S2B: Seoul to Busan
It is not a race. Ep #1
Episode 7: Day 2 S2B (7.10.2019)
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| Going Korean? ©FG |
With a good night rest after the ever-smiling hostess’ simple Korean dinner that she dished out in a jiffy when we arrived at her doorstep all sweaty and hungry, we started grinding for the day.
Here in the northern part of South Korea, our observation was that Korean food comprises the main dish which could be pork or beef accompanied with little carbohydrate in the form of a small bowl of rice or noodle with their standard accompaniments - kimchi, cabbage pickled with spice, radish in vinegar and leafy vegetable which tastes like water hyacinth (kangkung) sauteed with spiced chilled and pickled little chilly. In Busan, being a coastal city, seafood is favoured.
We had another ambitious plan to cover at least 100km today.
The day greeted us with cold showers with the temperature hovering at around 19 ºC. In fact, it accompanied us all through the way to our next destination, North Chungcheong, the hot springs town.
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| The mountains, trees and rivers must be screaming with stories to tell ©FG |
The rivers and mountains which accompanied our journey must have witnessed empires and kingdoms rise and fall. It must be sneering to Seven Samurais (@jokers) who hail from to thrash her boys in football and how her sons have risen. The ride took us through the picturesque, still standing Korean countryside. The hills are still green with no signs of being flattened. The only sign of industrialisation seems to be the numerous massive bridges that span over the wide rivers.
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| A typical certification centre ©FG |
We had to make detours here and there to get our ‘passports’ stamped. Completion of the stamping would entitle us for a completion medal. The trails were purposely paved in such as to showcase all the different landscapes of the Korean countryside. At the same time, there were many areas with scanty directions for non-Korean natives. On top of Google map does not work well, and their Naver map is wanting of a thorough overhaul. Perhaps, it was done on purpose. On a different note, when we read about the evolution of GPS technology, we are told that there was a concerted effort to make it inaccurate to prevent abuse. With North Korea's Rocket Man hot on their trail, are we surprised?
As true mature Malaysians who had spent time in the pre-Iranian revolution inspired new-Malaysia, we could help but compare our country to Korea. The Koreans are very industrious people. Everyone seems to be engaged in some kind of economic activity. They do not rely on foreign labour. They do not sit around like a lump of protoplasm, feeling grandiose like a special selected God-chosen breed barking orders down on their slaves. They work.
Many Greenhouses are seen in the interior. No Bangladeshis, Indonesians or Myanmarese were needed in the plantation sector. ©FG
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Thanks to our Chief Navigator and input from members of the FB group Seoul to Busan and Beyond (SBB), the directions made more sense. ©Bob
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| Another sight for sore eyes. Signboards announcing the arrival of a certification centre usually shows up about 2km before the booth. After cycling for kilometres on end, the centres are our resting points, albeit for a quick drink, stamping and leg stretch. ©FG |
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Another familiar icon that sustained our caloric needs.
It was indeed nice to see 'Nice to CU'-CVS (Convenience Stores).
Spread sporadically in bigger townships, it carries many essential basic items, instant noodles, beverages and bread.
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| The Hotspring Town - Chungju-si |
The Chosun Tourist Hotel was our chosen place to unwind. They were willing to use a conference room to park our vehicles!
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| Ad pix - Chosun Tourist Hotel in Chungji-us.
Comfortable, cosy with breakfast and a free spa. Gave the spa a miss as it was customary to bathe in the nude from a shared bathing pool. The Koreans, like the Japanese, treated cleansing a divine duty to the body.
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End of Day 2.
Completed about 105km. (Total ~ 276.3km)
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