We have 10 km to ride through Busan to reach the beginning of the 4 Rivers Route at the source of the Nakdong River. We have a feeling that it may take us a long time to reach our starting point on the river, so we have booked accommodation 31 km along the river. The route includes 4 rivers starting from Seoul - the Ara, Hangang, Saenae and the Nakdonggang.
Even though we work hard on our trikes, it hits home when I see that this woman lives a life of truly hard work. Despite our differences in how we live, the choices available to us and our cultures, she gave me a shy smile as we passed which I returned with a smile and thumbs up.
We have had more than a few climbs getting through hilly Busan, but this one becomes pretty steep. By riding over this hill we will connect with a car tunnel. Usually, we like tunnels as it removes climbing a hill. In this case we ride up and then down to access the tunnel.
Here we are riding the streets of Busan. Not so bad, especially because we can ride on the sidewalk if it gets crazy. The biggest fear is being cautious when we pass a road where cars will join our lane. They don’t often stop, even when it is red.
Yeah! We have made it to the bridge taking us to the island of Eulsukdo on the Nakdonggang River. Depending on which direction you ride this route, it is the start or the finish of this leg of the 4 Rivers Route. It represents the start of this adventure.
The centre for the cycle route is closed at lunch time so we found this incredible coffee shop and had lunch. Barry had an open faced sandwich on a grainy black bread and I had flaky crust with sausage and hot peppers. Almost forgot, we shared an excellent piece of fresh mango cake. 🥳
The island is packed with amazing places…sports hall, art museum, bird sanctuary, sports facility for people with disabilities, places to eat, venues for soccer and baseball plus a huge habitat for birds.
Karen PoretAnd “disabled sports”.. That is quite an eye catcher and revelation of progress for those not aligned as “average”. Reply to this comment 6 hours ago
But for us, the reason we are here is to visit the Certification Centre, register for a book to collect stamps throughout the course and get a map (pretty, but it is only in Koreanj. Can’t imagine riding on this penny farthing, but I’m sure someone out there would be tempted to try.
Barry getting his first stamp. He was so disappointed initially that we had to forfeit riding the complete route due to time constraints. But as is his nature, he has moved on and is excited to get going.
If we have time when we return, we would like to visit this Museum of Contemporary Art on the island. We like seeing the “living wall” with plantings on this museum.
We naturally had to stop for this beauty. At home we have a love affair with our friends golden retriever, Mochi. It was a treat to interact with this lovely dog. We see few large dogs here as there seems to be a preference for small dogs…
There have been lovely installations of Busan related subjects along the route…poetry, historic figures of the area and this one honouring the memory and work of this composer who was born in Busan.
The organizers of this route and the crews that maintain it really look after the riders. The detour was clearly marked and they laid fabric tarps to create better access on rough ground.
We love the infrastructure which keeps us safe. It also relieves the stress of figuring out where to go in these busy, complicated sections. The signage is excellent.
We are fascinated by the huge support we have seen in Japan and now Korea for ground ball. We first saw this sport in Japan a few years ago on Kyushu where we watched (mostly) seniors playing this golf like game. The difference is that you play with a team and you have only one club. It looks fun, it is very social and we think we would enjoy it too.
We got so engrossed by the people playing ground ball and the scenery, we neglected to turn off the route for our accommodation for tonight. Oh dear, a quick turnaround and some extra miles to get there. Dusk is here so we may be in the dark before we arrive. Oh well, it is part of the journey.
Dinner at a small restaurant near our accommodation..simply put, it is called pork, soup and rice. As you can see it offers more than that and it was delicious, including the homemade kimchi.The dark circular pieces on the white plate are a type of blood sausage that you dip in salt. It is called sundae and it is tasty.
Love Hotels have a flourishing business in Japan and Korea. They have many benefits for travellers as the price is very low, they offer private parking for each guest…so no worries finding a place to park our trikes… and they are always interesting. The area of Yangsan where we stayed had a number of love hotels. You can pay full fare. Maybe $40 for a stay (all night) or less for a couple of hours. Couples may use it for a bit of privacy as different generations often live together in a small apt…the reason is never in question. It just works and we, as travellers, certainly benefit. Some are quirky and over the top, but they are always comfortable and spacious. The owner just told us to come to the front desk in the morning for boiled eggs, toast and coffee to take back to our room. We do enjoy Love Hotels!
