Aug 24 - Day trip to Daegu

After cycling in the rain, I decided to chill for a day or so to recover from all the continuous cycling. Decided to stay at ACE motel for another night and realised the lady now demanded 40000 won for a night. It was daylight robbery but I just gave in as I wanted to head out soon. Asking around I made my way to the bus terminal and got a ticket for Daegu.
This was a first day without a bike ride and the reason was to experience the other means of travel in korea. I would be taking buses again in the future and the experience definitely helped.

Public transport is very affordable and convenient in korea and bus rides cover major cities as well as inter-city routes. I got off at the main street at Daegu and it was a nice view, with many shops, coffee places and retail stores.

What attracted me most was the wide road and spaciousness of the place. Coming from a very busy country, this was something to look forward to, with no hustle and bustle. Or maybe it was just that day :)

As I was walking past the subway, something caught my eye and it was side ramps for bringing bicycles down to the subway level. It is a really good arrangement that bicycles were allowed in to the subway and on the trains. This no doubt encourages more people to cycle.

The cycling culture in korea is really good and I had cycled past many cycling shops along the way, well stocked with gears and spare parts. This was a relief as I knew I could get repair work done if needed. The shops where I stopped at for like minor repairs also seemed to genuinely want to help and that was nice to see.

Lunch was at POPEYES and this was a good change from Korean cuisine, which was all I had pretty much all the way till now. I had some fun explaining what I wanted and realised that chilli has to be asked for. I was ravenous and ordered two meals, to the amazement of the staff and they seemed to make an extra effort to make sure everything was good and in order.

Walked around the place a little and decided to head back. Crossed the road and visited a nice looking coffee place for a cuppa mocha.

The owner had been in london for several years and had started the shop. Caffe Crema had very nice interior work and I was glad I stopped by. What particularly caught me was the way he made dutch coffee. It seemed more like a science experiment and reminded me of my hours spent in the lab at university.

Took a bus ride back to Seongju and went to visit Paris Baguette just nearby the motel. Started chatting with the cashier and we decided to meet for coffee after she ended work.

Had a nice chat and coffee at a nearby coffee place. I had been searching for mocha and this place had it. My newly found friend's group of ladies joined us and we had a good time talking, before we decided to retire for the night.

Today was a very lazy day and totally in line with my view of life, to experience and enjoy every day fully. Talking to the local people allowed me to learn much about Korean culture and life and it was an awesome way to experience the country.

It had been a fulfillling day.