Jongdongjin and Odeason Bicycle Extravaganza I & II
13 May
I’ve been making great use of my bike. So much, in fact, that the brakes are already starting to go… and there is a constant ‘jangle-jangle’ when I pedal hard. Aside from that, I am consistantly having nightmares about my tire going flat while on a ride, or my bike being stolen. These are my greatest fears while in Korea… how beautiful is this life.
BIKE X ONE
We three musketeers (Amy, Amy, and I) set out on a journey to the far and wide land to the south of Gangneung called “Jongdongjin” or something of the like. The woman at the information booth told us it would be about 18k to get there. Easy breezy, you might think. Little did we realize it was almost entirely uphill, on a semi-highway, with little-to-no shoulder. YIKES.
It took us about an hour to get to the southern part of the ocean. We found some tidepools that made me think of Genevieve’s favorite part of Santa Cruz, CA… Natural Bridges.
Let the flood swell.
We continued on past the beach to big plane (which was quite boring, actually) and a temple hiking place with lots of rocks and flowers.
We finally reached our destination.. “Hasalla Art World.” It was like that place in Hamilton by the train station… but smaller and more grassrootsy.
We managed to visit on the day a band was playing. They did some jazzy jams, the only one I recognized was ‘Moonriver’ thanks to Maria constantly singing it throughout my childhood.
PLEASE don’t drop me! AH!
The sculptures overlooked the ocean, it was truly magnificent.
BIKE X TWO
The ride to Odesan National Park was said to be about as long as Jeongdonggin. We planned on leaving at 10 am, but it was raining all morning. Amy and I decided to meet at the post office around 1 and see how far we could get. I brought with me a can of tuna, a cucumber, and a sleeping bag. She brought the BLTs (smoked almonds, dried banana chips, and raisons) and the camera with three sets of batteries.
We started riding there, and of course, nature calls. We have nothing to use as TP, so Amy finds an old flag on the road. Now it is an extreme situation. Thankfully, I was okay. But poor Ames was on the verge of explosion. She heads out to the forest, flag in hand, and returns with no flag but hysterically laughing. I was then drug out to the forest to examine her… well… poo. She managed to do it on a gravestone. AWESOME. The Grudge: Part 3… coming soon!
We rode for kms… miles.. forever it felt like. It was a nice ride. We had a shoulder most of the way and we stopped many times to explore the area.
Laaater…
We head to CaliAmy’s for dinner and some drinks. We drank a bit too much. Amy toasted as Paris Hilton. I was captured on video laughing hysterically. In the end, I harassed Amy to sit on the back rack of her bike whilst Liam rode it up and down some serious hills. Her poor foot. We decided to stop for drinks on the ride home… it was THAT long. AYE. Work the next day sure was fun 🙂
YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE
I awoke to a strong pounding on my door. 4 AM. Crazy Koreans. I was awake, I figured I might as well go catch the sunrise at the beach. I headed down and plopped myself on the coast with my still wet sleeping bag in hand.
The sun started to rise as I was riding through the rice fields.
So I met this woman, I wish I had her email address. She’s in her 70s, and speaks perfect English. She’s my Korean Oma. She told me stories of her childhood in North Korea, and how scary it was to see dead bodies of her neighbors during the war. She and her family escaped just in time, and she has lived in Seoul ever since. She was visiting Gangneung for the weekend with her son, and came to the beach for sunrise to collect seaweed she uses in a soup (it looked delicious.) We sat on these steps and chatted for a good two hours.
Cute Korean couple.
I’m a big fan of the seaglass.
Then I passed out on the beach for a few, awoke to quads zooming right past my head. wwwWWWAAAAAA! Koreans love their toys.
I saw some shaman dancers doing their thang. They were very expressive. Had my attention for the full 30 minute show.
I found this little shop with this awesome wooden furniture. I will, one day, have a shop that sells this sort of stuff. Or else I’ll just get it for my house. Or make it myself.
I rode down to Anmok beach for the sunset. It was a delicious day of the sun.
MRumianowski
Spectacular!! Looks like you’re having an amzing time Melis!
Was that a tree coming out of an animal’s but?!?
Love the sunset…. or is it sunrise?
Hey Lis,nrYour photo’s are fabulous –just like you. I love the you in the pink shirt relaxing and the bleeding hearts up close. Wow. Miss you.
Melissa,nrTell your friend she is going to hell in a handbasket for going poo on someone’s grave. you save that for people you really, really hate.nrSounds like you’re having so much fun. Miss you, Patti and fam