China Cycling Travelogues

At lunch he found a restaurant where I had my first taste of real Korean cooking, complete with many side dishes. I had Bimbap and he had soup. I was a bit embarrassed as I didn't know how I was supposed to eat it. Finally the owner came over and put my rice in the big bowl and mixed it all up for me. We had four of five types of kimchi and an assortment of vegetables. It was very tasty and only cost 2,000 won. My monk friend would not let me pay, however. I always feel awkward in those situations. After lunch we visited some more sites and the National Museum. There we met three Buddhist nuns. All of us toured the museum together. It was great fun. One of the nuns spoke to me a bit and said the monk was a "good guy". After that he took me back to his temple where we ate some fruit, bananas, Asian pears, grapes and Korean peanut/rice balls. Then we went out again to see some more sights. At about 5 PM we returned to my Yogwan and we parted. What a great day! Maybe I'll get some letters written tonight.

10 PM and no letters written yet. I discovered a major screw up on my part in my plans. I haven't gotten a visa for Taiwan yet. It looks like I will have to postpone my flight for a few days at least unless I take an express train and hope I can get a visa in a few hours.

October 4 Kyongju

8 AM Damn! The bastard on the ferry also stole my SPOKE NOTES stamp and pad. Shit! I am mad and frustrated, upset, pissed off, and very sad. Why? Why did he do it? Maybe I can learn from this not to become so attached to things. It was a wonderful stamp with my name and a sketch of the world with a bicycle on top that I had made in Yogjakarta, Indonesia.

I just feel victimized, that I shouldn't be here, that I am fighting an uphill battle. It is so demoralizing. I guess I should feel lucky that it was not anything like my journal, or the bike. But I am still angry.

It is raining today. I good day to write letters and mourn the lost of my stamp.

Midnight I am back after a fun day with April and Eric at Pulguksa and Sukhuran Temples. I met these two American students who have been attending Yonsei University in Seoul and are now traveling for a week during the Korean Ch'usok holiday. This evening we went out with Peter, who has been in Japan teaching English and is in Korea renewing his visa. April is another old girlfriend clone with blonde hair, blue eyes, a long narrow face and prominent nose. Amazing similarity.

After talking with them, I got inspired to try to earn some money teaching English in Seoul again. I also decided to ride back to Seoul via Pupjuso where the monk I met on Cheju-do lives. Maybe I can stay there a day or two.

October 5 Kimch'on 140 km

6 PM Today's ride was long, but satisfying. Either I am getting used to Korean drivers or there were not as many turkeys on the road as usual. It seems that the highways running parallel to the expressways are good ones to take because most of the traffic is there leaving mostly local of which 50% is buses.

I rode through Taegu thinking that perhaps I could find work there in that city of two million and 17 universities and colleges. But I was again intimidated by the size, so I rode on. I also have a "deadline" to make in Seoul on the 8th and pay for the tour to P'anmunjon on the 9th. That means three days of travel to the big city. Looks like no problem even with a stop at Popchsa Temple.

October 6 Kimch'on

7 AM More thoughts on Korea. I find cycling here not very enjoyable because there are very few parks or resting areas where I can take a break. Yesterday I was fortunate to come across a small lake along the highway near the top of a pass and took a break there. But for the most part, once I get on the bike, I go until I find a place to sleep at night.

7 PM Posen 107 km

The ride was pretty good today. I was on a fairly low volume highway most of the time. I took another "shortcut" for a while and ended up carrying my bike up a riverbed. After half a kilometer, I decided I was probably on the wrong track or the mapmakers screwed up. The later was the case and I found the right road, albeit very rough and quite steep at times. Still it was a nice relief form the horn blowing I have grown to despise. Tomorrow I will try to see about a slow train to Seoul so I don't go mad or get run over the last 100 km.

Today I saw a guy on a bike with a big backpack on his back going the other way. He is the closest thing I have seen to a touring cyclist since I have been in Korea. Unfortunately, he didn't stop.

I visited Papchusa, the Buddhist Temple with a 22-meter wooden pagoda and a huge 33-meter bronze Buddha image. This is where the monk I met on Cheju-do said he lived, but my efforts to locate him were fruitless. Still it is an interesting place and worth the stop. Two Buddha images of particular note were one of a figure sitting in a chair with one leg up on the other knee, Westerner style with one hand touching his face. The other was an image with the two hand clasped almost in a praying position except the fingers were folded over instead of pointing up, like the Chinese do when they ask for forgiveness or respect.

Other noteworthy events: I am finally getting the hang of the street vendor food situation. I ate a pile for 900 won tonight.