looking similar. We noticed once we got to Sokcho that it was also nice to stay somewhere for a day, and explore the area a bit more. Good to note for next time!
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| A beautiful rest stop on the road to Gyeongju |
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| Historic heritage in Gyeongju |
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| Drying cuttlefish on the East Sea |
We also enjoyed camping in Korea. In several places we were totally alone, which is nice and a bit special. On the other hand, there were some places (mostly during Golden Week) where many Koreans were camping, but it was also nice, and a pleasure to see how quiet and peacefully they camp! Wild camping was most of the time semi-wild, as there was nearly always a toilet and water nearby - but no hot showers, no kitchens, no electricity (to charge our electronics...). We also need to thank the weather gods, as we had fantastic spring weather all the time, great for cycling, great for camping! It surely was a very good time of the year to travel in Korea! Oh, and a funny anecdote. While we cycled (mostly in shorts and T-shirt) in this beautiful weather, other cyclists were nearly always totally wrapped in clothes: long trousers, long sleeves, a hat, even gloves and usually a face mask and sunglasses - almost looking like mummies... Until the very last day, when it rained slightly and the weather was cooler, and we rode in trousers and long sleeves: suddenly most Koreans were out in shorts and T-shirt!!! It's all protection against the sun!
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| View from our tent in the morning |
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| Beach camp! |
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| Great locations for coffee breaks (sometimes sheltered from the wind, like this case - lots of wind in Korea!) |
So, country number 5 on this cycling trip, we enjoyed it a lot too, maybe with less wow moments, but certainly a very pleasant journey, with the main highlight being the incredibly friendly people! And oh, did I mention the delicious food? And now for the last country before heading back to Malaysia: Japan!
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| Another beautiful old building |
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| Taking a bus in Korea was very hassle free |
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| And such delicious food! (and soju) |