The Ride: Gumi to Hyeonpung

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The Ride: Gumi to Hyeonpung

As we mentioned before, the ride into Gumi was annoying as hell. The ride out wasn’t any better. The city just kept dragging on, the industrial traffic was heavy, and it really wasn’t a pleasant start to the morning. In hindsight, it would have been best if we had ridden just a bit further and stayed at Chilgok, as it’s a bit more established and less grimy. If you’ve got the legs for it, by all means do so.

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The Town: Gumi

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The Town: Gumi

While we were technically now in Gumi itself, we still had quite a way to go before hitting the city centre. First, there’s at least 5 kilometres of delightful industrial compounds to ride through before you get to anything resembling a place to stay.

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The Ride: Mungyeong to Gumi

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The Ride: Mungyeong to Gumi

We woke up bright and early to get on the road as soon as possible, for today was going to be a near 100 kilometre ride. Super-organised Jess insisted on packing our bags the night before, which made getting on the road this morning a breeze. After a breakfast of CU’s finest, we were rolling for 9:20 AM (which might not seem early for some of you, but it’s an achievement for us). It was already hot and the temperature would only rise as the day went on.

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The Town: Andong

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The Town: Andong

A big reason why we’re staying in Mungyeong is due to its proximity to Andong, the capital of the North Gyeongsang Province. Andong is known as a centre of culture and folk traditions, particularly the Hahoe Folk Village.

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The Town: Mungyeong

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The Town: Mungyeong

It was only 4 PM when we arrived in Mungyeong, and we felt like we were on top of the world. It had been a ride of contrasts, from the tough grind up the hill in the morning, to the neverending descent in the afternoon. Finishing our day a couple of hours earlier than normal made us feel invincible. Spirits were high as we sailed into town.

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The Ride: Suanbo to Mungyeong

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The Ride: Suanbo to Mungyeong

Today was the day. The dreaded climb up the mountain. The biggest climb we’d encounter between Seoul and Busan.

Obviously, Jess had hyped this up in her head to be as tall as Mount Everest, so she was nervous and shaky as we ate the free breakfast of toast and cereal that the Suanbo Saipan Hot Springs Hotel offered. Neil, annoyingly unflappable as ever, just shrugged and shuffled off to pinch another loaf. Perhaps he had just seen the clock on the wall that gave relevant advice for the day ahead.

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The Ride: Chungju to Suanbo

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The Ride: Chungju to Suanbo

We slept in until a luxurious 10:30 AM because we knew today would be a short ride. Jess set the alarm for 8 AM mostly out of habit, but we kept snoozing it, and the light was streaming through the curtains by the time we finally roused ourselves. It was a rare treat.

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The Town: Chungju

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The Town: Chungju

Our day on the bike was over, but our evening off the bike was just beginning.

It was 6 PM and the town was lit up like a disco roller derby at Christmas. Everywhere we looked, buildings were screaming their wares and offerings with flashing neon signs and bright lights, and our first impressions of Chungju were that of a Las Vegas strip with its fair share of travelling businessmen. Seedy but (mostly) harmless.

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The Ride: Yeoju to Chungju

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The Ride: Yeoju to Chungju

Oh, the endless faff.

We were supposed to wake up early this morning to ride to Suanbo, a tiny hot springs resort 90 kilometres south of Yeoju, but after yesterday’s unexpected additional exertions, we were seriously flegging this morning.

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The Town: Yeoju

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The Town: Yeoju

The sun was dangerously low when we rolled into Yeoju.

Adding 20 additional kilometres to our ride (in tandem terms, about 1.5-2 more hours) really didn’t help to keep our spirits high, and by the time we reached civilisation, we were so annoyed and tired that we did the bare minimum to find accommodation. That meant stopping in front of the closest motel that looked open, which in this town at this time, meant that there wasn’t many.

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The Ride: Seoul to Yeoju

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The Ride: Seoul to Yeoju

What a long day.

We set off from Seoul bright and early at 9 AM today, after enjoying a breakfast of toast, fried egg, and tea by Mr. Kim at the Haemil Guesthouse. The kitchen is small but cosy and functional, and we shared it with a few other people who looked completely bewildered at the sight of two loonies in lycra.

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The Town: Seoul

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The Town: Seoul

Seoul is the capital city of South Korea, and the 4th largest metropolitan economy in the world. Larger than London and Paris, the wider Seoul area houses roughly half of the country’s population. Like the country as a whole, it has developed into an economic powerhouse at breakneck speed in the time since the Korean War.

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The Ride: Incheon to Seoul

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The Ride: Incheon to Seoul

What’s the last thing you want to do the day before embarking on a 14 hour long-distance flight?

Spend 5 hours deconstructing everything on your balcony and roof terrace for the builders who will be renovating them during your vacation.

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South Korea: Our "Planned" Route

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South Korea: Our "Planned" Route

With a whole month to do whatever we like, in a country with great public transport, there are any number of ways we can tackle this one. On our previous tours, facilities were much more limited, so we weren't quite used to the freedom that this one gave us.

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Never Two Tyred for Another Tour

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Never Two Tyred for Another Tour

Well, hot damn. It's been a while since we posted on here. With good reason - at the successful conclusion of our Northern Ireland tour back in September 2016, we rashly committed ourselves to getting married, so we've been quite busy making that happen. Happily, we made it to the aisle in one piece, give or take, and in August 2017, we were joined in holy matrimony by the best Fake Priest, supported by the Hand of the Bride and the Second Best Man (long story).

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The Ride: Portaferry to Belfast

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The Ride: Portaferry to Belfast

Today was our last day.

By the time the sun came down, we would have done a loop of the whole country and ended up back where we started in Belfast. As is usually the case, we were too busy thinking about what still lay ahead to reminisce. No time for nostalgia just yet.

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