Day 26, Leg 25

The final day turned out to be a real (mis)adventure. Stats:

Distance: originally 24K, but closer to 26K

Time: 424 minutes (about 3.68 kph)

Steps: 41,591

Calories Burned: 5,342

Calories Consumed: a lot

Today, the final leg of the east-coast walk, was a day of loss. I lost my way, and I lost my trekking pole. I didn't even realize the pole was gone until I'd already been walking for ten minutes, by which time I concluded I may as well just keep on going. How do you forget something as fundamental as a trekking pole? It's easier than you might think, especially if you're in a frazzled, discombobulated state because Naver has decided to act as if you've entered the Twilight Zone. 

I had thought about sticking around the Westin Josun Hotel for the breakfast buffet, but when my eyes popped open around 5 a.m., I was restless and decided to just leave. I left around 5:55 a.m. I think that was the right choice: marching on a full stomach is painful, and if you suddenly have to take a shit when you're nowhere near a toilet, things can get ugly. (That's how my digestive system works, anyway: the eating of a meal often creates the urge to rid myself of the previous meal, and since I usually eat infrequently, this means Wednesday's lunch is the signal for Tuesday's lunch to quit the premises.)

Today's walk, as you'll see in the pictures, was purely across town. Nothing but streets and tall buildings and traffic, traffic, traffic. It was an ugly walk, broken up by long pauses at red lights, all of which slowed me down.

I got lost at one point, trusting Naver, which decided to get all spooky and weird on me today. I walked way uphill into a tiered, mountainside neighborhood and, looking vainly at Naver, couldn't figure my way out. Once Naver led me up that first wrong turn, it stopped behaving rationally and kept insisting I was next to a big street when I obviously wasn't. To add to my discomfort, I finally met my first and only "mask Karen" today: an old man who saw me and barked, "마스크 안 하고...!" I loudly and rudely replied, "필요 없어!" as I passed, but I'm not sure the self-righteous old bastard heard me. Later in the day, I saw several unmasked people, and I even photographed a couple of them. Would the old man have barked at them as well?

Anyway, I vainly tried following Naver's directions, wasting nearly an hour tiredly climbing tall stairs and blindly moving along side streets, until I finally decided it was time to say "fuck Naver" and pull a Luke Skywalker. So I shut Naver off and elected not to use it until I had found my way back down from the mountainside and onto a big street.

I discovered a spot, high on the mountain, where I could look out and see the water. Once I knew where the water was, I knew my path to freedom would be down and to the left, down and to the left. The only question was whether the streets themselves would oblige me. Luckily, they did, and I finally managed to escape that mountainside maze of a neighborhood... only to find myself right back at the point where Naver had initially led me wrong.

Had this happened to someone else, I would surely have laughed to hear the story. But, no—this shit was happening to me, and I zoomed Naver up close, this time, to make sure I didn't make the same mistake twice. And this time, Naver clearly showed that I was heading into a tunnel. Sigh. I followed the plotted path, and the tunnel had a warning sign, an icon that obviously meant "no pedestrians." Against all rationality, I elected to trust Naver, anyway, and I stepped into the tunnel.

This one had a walkway, albeit not a very wide one. Every ten meters, the walkway's surface had these precarious-looking panels that made me wonder what would happen if I put my full weight on them. The tunnel was far shorter than the one from a few days back (that one, I calculated, had been at least five kilometers long), so I didn't feel too stressed about traversing it.

Much of today's walk was a series of straightaways with occasional turns leading to more straightaways. But there was also a second tunnel. Luckily, this one had both a sidewalk and a protective railing (and no "no pedestrians" sign), so it made for much easier walking. Like the first of today's tunnels, it was relatively short. 

As I walked across Busan, I photographed whatever struck me as semi-interesting, but in truth, this was the Big City, so I wasn't all that thrilled with anything except maybe the modern sculptures that appeared now and then. I don't mind telling you that I pretty much hated this walk. It was the antithesis of everything I love about the Four Rivers path.

I think I lost my trekking pole while I was in that mountainside neighborhood. I was confused and frazzled, frustrated at Naver for suddenly being a bitch after generally being so reliable for 25/26 of this trip. In my confused state, I must have set the pole down somewhere and then walked off without it. Fuck. I have a second pole at home, so all is not lost, but losing this pole piles tragedy upon tragedy. When I wrote that hiking poem about the "stick and pack," the "stick" was a reference to my trekking pole. Shite. Anyway, I take comfort in the fact that I've never really liked these poles, anyway. They're cheap Costco products that use a snap-lock system to lock in place once extended, and that system doesn't work well with People of Significant Size. I much prefer the screw-lock system, which supports me even when I lean on the pole with my full weight. 

But there did finally come that moment at the end, with a little more than a kilometer to go, when I could see that the buildings were thinning out, which meant water and the Nakdong River estuary barrage were ahead. That did a lot to improve my mood. When the estuary barrage appeared—it doubles as a bridge—I walked the final thousand meters with a smile on my face, and I arrived at the last cert center with a sense of satisfaction. Today, for sure, I had earned my victory. 

Then after resting half an hour, I grabbed a cab to Busan Station (it was surreal to retrace my steps via taxi back to Busan Station, which I had passed on foot during this final segment), ate a terrible lunch at the station's Lotteria, bought myself too many doughnuts from a Krispy Kreme, got a room at the Gwangjang Motel (W50,000), then sent myself into sugar shock via doughnuts. Hell of a day. I had thought about grabbing a pizza at one of the traditional spots, but I didn't want to cab all the way back to Haeundae or Gwangalli just for pizza, then take another cab to Busan Station. I'll get a pizza when I'm back in Seoul. Technically, I still have two cheat days in October.

All that said, I don't really recommend walking across municipal Busan any more than I'd recommend walking across municipal Seoul. Unless you love the urban jungle. I liked yesterday's Dalmaji-gil, but that's essentially a very short stroll, maybe not even three kilometers. 

And that, folks, is the main story of this walk. I am, frankly, glad it's over, and I'm not eager to do coastal walks again anytime soon. I'll still have plenty to say when I write my postmortem, though, so stay tuned. Meantime, here are today's pictures, including some images of both tunnels.

PHOTO ESSAY

leaving the Haeundae area around 6 a.m.

that skyline

This sounded like fried lamb to me, but I think it's a furniture store. Weird.

on the right path for now

Jesus house

one of my final views of open water for a while

Another Hyu Motel.
Hyu refers to rest and to the sighing sound "whew."

stacked cars

I mistakenly read this as "Poke all day." I was going to applaud the sentiment until I realized my error.

the awful puns never end

Mercedes thinks it's so big, but that's only because it's not in Haeundae with the real skyscrapers.

an mok = peaceful tree?

JW's dad used to work for KBS.

This station is called Namcheon, from the characters for "south" and "creek." Namcheon (probably different hanja) is also the Korean pronunciation of the name of a famous Chinese monk in Zen (Ch'an) Buddhism. Google "Nanchuan and the cat" for a famous story. In Japan, the monk is called Nansen.

entering Nam-gu (southern district)

ate breffus here

your final Kev-shadow of this trip

It's not easy being a corporate shill.

So what is "shyong-shyong" onomatopoeia for? A slurping sound?

Lloyd Bomb. What a name.

What does motgol/못골 mean?

stairs to mystery!

mattress, thrown away in a niche

almost looks like a face

pergola

Poseidon pops up again.

There are tall buildings, but not as many as in Haeundae.

How I wanted this burger.

I don't know what this machine does, but suddenly, I want to buy it. Mass coffee roaster?

I actually walked into Busan Station and bought my KTX ticket for tomorrow.

across the street from Busan Station:
Texas Street

also across the street: Chinatown

more lotus lanterns

Shanghai Gate, says the Chinese script

But as I was about to find out, Jung-gu (central district) wasn't so nice.

structure seen from afar

steeple seen from afar

structure and steeple

This is where Naver started to mislead me. I went up this hill and found myself on a mountainside. Then things got even worse when Naver went crazy and pointed to places that didn't exist.

not knowing I'm about to get very lost, I enjoy the view while ascending

I walked up a lot of stairs like this. The stairs training I had done came in handy, but the effort was all in vain.

one of the side streets where I got confused because Naver was pointing to big streets that didn't exist

more steps

another mountainside side street

I'd seen this hotel from the bottom of the mountain.

I've turned off Naver and am flying by the seat of my pants now. Down and to the left.

Poseidon again

a big street, and back where I started

the tunnel that I guess Naver had originally wanted me to go through

no pedestrians

narrow walkway, but not four feet off the ground or interrupted by traffic lights jutting out from the wall

kept wondering whether these would collapse if I stepped on them

oncoming traffic

biggie

the end of the first tunnel

flowers will save me

relieved

I love "no smoking" signs with cigarette butts next to them.

Bar Onus

a market I'd have liked to explore

second tunnel looms

wide sidewalk, railing

the end

freedom

I saw these cars being washed and crazily thought, "Now, that's a sign of civilization!"

not Chagall

Daeti Station
Kept hearing that with an Australian accent: "You're a daeti little girl, ain't ya'?"

handmade cigs and vape cigs

unmasked!

I need to visit one of these Buddhist shops one day so I can buy a collection of the 16 Nahan (and memorize who they are).

unmasked, too!

Yes, there are still telephone booths.

mark your maps

Would you send your child to Heist Institute?

the bow-legged older generation

symbol of the culture

buildings are thinning out; the end of the trail is near

through this tunnel...

up this path...

... and suddenly, a familiar sight!

woo-hoo! my mood changes

me and Mr. Lion

the final kilometer

windy bridge

boidz on the barrage

This construction is all new to me.

500 m to go

looking out toward the ocean

looking old and abandoned

the last 100 m

first view of the tower at the end

made ir!

This is the official end of the Four Rivers path. I don't know whether it's considered the end of the east-coast path.

the other side of the stone

the last cert center (got my stamp)

3 or 4 minutes after arrival

not exactly a satisfied customer, but at least this walk is done