August 5 - Leaving Seoul for Chiaksan National park

Decided to head off early as the distance from Seoul to Chiaksan seemed rather far. Packing everything onto my bike seemed to make it rather heavy and it would take me a few days to adjust to the balancing. Wearing  clip-on shoes also meant that I would have to be careful about keeping a leg free ( Which I frequently didn't and so ended up falling)

I also had to deal with stuff falling off which happened only twice at most. I stowed the pump below and had to find means to secure it safely.

 Met a fellow cyclist along the way and he helped me to take this picture. This is a bridge that cuts over the han river or hangang.

Any koreans on the street would definitely not ride on the road saying it's dangerous and along the river, the bike path is extensive and well established with resting points and water coolers for tired cyclists.

 View of the cycling path by the river. Not only could I see many well equipped cyclists but also a beautiful scenery of the city and river. Far away from traffic, these cycling paths are really good for cyclists  who dread cycling on busy roads.

The cycling path avoids bypassing any road so oftentimes I found myself under the flyovers and roads. These shaded areas are windy and provide shade and its not uncommon to find groups of koreans having a break here. I particularly liked the fact that the paths were debris free and clean.

Views along the way

This rest area had a shelter overlooking a colony of birds

A kiosk along the way well stocked with drinks and ice

Riding on the cycling path was relatively easy with hardly and points where congestion occured. It was a relatively simple journey except that i found it rather tricky when the path split or when there were intersections. This was simply because I could not read korean and also due to the fact that the paths ran under or beside roads. Navigation using the road was a bit hard in that sense. After several hours and around 3 plus pm I was at Ipobo and decided that I would target to rest at Wonju for the night, or at least head as near as I could to Wonju.

Taken with the Ipobo bridge in the background

I had covered more then 50 km by now and was rather tired since it was my first day. As the sun slowly became weaker, I came by a provision shop that sold ramen, chocolates and snacks. Stopping by there to take a break, I realised that there was a public toilet nearby as well. This place was to be my campsite for the day :) 

The owners at the shop saw that i was a single traveller and I was invited for dinner, bbq pork and brown rice in ice water. Something new but definitely refreshing and tasty.

Brown Rice in ice water - Perfect on a HOT day

On checking my mileage, I found out I had covered about 105 km on the first day. Took a clean shower ( thanks to the man in charge of the toilet) and sat to relax and unwind. As nightfall came I lay down for a bit and slept peacefully. It had been a long day...

The sunset from where I slept