Easy Riding

Awoke refreshed and ready to hit the road at around 9.00 a.m. A quick breakfast consisting of last night’s leftovers and I was down the steps, out the door and on my bike in less than 20 minutes. The weather was fantastic; hot but with the slightest of breezes and a slightly cloudy sky – fantastic conditions for riding.

To my immense surprise, I quickly discovered that I had a slight tailwind that pushed my average speed up over 25km per hour, making the early morning struggle out of Asan, Dogo and Yesan into the neighbouring Sapgyo region an absolute joy. Which is a good thing considering that I had cycled 118km yesterday and that that was the longest amount of time that I had ever spent in the saddle.

Sapgyo is a picturesque hamlet worth mentioning because it is very old world Korea and has a genuine rustic charm about it. The roads are narrow, flanked by overhanging trees and hemmed in on both sides by rice paddies extending back to thickly forested mountains. I’m not sure of the names of these mountains or the range, but a map I was using indicated that I was in the vicinity of and would indeed ride through Deoksan National Park.

There’s not much in the way of industry or residential development in these parts, but I did see an interesting looking little jang-seung (Korean totem pole) workshop cum restaurant by the side of the road that definitely warrants a return visit at some point in time.

Korean totem poles are usually over 7-feet-tall with frightening expressions and can be seen in male-female pairs at the entrance to a village. They’re used to scare to off evil and can be sighted regularly at all points of the country. I suspect this will be the place that I place my order for a couple of custom made totem poles I plan on having shipped home before I leave Korea. There’s no particular reason why, just a gut feeling.

Lunch was enjoyed behind a small supermarket near Deoksan and a friendly local adjoshi (uncle), made sure that I washed lettuce and tomatoes before he allowed me to eat in peace. The view of the mountains and countryside were spectacular. Nearly as spectacular as the peach juice that I washed this feast down with.

After half-a-day of easy riding, I finally made it into Deoksan National Park and was confronted with my first serious hill climb of the trip. Up and up and up I went with no respite, but fortunately there was no headwind and the incline wasn’t nightmarishly steep. The descent was a true joy, allowing me to slowly wind down through the valley while taking note of the environmental vandalism being perpetrated by the Korean Department of Main Roads on the countryside.

The valley that I was descending through was very deep with a lakes and rivers running along its length. Unfortunately for the locals, the government has decided to construct a superhighway and or KTX line along the upper heights of the valley’s mountains, resulting in ugly scarring that detracts from its pristine appearance. Worse to come was a bizarre 70s-highway-overpass length that had been planted in the water on the edge of a lake so to smooth the old road’s winding course. While I could possibly understand the superhighway and or KTX line’s construction, there was no need for this monstrosity which looks as out of sorts as skyscraper in the middle of a rice paddy.

Descending from the mountains and leaving Deoksan National Park, the ride into Seosan was hot and hellish. My energy levels had bottomed out and seeing a dead dog’s bloated carcass lying in the gutter on the outskirts of town gave me a very bad feeling indeed. After another 20 minutes of cycling through the city’s extremely unappealing urban landscape, I was back in a semi-rural setting and on my way to Taean, which I had planned on staying for the evening before heading out for Mallipo on the West Coast the next day.

As luck would have it, my energy levels had begun lifting after leaving Seosan, courtesy of a bottle of Gatorade, and despite a torrential downpour that saw the debut of my rain gear and pannier covers, I powered on through some of them most beautiful countryside that I have seen in Korea. Lush green fore hills and rice paddies, jungle-vegetated mountains, salt marshes and tropical flowers were everywhere, combining to produce scenery that you would more expect to see in Vietnam than Korea. Add a strong wind rippling through the rice shoots, carrying the fresh smell of the ocean and I found myself asking: “Is this paradise?”

But paradise has its darkside and mine came when a link in my new chain (Shimano XTR) fouled and I had to stop under an apple tree and spend the next hour trying to change it over. Fortunately, the owner of the bike shop where I’ve been shopping for the past year, Mr. Lim, had convinced me to buy a chain link-changing tool, which after a lot of screwing around with, proved to be my savior.

Back on the road again, it wasn’t too much further until I reached Mallipo Beach, which truly is an authentic Korean beach town. After 108km of cycling, most of it stunning countryside, I was seeing row after row of shanty shacks selling food, schlitzy amusements better suited to a carnival with everything insanely overpriced.

For example, a 2-litre bottle of water will set you back 3,000 won, while a shellfish meal consisting of what most Australians would consider fit only for baiting your fishing hook, 30,000 won. An undersized barbecued chicken, 10,000 won and a bottle of soju, 5,000 won.

This was Hades in terms of price gouging and an example of why the Korean National Tourist Organization (KNTO) needs to step in and close these seasonal hucksters down, rescuing the country’s tourist industry from their clutches before its lost forever.

The beach at Mallipo was close to first-rate and definitely better than the descriptions I’d heard prior to heading west. It had waves, was relatively clean and while the water wasn’t clear – that’s the Yellow Sea for you – there wasn’t garbage floating in it like what you’d see in Busan.

I spent several hours swimming that afternoon, as it was the first time that I’d seen surf since arriving in Korea. And I wasn’t alone -- a fortysomething foreigner was riding a Malibu, fairly well I might add, -- much to the local’s delight. Definitely a bizarre occurrence in this part of the world as there aren’t many surf beaches in Korea.

My accommodation for the evening was a beachfront mimbak with shared faciltites and as with everything else in Mallipo: overpriced. Thirty thousand won bought me a small room with a useless TV, thin matting and a rickety fan that was on its last legs. Still, I was on the beachfront and could listen to the waves crashing on the shore as I fell asleep.

A word for the wise, Mallipo Beach out of season or at the end / beginning of summer is a fantastic place to visit. During peak season, avoid like the plague as this place would be hell on earth, inundated by millions of cityslickers.

Also, if you’re thinking of visiting, it’s probably better to stay in the countryside and travel to the beach by bike or car -- the setting is far more idyllic.

Tomorrow: Tough Guys Don't Cry