ROAD TRIP

So I was feeling the need to for some culture, breathable air, and ridin'. Yeah thats right, ridin'. I'm a rider. I ride. A beast of a hog....125 cc. O yeah.

Anyways so on Saturday around 2 I headed off for a national park called Sobaeksan. I choose a more obscure place so I wouldn't have to battle korean grandmothers up the mountain. These women are strong, and they all have the full hiking gear. They know how to use those hiking poles to fend off ensuing weyguks (foreigners).

Sobaeksan is 186 km from Seoul on the expressways, but 2 wheels aren't aloud so I was forced to take a more scenic route. After 1 1/2 hours of getting out of Seoul and its satelite cities I made it to more open territory. It was so nice to see nature without concrete blocking most the view.

It was about 225 km and 4 hours later I arrived in Danyang. I saw these rocks that protroud out of a lake and took a seat at the restaurant there. I ate 'korean pizza' as they call it, except its nothing like pizza at all, in fact it is literally a potato pancake.



Next I went to check out where the mountain hike started because I figured I'd stay nearby. Right close to the trail head I found a mini golf course (can't see in above pic). I went to go check out if they were open and met some ajoshi (older married men) campers. They had no idea about the golf course but were game for a chat. They offered a me a beer and I figured, why not? So in my limited korean and their limited English we had a bassic conversation....job, age, where we live, me liking korean food and cheering for the korean soccer team. HWIGHTING! That's all you really need to say to become friends with a stranger here.

After the beer I was ready to go and get a minbak (small room with some bedding = cheap). One of the men insisted I sleep in his tent with his family but I politley refused. I left to find a minbak and came back to eat dinner with them as they urged me to do. I was full on up for the idea though, might as well get some culture and free food. So there I was mingling with these 5 families. The men were life long friends. One of them asked me to teach his son. He seemed to take a liking to me. He later pulled me off to the side and told me "I ruv you, I want enjoy tonight, and I want you teach my kids".




It seemed like he was making a pass at me but I knew it was just a language barrier. But I figured he wanted me to stay until 20 min later he said "You minbak, go". I then realized he just wanted to chill with his buddies. It finally made sense to me. As I left a few others tried to tell me to stay and drink more soju (rice wine - o yea, i was drunk too). I don't blame the guy for wanting to chill with his buddies, and I was looking for an out to go chill myself.

So that ended the first night. The follwoing day I awoke and began my ascent to the summit of Sobaeksan. The hike started up along a waterfall for a good hour and a half.

I trekked on through a jungle region and then up a stairway of greenary.
Over a ridge,

past an almost bare flower museum,
and there I was at the top with a barely visible view. Still it was a sweet 3 hour hike up. It was peaceful and quiet, no adjumas to joust. I saw a person about every 15 minutes. It was awesome.

When I got back down the mountain around 4, I took the bike for a cruise around the area and found some cool spots. A cave,

a temple,

mountain roads to explore.

I chilled out the next and headed back this morning. It was a better drive back as I weaved through the mountains, past the farmers in the feilds and traditional korean houses.
No drunk businessmen vomitting, no flashy lights, no fellow whities, no bloody Starbucks. It was only when I saw a 7-11 about 40 km outside Seoul I felt the city buzz and saw the black on my hands.

It was nice to get outta the city, Seoul can be fun, but how cool is nature?
Very cool. About as cool as a rider is. And that's cool.