With our many air miles saved up we managed to get some pretty good deals on a couple of Thai airlines tickets from Bangkok to Seoul, South Korea. After some negotiations and signing a form to say we acknowledged the fact that we were purchasing a one way ticket only and could be sent back to Thailand, we got ourselves ready for the next instalment of the cycle trip. On the morning of the day of the flight, I had a sudden bought of laziness and knowing the abundance of pick up trucks in Thailand and the fact that anything kind of service, I got Nat on the case for trying to get a pickup and driver to take us to the airport. Well, we did cycle through Bangkok traffic before and it's not pleasant really and in all that heat ;) Wonderfully, Nat came up with the goods and with the bikes loaded in the back with our panniers, we set off for the airport.
Seoul
On arriving at Incheon international airport, Seoul, Jan Boonstra's maps and GPS details in hand, we decided to opt for the cycle from the airport, catch the ferry (airport is on an island), and cycle into Seoul itself. We had the GPS coordinates for the 'start' of the route that Jan had prepared and I had booked a room at Kim's Guesthouse in Seoul which was very close.
When the bikes were waiting for us at the belt I approached as I have down a couple of times now now with a little nervous feeling hoping the bikes managed to survive the flight OK. The flight from UK to India was great, bikes perfect, From India to Singapore Nat's bike suffered some burns to the brake lever after the belt rubbed it and now, my bike looked like it had been thrown on/off the plane rather than being carefully placed. The front brakes we bent and frame scratched badly. With a couple of cable ties, I had the front brake looking a little better. Both bikes now suffered from slightly buckled wheels (Nat's both and my rear wheel). They were rideable though so with a little heavy hearted we put them back together.
Cycling in was pretty easy going although we had prepared for a good night's sleep on the plane beforehand, but forgot the flight was only 4 hours. Just as we got close I got all confused with the bridges, rivers and maps (tired) and suddenly saw an amazing cycle path below the bridge we were on with loads of fully prepared cyclists in all their gear cycling along the river. We nipped down the path and started our best Korean (thank you is the only word we know - and Nat also knows toilet now which is good). After showing maps with Korean language, we managed to get to Kim's Guest house eventually and were met with a very friendly English speaking lady. With a superb relaxing day and two nights in Seoul, with clean clothes and a few Won in our pockets, we set off to the start of Jan Boonstra's route:
Cycle in Korea
Seoul - Busan
The first day saw us cycling down the river Han in the centre of Seoul down an amazing cycle path full of very fully prepared mountain bikers with their matching kit and face masks. We felt a little under dressed with our bare legs and arms, normal shorts (we wear cycle lycra shorts underneath to not scare people) and t-shirts. It was a beautiful day and we felt absolute excitement as we cruised down this path breathing in the seemly good air for a major city. it wasn't long though before Nat's bicycle developed a nasty clicking noise and after my expert mechanical advice of carry on and see what it does, made the clicking noise develop into a clunking noise within a few km. Oh dear, time to see what it wrong. The crank looked like it had developed a wobble and become loose. There was no way I could tighten it though with the tools I had. I have many tools with me but the one for removing the bottom bracket (pedal mechanism) I didn't bring as if I had to take it off, it's mean having to replace the main pedal assembly probably anyway so would need to go to a bike shop. There was no way this bike was going to make 500km to Busan so a quick search was on for an exit off the bike path to get up and find a bike shop. A few minutes into the clunking ride, I noticed a group of serious looking mountain bikes under a bridge. Coming up to them I noticed that actually this was a mobile bike shop!!! What luck!!! Not only did they seem to know what the problem was but the guy had a new bottom bracket assembly in case I needed it. Without a word in English from them and not one from us in Korean, the guy thoroughly cleaned Nat's bike, completely removed the pedal assembly/crank and sorted the problem (come undone), and straightened her wheels! All for 10 pounds! GREAT news.. Nat was extremely pleased as she said her bike felt like new again! We didn't take any more time up by getting him to straighten my rear wheel as it was just a little off true (should have!). The rest of the ride that day was spent eating needles from 7-11, getting 50 pounds out of an ATM (7-11) and spending the night in a love motel! Along with the route info on the GPS, Jan has wonderfully put on cheap motels too (10-12.50 pounds a night). We opted for this in Korea as although sometimes a little scary with the 'love' preparations they put on for you!! Some of these places are built like dodgy Disney castles and have plastic draping down over the car park entrances so you can't see who is parked there. Lots of privacy for those secret hours with loves ones!! For us cyclists we were only too pleased to have them so cheap for the night as they were pretty much like a 4 star hotel inside the rooms. Great for doing your own washing and watching an film after a long day ;) (although channel 2 and 3 were always quite amusing too).
After a about 3 days our money from Seoul was beginning to run out so it was time to visit an ATM and get some more cash out. We were going through a largish town that particularly day so thought good opportunity to go to a bank's ATM rather than 7-11 where it wouldn't let me get more than 50 pounds out. This is where the 'fun' started. I have been travelling on my Visa card now since I was about 19 when I went inter-railing around Europe. You can imagine my surprise when I tried the bank's ATM only to find it spat out the cards (I tried a few) saying error 99. Errr what's that error then???!!! No joke, I must have tried at least 10 ATM's that awful hour in that town getting more desperate by the ATM realising that I was with Nat, in the middle of South Korea, with no money, on bicycles and can't speak Korean!! This was getting worrying! Most bank ATM's either stated that they only worked for local cards or just came up with Korean on the screen. My guessing the buttons idea didn't work work either and sometimes left me standing there waiting for my card to be spat out after about 5 sweating minutes. Error 99!! @#$%&!!! Ahh!! It was only after a helpful G25 convenience store worker helped me that I managed to get 50 pounds out of their machine and after many other stores/bank failures. I seized the opportunity and used all my cards and Nat's bank card too to get some cash out. PHEW!! What we did experience though was this all the way from Seoul to Busan. It was only yesterday in Busan that i got money out again!! if you come to Korea.. bring LOTS of cash. oh, also they couldn't change pounds either.. and my Visa card was looked at by all the bank staff like it was from Mars! Weird considering I could use the card at any motel, tiny shop or anywhere else other than and ATM/Bank.
Back to cycling, we managed 4 days of cycling every day without a rest taking in the river views, rice paddy fields where the farmers are planting this seasons rice shoots (mostly older folks - where are the young farmers?) and meeting friendly locals and trying to have conversations with them with smiles and laughing. On the fourth day we even managed a climb over 500m high. With my dodgy front brake though I decide to use my rear brake more down the steep hill. On the way down I suddenly heard a funny noise and then rubbing sound. Oh dear... didn't sound good! On close inspection, it appeared that using the rear brake so much had heated up the slightly buckled rear wheel which in turn had made it very buckled. It was now rubbing against the frame. With my 'bush mechanic' skills, I managed to get the rear wheel to turn just without rubbing. I couldn't go far though and luckily at the foot of the hill there was a small town. After much demonstrating to locals that I had a buckled wheel (lifting the bike and spinning the rear wheel and going oooooooo...ahhhhhh), we managed to find a small bike shop. The old boy there got to work right away on the spokes and within a short time all was well! SUPERB luck again!!! Wouldn't take any money so with our only word in Korean - thank you 'Gam san hannida' (sounds like that anyway!), we set off again.
Day 5 I woke as I usually do at 0600 and made an error of telling Nat that it looked like the perfect weather had ended and rain had come. This immediately had the effect of making Nat jump back into bed and say we HAVE to take a day off today. With much opposition to the idea (staying in bed for a day watching tv bores me), we took a needed day off. The following day it looked like the route took us through some more mountainous territory so actually the day off was good for us. Also the weather went back to the perfect cycling weather that we experienced all the way through our Korean trip. Ok Ok.. good idea Nat ;)
After 10 days (9 cycling), we made it into Busan which is where we are now. We have cycled 515km from Seoul and nearly 1500km since leaving the UK. We have booked our boat ticket for tomorrow night to Fukuoka, Japan. 'Japanese Boy', 'Big in Japan', 'Turning Japanese' and the theme to James Bond 'You Only Live Twice' have all been sung to Nat in preparation for the trip. Nat's pedal is making a clicking noise of which we are ignoring so far and we've done our washing. We are ready.. I think....
A big thank you to Jan Boonstra again for his amazing route, maps and GPS files that helped us have an amazing trip in South Korea. A country we knew little about but now have a soft spot for, especially for it's food (although I wasn't keen on the rabbit stew), very friendly people, and the constant tunes of cuckoos and woodpeckers!
Seoul
On arriving at Incheon international airport, Seoul, Jan Boonstra's maps and GPS details in hand, we decided to opt for the cycle from the airport, catch the ferry (airport is on an island), and cycle into Seoul itself. We had the GPS coordinates for the 'start' of the route that Jan had prepared and I had booked a room at Kim's Guesthouse in Seoul which was very close.
When the bikes were waiting for us at the belt I approached as I have down a couple of times now now with a little nervous feeling hoping the bikes managed to survive the flight OK. The flight from UK to India was great, bikes perfect, From India to Singapore Nat's bike suffered some burns to the brake lever after the belt rubbed it and now, my bike looked like it had been thrown on/off the plane rather than being carefully placed. The front brakes we bent and frame scratched badly. With a couple of cable ties, I had the front brake looking a little better. Both bikes now suffered from slightly buckled wheels (Nat's both and my rear wheel). They were rideable though so with a little heavy hearted we put them back together.
Cycling in was pretty easy going although we had prepared for a good night's sleep on the plane beforehand, but forgot the flight was only 4 hours. Just as we got close I got all confused with the bridges, rivers and maps (tired) and suddenly saw an amazing cycle path below the bridge we were on with loads of fully prepared cyclists in all their gear cycling along the river. We nipped down the path and started our best Korean (thank you is the only word we know - and Nat also knows toilet now which is good). After showing maps with Korean language, we managed to get to Kim's Guest house eventually and were met with a very friendly English speaking lady. With a superb relaxing day and two nights in Seoul, with clean clothes and a few Won in our pockets, we set off to the start of Jan Boonstra's route:
Cycle in Korea
Seoul - Busan
The first day saw us cycling down the river Han in the centre of Seoul down an amazing cycle path full of very fully prepared mountain bikers with their matching kit and face masks. We felt a little under dressed with our bare legs and arms, normal shorts (we wear cycle lycra shorts underneath to not scare people) and t-shirts. It was a beautiful day and we felt absolute excitement as we cruised down this path breathing in the seemly good air for a major city. it wasn't long though before Nat's bicycle developed a nasty clicking noise and after my expert mechanical advice of carry on and see what it does, made the clicking noise develop into a clunking noise within a few km. Oh dear, time to see what it wrong. The crank looked like it had developed a wobble and become loose. There was no way I could tighten it though with the tools I had. I have many tools with me but the one for removing the bottom bracket (pedal mechanism) I didn't bring as if I had to take it off, it's mean having to replace the main pedal assembly probably anyway so would need to go to a bike shop. There was no way this bike was going to make 500km to Busan so a quick search was on for an exit off the bike path to get up and find a bike shop. A few minutes into the clunking ride, I noticed a group of serious looking mountain bikes under a bridge. Coming up to them I noticed that actually this was a mobile bike shop!!! What luck!!! Not only did they seem to know what the problem was but the guy had a new bottom bracket assembly in case I needed it. Without a word in English from them and not one from us in Korean, the guy thoroughly cleaned Nat's bike, completely removed the pedal assembly/crank and sorted the problem (come undone), and straightened her wheels! All for 10 pounds! GREAT news.. Nat was extremely pleased as she said her bike felt like new again! We didn't take any more time up by getting him to straighten my rear wheel as it was just a little off true (should have!). The rest of the ride that day was spent eating needles from 7-11, getting 50 pounds out of an ATM (7-11) and spending the night in a love motel! Along with the route info on the GPS, Jan has wonderfully put on cheap motels too (10-12.50 pounds a night). We opted for this in Korea as although sometimes a little scary with the 'love' preparations they put on for you!! Some of these places are built like dodgy Disney castles and have plastic draping down over the car park entrances so you can't see who is parked there. Lots of privacy for those secret hours with loves ones!! For us cyclists we were only too pleased to have them so cheap for the night as they were pretty much like a 4 star hotel inside the rooms. Great for doing your own washing and watching an film after a long day ;) (although channel 2 and 3 were always quite amusing too).
After a about 3 days our money from Seoul was beginning to run out so it was time to visit an ATM and get some more cash out. We were going through a largish town that particularly day so thought good opportunity to go to a bank's ATM rather than 7-11 where it wouldn't let me get more than 50 pounds out. This is where the 'fun' started. I have been travelling on my Visa card now since I was about 19 when I went inter-railing around Europe. You can imagine my surprise when I tried the bank's ATM only to find it spat out the cards (I tried a few) saying error 99. Errr what's that error then???!!! No joke, I must have tried at least 10 ATM's that awful hour in that town getting more desperate by the ATM realising that I was with Nat, in the middle of South Korea, with no money, on bicycles and can't speak Korean!! This was getting worrying! Most bank ATM's either stated that they only worked for local cards or just came up with Korean on the screen. My guessing the buttons idea didn't work work either and sometimes left me standing there waiting for my card to be spat out after about 5 sweating minutes. Error 99!! @#$%&!!! Ahh!! It was only after a helpful G25 convenience store worker helped me that I managed to get 50 pounds out of their machine and after many other stores/bank failures. I seized the opportunity and used all my cards and Nat's bank card too to get some cash out. PHEW!! What we did experience though was this all the way from Seoul to Busan. It was only yesterday in Busan that i got money out again!! if you come to Korea.. bring LOTS of cash. oh, also they couldn't change pounds either.. and my Visa card was looked at by all the bank staff like it was from Mars! Weird considering I could use the card at any motel, tiny shop or anywhere else other than and ATM/Bank.
Back to cycling, we managed 4 days of cycling every day without a rest taking in the river views, rice paddy fields where the farmers are planting this seasons rice shoots (mostly older folks - where are the young farmers?) and meeting friendly locals and trying to have conversations with them with smiles and laughing. On the fourth day we even managed a climb over 500m high. With my dodgy front brake though I decide to use my rear brake more down the steep hill. On the way down I suddenly heard a funny noise and then rubbing sound. Oh dear... didn't sound good! On close inspection, it appeared that using the rear brake so much had heated up the slightly buckled rear wheel which in turn had made it very buckled. It was now rubbing against the frame. With my 'bush mechanic' skills, I managed to get the rear wheel to turn just without rubbing. I couldn't go far though and luckily at the foot of the hill there was a small town. After much demonstrating to locals that I had a buckled wheel (lifting the bike and spinning the rear wheel and going oooooooo...ahhhhhh), we managed to find a small bike shop. The old boy there got to work right away on the spokes and within a short time all was well! SUPERB luck again!!! Wouldn't take any money so with our only word in Korean - thank you 'Gam san hannida' (sounds like that anyway!), we set off again.
Day 5 I woke as I usually do at 0600 and made an error of telling Nat that it looked like the perfect weather had ended and rain had come. This immediately had the effect of making Nat jump back into bed and say we HAVE to take a day off today. With much opposition to the idea (staying in bed for a day watching tv bores me), we took a needed day off. The following day it looked like the route took us through some more mountainous territory so actually the day off was good for us. Also the weather went back to the perfect cycling weather that we experienced all the way through our Korean trip. Ok Ok.. good idea Nat ;)
After 10 days (9 cycling), we made it into Busan which is where we are now. We have cycled 515km from Seoul and nearly 1500km since leaving the UK. We have booked our boat ticket for tomorrow night to Fukuoka, Japan. 'Japanese Boy', 'Big in Japan', 'Turning Japanese' and the theme to James Bond 'You Only Live Twice' have all been sung to Nat in preparation for the trip. Nat's pedal is making a clicking noise of which we are ignoring so far and we've done our washing. We are ready.. I think....
A big thank you to Jan Boonstra again for his amazing route, maps and GPS files that helped us have an amazing trip in South Korea. A country we knew little about but now have a soft spot for, especially for it's food (although I wasn't keen on the rabbit stew), very friendly people, and the constant tunes of cuckoos and woodpeckers!
