Day 7, Leg 6

I arrived at Jangsu Pension at 3 p.m.  The proprietor didn't respond to my texts (sent when I was about 4 km away) asking whether he had a room.  Turns out he was asleep, and the wife(?) said they normally didn't respond to strange texts.  I shelled out the usual W30,000 for Room 2, the room I had last time and the time before that.  I bumped my head on the way into the room; I'd forgotten how low the door was. 

17.3 kilometers: not a very long distance. I found a calorie-burn calculator for hikers, and I don't know what to think of it:  it gives a pretty generous reading.  Today, for example, it said I had burned 6003 calories while weighing 279 pounds (my estimated weight loss, as I've dropped two belt notches) and walking on fairly level ground for 283 minutes with an 11-kilo pack on my back.  I sure don't feel as if I've burned 6003 calories.  If anything, I took the opportunity to fête the last Sunday of Chuseok weekend by sugaring up in a way that I hadn't over the previous week:  Coke, Chilsung Cider, and Snickers were the order of the day whenever I passed a convenience store, and I passed two.  Sugarwise, it was all evil, all the time.  (You'll recall that I totally soda'ed my way across the country last year, and my blood sugar still plummeted.)

The My Fitness Pal app contains a generic backpacking option that calculates calorie burn a bit more reasonably, so I guess I'll stick with that.  I'll keep the other calculator in mind, though, for purposes of comparison. 

Today's walk was slow, steady, and relatively short. I've walked the path far enough to be in the Greeting Zone again:  once you leave the big city, people on the bike trail tend to be friendlier; they'll greet you if you say hello to them or even just nod their way.  Folks out in the sticks tend to be less standoffish.  Near Seoul and Daegu and Busan, your nods are likely to be ignored.  Urban assholes.

Much of the morning was cloudy and cool, which works for me, given how much I hate direct sunlight, heat, and humidity.  I also hate having to wear my hat; despite the protection it provides.  With the afternoon came the sun, alas, that cursèd star, but I grudgingly put on my hat and bore the onslaught of photons.  

Tomorrow's leg is only 22 km, so it'll be another short one.  That said, I'll be leaving Jangsu Pension by about 6 a.m. so as not to arrive too late in Choongju City (충주시), fabled home of Korean martial arts.  Choongju is big; another 28 km after tomorrow, and I'll still be within the city limits.

One technical hitch that I noticed a couple days ago:  my phone's battery is conking out on me when the power level gets below 30%, so that's another thing I have to watch out for.  You can't buy phone batteries at a regular cell-phone store:  you have to visit a service center.  I guess I'll take my chances with the battery I have, but don't be surprised if I suddenly stop blogging. 

Anyway, here are some pics from today's leg of the journey.  I hope you enjoy them.

While leaving Yeoju, I saw a corner with character:

One of several long, beautiful stretches:

Well, hello, Madame!

Not a turtle ship:

A striking flower:

Leading down to the river:

It says Gukto Jongju, so I'm not lost:

Another stretch:

The admin center by Gangcheon Dam, which also thankfully has a convenience store:

Just so we're sure about which dam this is:

You may have noticed that I keep switching sides as I amble southward alongside the Han River.  Well, that's how the path was designed.  Many of the crossings happen right on the dams, which also act as bridges for bike and pedestrian traffic.

Crossing the dam now:

The other side of the crossing involves a steep, spiraling descent:

One of those "fish ladders"?

Down we go:

And the path continues on:

Look!  Up in the sky! 

More of those waves of grain.  This rice isn't quite amber yet, but it soon will be.  Maybe we can say that it's ambering.

Not long after Gangcheon Dam, there's Gangcheon Island (강천섬).  Unlike last year, the place was filled with picnickers and wannabe family campers.  Sadly, the modern-art sculptures that had been there last year and in 2017 have now been removed.  That's really a shame.

A village somewhere after I'd left Gangcheon Island:

Notice the spelling error?

My destination for today!  Jangsu Pension:

The kitchenette in my place had a rusty old knife, but that was all I needed to chop up some hot dogs and spam for the afternoon meal.  Not as good as yesterday's budae-jjigae, but food is food.

I'm at that hilarious stage where my forehead looks pale and ridiculous when I remove my bandanna:

I look forward to a night of listening to insects creeping across the floor.  The place has no air conditioning, but it's in a cool mountain valley, so an open window ought to suffice.  Fortunately, the room has a working oscillating fan, so I've got that going for me.  Which is nice.

PHOTO ESSAY