trip around korea

Are you crazy?”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s no way you can do it”

“Yes, I can. I will. I don’t care if it breaks. I’ll walk the rest of the way, but I need you to get it in the best shape possible.”

“Alright, well…come back in a couple hours”, the mechanic chuckled as he walked back into his shop.

There are a lot of people in life that will tell you things are impossible. You might wonder why I chose these words to catapult my story, but I’m not going to get into detail; for the ones that are driven to explore, driven by adventure, driven to live and learn more about themselves are the ones that will understand why I chose to ride my motorcycle around Korea.

Now this never seemed like an impossible thing for me to do, and with my contract ending in 3 months I wanted to take advantage of my time spent in Korea and leave with the full experience.

My 10-day journey started with a trip to the mechanic, a borrowed tent, a stop at Dongdaemun’s camping district, a handy Korean road map, the knowledge that you can pitch-a-tent pretty much anywhere along the coast (just check with the locals first), and the idea to circle the country; everything else was left up to the roads.

1)  

Jeju’s Jeongbong waterfall is quoted to be “the only Asian waterfall that falls directly into the ocean”. I like the ferocity of this quote so I decided not to do any research to find the truth in it and just let it be.  It truly is a breathtaking site and worth the 2000 won park admittance; it is also located within 20 km of Seogwipo’s other waterfall Cheonjiwon. 

2

After driving along the shore roads on the west coast of Jeju, the rocky cliffs forced me to merge onto the 1132 expressway which is where I found this sexual wonderland (not to be confused with Jeju’s other sexual wonderland Loveland). The Sex and Health Museum is home to grand sculptures of people at play- much like these sexy women who urged me to snap these erotic photos.

3)

Lonely Planet Korea claims it takes 7-8 hours to climb Hallasan’s summit, and I would have followed that advice had it not been that I was rushing to catch a ferry to Busan and hadn’t the time, which is partly excuse of the goofy look. The hazy background often comes-and-goes due to the altitude and location to the sea; the mist passed within 5 minutes but my camera hadn’t the life left.

4)

This ajumah approached me with a sweetened deal of 5 king crabs for 50,000 won- so after stopping at the local shop for some butter to melt in her microwave I took her up on the bargain. Yeondok’s port is home to a seafood market that is surrounded by restaurants with tanks swelled with ocean delights.

5)

After cruising and sleeping on beaches and mountains all along the coast line I pulled into a Baekam on a cloudy day and met Bryce the owner of this Baekam Springs Hotel.

Each bedroom is furnished with a bathtub that is pumped with natural hot-springs water, or if you are just passing through; you can opt for a cheaper alternative and just use the bath-house for 6000 won, either way it’s a very relaxing excuse to stop in Baekam.

6) This spectacular fountain rests just off the shore of Kolaybul’s white sandy beach. At night the town gathers closely around and watches the colourful streams dance to Andrea Bocelli’s Time to Say Goodbye.

7) It is told that a young man and woman paddled a boat out to an island, in which the man had to leave shortly after, promising his quick return. That night the waves grew violently and he was unable to make the venture and it was the same storm that threw her from the island ending her life. From that day forth that fishing village was struck with barren catches as it was said that the woman’s tears had warded off the fish. The people of the village began creating phallic wooden carvings and sending them to sea as a tribute to the virgin woman- this action resulted in the end of the curse and the village once again flourished with great scaled bounty.

8) Walking out of Daechon’s E-Mart, I was startled to hear the sound of muffled barking as I witnessed this dishevelled puppy as one of the new victims of dog lockers.

9) Jeongdongjin is home to a happening beach-town pumping with late night karaoke and long sandy beaches. Its name derives from the Joseon Dynasty out of its directly-eastern position to Seoul’s Gwanghwamun. 

10) After spending the night sleeping on a mountain along the Mokpo’s West Sea, I woke to board the 4 1/2 hour ferry boat to Jeju. It is a good idea to book your tickets a day in advance to avoid the lines in the morning. Prepare for choppy waters but all the nice people on board make for a smooth ride.

11)Unlike my previous boat ride; Jeju to Busan’s 11-hour overnight ferry gives you much time to catch up on needed rest. Prepare to bring some ear plugs for the late night television viewers in your cozy room of 100. 

After 1340 km on my bike and one sore ondongy I departed on my 230 km trip back to Seoul. Stopped at a red light just outside of Jeongdongjin, several police officers were standing car-side before one called me over. I doing nothing illegal just followed procedure and cruised through the red light to meet him. The cop anxious at a chance to meet a foreigner asked me my name and age while checking out my bike. Before letting me go he asked me where I was going; Seoul I said, as he chuckled mimicking my mechanics reaction.