We work a lot in this country. The life of a private school kindergarten teacher may bring great pay and good experience but it also brings little time off. We are given 10 days off all year; 5 days for summer break and 5 days for Christmas. Very rarely do we get to enjoy 3 day weekends. This year though, we have been blessed. We had a 5 day weekend in May, which I enjoyed with my parents during their visit. And we were lucky to have another long weekend in June. It was the celebration of Korea’s independence, which meant we got a Monday off of work. Jared and I took full advantage of that day and decided to go on a 3-day bike trip around the mountains of Korea. We had a general idea of where we wanted to go and the ground we wanted to cover, but one of the glories of cycle touring is not having an exact plan and just going where the road takes you.
We had decided to not use the luxury of hotels this trip and wild camp along the way. I was so excited because I hadn’t camped since my last boundary waters trip in 2001 and I had forgotten the feel of the wilderness.
We headed out of Bundang early Saturday morning and headed for Inje, our launching point. It looked as though the weather Gods were smiling down on us and we were greeted with sunny, clear blue skies. We parked the car in a big parking lot where we knew it would be safe for the next few days. We have become pretty efficient when it comes to packing and unpacking the car on bike trips. It doesn’t take us too long to get everything off and out of the car and our bikes loaded up and ready to go. We had planned to set off around 9:15-9:30 and we were just about on schedule until we got on our bikes and started riding. See, this was the first time I was riding with both my back side bags and when I pedaled, my heel was hitting my bag. We had to stop before we even got out of the parking lot and readjust my bags. About 20 minutes later and after several test runs, my bags were right where they needed to be and we were all set.
The day was a relatively easy day for us. We knew we had one big climb at the end of the day but the road until then was pretty forgiving. We were only on the busy highway for about 8km’s until we turned off onto a very quiet scenic road. We were both pretty surprised at how quiet the road was. The road was relatively new and it seemed odd that there were no cars on it, but we weren’t complaining. We rode on the road unassuming for a big portion of the morning/afternoon. It was great to be able to stop along the way, take pictures, eat lunch, take quick breaks and enjoy the journey, which is the whole point of cycle touring.
One of the joys of wild camping is knowing we don’t have to get to a hotel at any certain time. All of our trips before this one we had a hotel booked and we would feel as if we needed to arrive by a certain time as to not worry the hotel owners (in Korea, if you aren’t at your hotel by around 5-6, the owners will text you or call you to see if you are coming.) We would also want to get to our hotel by 5 or 6 so we would have enough time to unpack, shower, and get some place to eat. Wild camping is much different. Although we have a tent to set up, we don’t have to worry about showering or finding a restaurant to eat at.
Since the day had brought great weather and even better roads to ride on, we made it to our “dinner stop” Hwacheon, earlier than expected. Originally our idea was to stop in Hwacheon, eat dinner, and ride the last 30k’s to our camping spot at the Peace Damn. Instead of eating dinner in Hwacheon, we stopped in a street market and picked up things to make for dinner. Me being the health freak that I am, picked up veggies, ssamjeong dipping sauce, tofu, and a few rolls of kimbap (rice and seaweed wraps.) Jared also picked up some kimbap and other snacks for dinner. We also picked up what we would need for breakfast the next morning. Since we weren’t sure when we would see our first town in the morning, we made sure we had enough water for the night and the morning.
The last part of the day also brought the big climb of the day. We had about a 400 meter climb to get to the Peace Damn and our camping spot for the night. Jared and I had done this climb about a month earlier and so we knew what was in front of us, and I was less than excited to take on this mountain at the end of the day. As we attacked the climb we both put in our headphones and took off at our own pace. I knew the climb would take about an hour and all I was thinking about was being done and eating dinner. It amazes me how much music helps when climbing mountains and before I knew it, we were half way up the mountain and taking a quick break before conquering the rest of it. After the break, we set off on our own again. Even though I had a fully loaded bike, this climb seemed easier than when we did it a month earlier on an empty bike. Maybe all the riding, mountain climbing, and weekend trips we had put under our belts since that ride gave me the biking legs I needed to power up that climb. Just when I thought I had about 15 more minutes of climbing, I heard Jared shouting. At first I thought he was just yelling for no reason but then I saw what he saw, the top. It came sooner than I thought it was and it was just as happy as he was.
Both of us were impressed with ourselves once we hit the top. We were both expecting a harder climb than it ended up being. We happily made our way down the mountain and to the Peace Dam. The sun was starting to set so we wanted to get some place soon so we could set up the tent and eat dinner. We weren’t sure if it was legal to camp on the Peace Dam so as were making our way to the Peace Dam; we kept our eyes open for back-up camping spots. Once we arrived at the dam our worries were put to rest. Others were already there, tents sent up and ready to camp. This brought a bit of relief, knowing we wouldn’t have to go out looking for a different place to sleep.
The Peace Dam was built to defend South Korea from North Korea. See, North Korea has built a dam holding back a river that could flood South Korea. If North Korea would ever decide to attach, they were going to blow up the damn and thus send the river flowing into and flooding South Korea. Knowing this, South Korea built a huge dam to defend against this. It is quite odd to see a huge dam not damming any water but I guess it is better to be prepared. Our camping spot was right next to the dam and next to a bunch of old war tanks and one fighter jet. What better way to demonstrate peace than to have a bunch of tanks from the Korean War. Of course we had to go and take a look and get some pictures. It was pretty cool to see them. They were open and you could look down inside them and see how they drove them and what they saw as they sat in them.
Once we checked out the tanks and took our token pictures, we set up camp. It didn’t take much to set up the tent and get our things ready for the night and next morning. After the tent was set up we had our dinner. We went back to the tanks and ate dinner on the tanks. By this time, the sun was well set and it was getting dark. Even though it was only about 8:30, we were both tired and ready to call it a night. Once we were back to the tent it didn’t take long to get everything packed up for the night and out of harm’s way. We made sure to pack any food in our packs and off the ground so no ants or other insects would be crawling on it all night.
We had covered about 107km that day with a total ride time of about 6 and half hours. Even though it was pretty easy riding (until the last part) we were pretty exhausted. The sun and heat also take a toll on you as you ride and it didn’t take long for both of us to pass out that night. It was a great day and we knew we had even bigger challenges in front of us for the next two days.
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