While I didn't much like the plump, snooty front-desk clerk at the Limons Spa Hotel, the motel itself allowed me to enjoy my first truly good night of sleep while on the trail. Not a single mosquito assaulted me during the night.
Today's walk was short, so I allowed myself to sleep in. Didn't leave the motel until 10 a.m., and I took my time walking less than 14 kilometers to where I am now: the old, battered Saejae Park yeogwan in the town of Yeonpoong-myeon.
As always happens every time I come here, the yeogwan was dead and empty upon my arrival, so I had to call the manager and let her know I was there. She told me to just put my stuff in Room 308, so I did that, trusting that no one would be invading my unlocked room.
I got lunch and did a bit of shopping for tomorrow while I waited for the manager to show up. For lunch, I went to the same quiet resto as last year and once again ordered the beef boshintang, which has no dog meat in it. Quite good.
I also visited a local pharmacy to see about getting some kind of lotion to protect my poor nose from further sunburn, but the old guy running the place smiled lamely and said he didn't have any such lotion. When I asked him where I could find it, he immediately shrugged and said he didn't know. I got the impression that he was a lazy bastard.
About an hour after I got back to my room, the manager showed up, and I paid her W30,000 in cash for the overnight fee. I had to ask her specifically for the room key; she seemed not to be in the habit of giving guests their keys. The room is grungy, as per usual; this time around, I'm in a Korean-style room with no bed, so I've created a bed by piling a bunch of half-folded blankets together.
Tomorrow's walk is about 25 or 26 km to San Gwa Gang Pension. Right at the beginning of this segment is the 5-kilometer-long hill that leads up to the Ihwaryeong gate. The rest of the walk is comparatively easy. The day after tomorrow, October 11, I'll be trying that new route out to the Nakdan Dam and the Havana Motel. At 44 kilometers, it's going to be brutal. That day will also be my final one on the Saejae path, and I think I'll be about halfway done with the walk.
I have a ton of pics because I seemed to stop every ten meters to snap photos. A few images can be found below; the rest will appear after the walk is over. The walk itself was a short but decent workout: today is the second day of the Saejae portion of the Four Rivers trail, so there was a bit of a "pre-hill" near the beginning of the walk, then the much longer hill (2-3K in length) that awaits hikers and bikers around the middle of the walk. I made it up just fine, partly because I kept stopping to take pictures.
PHOTO ESSAY:
I love the little guy running futilely away:
2 comments:
Another great day it appears. I smiled at the photo of the collapsed roadway. I guess it was so unusual there to be interesting. I'll see if I can find a road here WITHOUT holes to photograph. Don't hold your breath!
I really find myself missing the scenic beauty of rural Korea. Makes me feel a tad melancholy.
Keep on keepin' on!
After you publish your coffee-table book of shwimteo, you're going to have to publish a book about abandoned/discarded gloves.
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