Okay, this feels ridiculous. I finished the day at 9 a.m., and I've found a patch by the water that I have all to myself. No WiFi where I am, but I'll walk into town and hit a café when it's time to upload the day's pics. For what it's worth, here are the day's stats:
Distance: about 11 km, including some wandering after reaching my destination
Time: from 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. to reach my motel (as of this writing, I haven't checked in yet), 10 km from the motel where I started
Steps: 16,746
Calories Burned: 3,122 for the day (that includes the rest of today)
Calories Consumed: 0 (fasting)
What a day to fast. I'm finally in a town that has a Chinese restaurant by the motel, and I can't eat any food. Fuck my life. Of course, the real danger with fasting is what happens after: if you go nuts and gobble down an entire cow post-fast, you undo all the hard work of the previous day. So we'll see how I behave tomorrow.
The hilliness continues. Today, I finally encountered a long, steep hill that caused me to stop and take a breather several times. I zigzagged up to the top as a way to minimize the steepness of the slope, but the problem with that method is that it lengthens the path itself. Still, I'd rather walk a path that's longer and easier than one that's short but brutal.
I was tired after that hill, but the victory over the slope felt earned. Again, it'd be nice to celebrate with a nice, rib-sticking lunch, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow.
Little else to report. Today was a short day, the shortest of the entire walk. In two more days, I'll be halfway through this trip, and October will be upon us. Autumn in earnest. As with previous walks, there's the seasonal paradox of cooling fall weather being counteracted by the fact that I'm moving southward to warmer parts of the country.
Rain tomorrow. I'm in Uljin now, but I won't be escaping the rain. There's more rain coming October 5 through 12, too, apparently. If we do get all that rain, this will be, officially, the wettest walk I've ever done. Not a benchmark I'm happy about.
Note: I wrote the above all before 10 a.m., but I won't be publishing this post until I have access to decent WiFi.
Note 2: my motel is the Ace Motel. I haven't checked in yet. Since I have a few hours to kill before I hit a WiFi zone, I might as well finish adding captions to previous posts. Only Day 2 remains.
Note 3: all captions are in place from Day 1. And I'm checked in now (W50,000).
PHOTO ESSAY
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| bye-bye, Sun Motel |
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| up too late to see the sunrise, and it's cloudy, anyway |
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| another miserable creek |
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| the minbak stands alone |
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| Jellyfish Pension ad |
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| Jellyfish Pension, in the flesh |
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| huge tanks |
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| quiet neighborhood |
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| church |
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| The fences start up again. |
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| But why have fences if you're gonna leave gates open? Come on in, North Koreans! In fact, what's the logic of fencing some areas but not others? |
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| hanging half-bottle caught my eye |
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| The walk was fairly level until this hill. And the sign is about seaweed (eaten by royals) produced in this region. |
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| at the top of the hill, looking down |
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| seaweed sold here |
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| the stones on the steps |
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| Things started to go to hell right about here, as I crossed the boundary into Uljin. |
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| The hill from hell begins. |
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| up |
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| I'm not sure that my camera was able to capture just how miserable this hill was. |
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| This was a short walk, but this is the worst hill of the whole walk. |
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| industry, big and small, all around |
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| abandoned |
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| digital zoom of dawg |
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| and another sad creek |
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| lots of references to Firenze around here |
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| Sun Beach |
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| the two buildings together, typical one-room studio apartments |
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| I caught the burdz, but they were skittish. |
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| soon to be harvested |
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| What is this place? I passed a place like this before. |
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| final approach |
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| Naver takes me through the back streets for the last couple hundred meters. |
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| my motel |
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| I arrived at 9 a.m., so I found a remote spot and planted myself there for a few hours, even taking a nap. |
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| never sure what to think of legless chairs |
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| best view in the house |
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| Backward again! I have to remember to flip my selfies! |
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| The skin is doing better, now. I've burned and peeled, so now I'm in the tanning phase. Kind of. |
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| Bugu Terminal... good to remember if I ever want to take a bus back here. |
And that's today's brief jaunt. Sorry there isn't more, but at a pace of about 4 kph, I was done in 2.5 hours.
5 comments:
I definitely picked up a backcountry rural/redneck vibe on this installment.
I saw another pedestrian on the road today, which might have been a first. But no glove!
I had the same thought about those fences--that'll stop the Norks! Come on in, the gate is open. Or maybe it's a trap to steer the invaders to a particular location and then opening up the can of whup-ass.
I liked that wooden walkway over the rocks towards the end. The deserted beaches were very nice as well.
I feel your pain on the hill climbs. I've found it hard to capture the actual incline in a picture as well. I find long, steady climbs on the pavement worse than a more direct (steep) uphill. I just want to put my head down and get it over with as soon as possible.
I guess it is too soon for you to say how this compares to the Four Rivers experience, although it does seem to be easier overall. I'm really enjoying the variety of scenery on this one though, especially the beach and ocean views.
Day 11 already, time flies!
I think this trail may be tougher than the Four Rivers trail. Once the hills started up, they haven't stopped, and pretty much every walk is a semi-intense workout now. I've also got six kilos on my back, which is light compared to when I use my full backpack, but still not nothing.
And is it just me, or are you more fixated on gloves than I am?
Was there a reason for the shorter walk today, or is that just how the schedule worked out.
Also, your hands look horrifying.
Just how the schedule worked out. Originally a 13K walk, reduced to 10K because I'd walked extra the previous day. When planning these walks, I do try to space my stops out as evenly as I can, but it doesn't always pan out.
My hands thank you.
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