East Coast Vacation part 1: Gyeongju & Bulguksa

part one - part two - part three

After each 7 week teaching session at my university I get treated to a week long holiday - a lovely perk of working at a university in Korea. A few months ago we decided we would go on a cycling trip, but that idea soon fizzled out because of my rusty old knee. I figured it probably wouldn't be the smartest idea to embark on a cycling tour. We chose to head to Gyeongju for the cherry blossoms instead, then take the bus up the east coast of Korea. (warning: if you're sick of cherry blossom photos, then this post isn't for you)

There are a few spots I wanted to check out, specifically the bizarre Haesindang Penis Park! I'd heard about this strange place a long time ago and since then I've been eager to check it out. I find these weird attractions in Korea fascinating, especially as they manage to exist in such a conservative society. Other spots on the list of places to visit were Gangneung Beach and Seoraksan. I first attempted to "climb" Seoraksan in 2008 but a night of drinking soju and singing in a noraebang scuppered that plan. A hideous hangover followed resulting in a decision to take the cable car up the mountain. I've always wanted to hike up that mountain properly. Now I would have my chance.

Gyeongju

Our first port of call was Gyeongju, the capital of the Shilla Dynasty way back when. Gyeongju looks fantastic in the springtime as all the blossoms come into bloom. The only downside is that it also becomes total chaos as thousands of Korean tourists come to town in their vehicles to drive slowly down the many streets lined with cherry blossom trees. We didn't want to be a part of that chaos so we headed over on a Sunday afternoon with the plan to cycle around Gyeongju on the Monday when things would have calmed down.

Once we dropped our stuff off at our friends' house we headed over to 홍무로 (hongmu ro) to get a peek of the cherry blossoms lit up at night time. This street comes to a total stand still as soon as spring kicks in. In true Korean style people prefer to admire the blooms from inside their car rather than get out and take a walk.


We revisited this spot the next morning to check it out in the daytime but most of the blossoms had completely blown away.


I'm not sure why Jenny decided to pose as Usain Bolt. Those mounds in the background are tombs, not the set to the Tellytubbies. They are EVERYWHERE in Gyeongju.

Tapgol (Bulmusa)

We got on our bikes and headed to Bulmusa temple. There's a hermitage there tucked up in the forest with some huge well preserved carvings of Buddha.

Cherry Blossom confetti in the stream.



After Bulmusa we jumped on our shitty rental bikes and cycled to Bulguksa Temple. Highway 7 goes directly there, but it is a really busy road with tons of trucks whizzing by. We cycled along the country roads that hug the east side of Namsan.


Doing my best Asian pose.


This kimchi jjigae was bursting with flavour. I need to eat less Korean food because the salt content is through the roof. I'm starting to look like a dehydrated prune.

Grumpy distracted baby head.

Jenny had two obsessions during this trip: flowers and animals. She also demanded that I get her makeshift cycling gloves in shot. I've omitted my own photos of posing with flowers because I'd like to maintain an air of manliness (Oooooo, look at those magnolias!!!).

Bulguksa


Bulguksa temple was heaving despite being a weekday. There were bus loads of old Koreans marching about all over the place, some of them well on their way into the realm of the drunk. Somehow I managed to take a few snaps which make the place seem far calmer than it really was.




Jenny is a massive tree hugger.


I like this photo because it looks like he has a robot for a torso.

WIPEOUT!!!

On the way back to Gyeongju I totally wiped out on my rental bike whilst turning a corner on my rental bike. I hit a bump, lost my footing and tumbled off my bike, roly-polying then smashing my face against the curb. Bye Bye Casio Calculator watch.

I really pressed Jenny to get a photo of my bloody nose and hands. She had the camera ready, poised to take a snap, but then a car pulled over and a lady jumped out to help us clean up the mess. Pretty embarrassed by the whole thing she snuck the camera away out of sight. There she was taking photos of a wounded cyclist not making any efforts to help him out, or at least that's how it must have seemed to the lady in the car. Ha ha ha! She didn't even want to take any photos in the first place!

For some reason the good samaritan had dozens of wet wipes and gave me a good mothering, although it seemed to me she was more interested in cleaning my clothes up than any of my cuts and grazes. Nevermind infection Alasdair, you look like a tramp.



We crafted a ghetto bandage from a woman's sanitary pad. By that I don't mean some random stranger's. "Excuse me darling. Whip out your maxi-pad will ya!"
We bought it from Family Mart, the pinnacle of Asian convenience.

Getting crusty!!!

part one - part two - part three

Salmon KOOL-STOP brake pads!

I ordered this set of salmon KOOL-STOP brake pads on ebay a few weeks back and finally they've arrived! The Tektro brake pads I currently have are a bit crap and a few people have recommended getting these. Apparently they much more braking power. They are inserts so I can just swap out my existing tektro pads without changing the cartridge. Bob's your Uncle!

These are suitable for vegetarians. I just gave them a good licking and was disappointed by the lack of omega oil!

***UPDATE***
Just took them for a test drive. They are INFINITELY grippier than the tektro pads. It's such an improvement. I highly recommend making this simple upgrade.

Goat Ride!

I wish this post was about riding goats, but that would be ridiculous. However, goats were killed in the making of the post, not by us, but by a chef. So long as my sanity remains in check, I shan't be slaughtering goats anytime soon.

This weekend saw the very first signs of spring. The trees are beginning to blossom and the long johns are going back in the wardrobe. A bunch of friends came down from Seoul with their bikes in tow so I hatched up a plan to take them on the 68km Mudeungsan Beast Route also known as the "Goat Ride".

Download the GPX file here.

The previous time I went on this ride with Sean and Andy we narrowly avoided becoming tangled in a goat induced pile up whilst bombing down one of the many hills on this route. One of the valleys by Anyangsan is renowned for it's black goat restaurants and goats freely roam around the area. As we nearly met our maker at the hands of these pesky beasts, we decided it was only fair to come back and devour one as justice for their wanton disregard for cyclists.





As per usual we set off from the LEC at Chonnam National University. We had a nine strong crew, by far the largest group I've ever cycled with. Tim, Gibby and Adam came down from Seoul and we had two other new folk joining us: BK and Corey. Corey is new in town. He just flew in from Minneapolis a few weeks ago so I was keen to show him one of my favourite rides in the area.












The second downhill of the trip is great fun. A long and windy road with views down into the valley. At the bottom of the hill comes a short "fuel" break. I won't say what the fuel is. It's not performance enhancing, but don't get the wrong idea, it's liquid, made from rice and give you tremendous headaches.






Meet Gi Tak. What a champion!


This is our second fuel stop.


The second fuel stop was shortly followed by a little and completely unrelated accident. One of the bends at the bottom of a hill looks deceptively shallow when it's actually pretty sharp. There was quite a bit of gravel on the edge of the turn resulting in a crash for both Gi Tak and BK. Both of the guys survived, but BK's helmet took quite a dent and Gi Tak's bike definitely got a good working.


BK. Not phased. Took it like a man!












We're about to enter  gazelle  goat territory. They must have outsourced the signmaking industry to Tanzania.




The dreaded black goat. Tormentor of the cyclist.


I'll take that one!










The first restaurant that we checked out was much more scenic, but unfortunately it was closed for renovations so we shimmied down the road to this joint - 우리들 목장. The menu even has a dish for 500,000 ₩! Well, when I say "dish" I mean the entire goat.

The goat for sale here is specifically black goat (흑 염소). Fortunately black goat isn't served with stubble intact, unlike the black pig you can get on Jeju Island. That was the worst thing about the black pig. Who wants to eat grilled meat with the skin and tons of stubble? In Jeollanam-Do the folk don't need to prove that their goats have black hair because you can see them running around on the mountains.






We bought a few rounds of marinaded goat for grilling. That stuff was sublime!


Gibby and I decided to order some Yuk Hoe (pronounced Yook Hway - 육회). Essentially it's raw goat meat. It comes lightly seasoned with sesame oil and sesame seeds with an egg yolk on top for good measure. We could have ordered the completely unseasoned saeng gogi (생고기) but I wasn't brave enough for that.


Gibby flew in at the first whiff of goat's blood somehow avoiding the sun's deadly rays. I never realised vampires could eat goat meat.


I really wasn't expecting this to taste good, but it was sensational! I preferred the grilled kind but I would definitely eat the raw stuff again.


The kimchi was made in 2007! Five years in the making, this is probably some of the best kimchi I have ever eaten. It is flying high alongside Jirisan kimchi. It was so sour I spontaneously salivated. Fortunately I didn't gleak.


The goat crew.




BK getting steamy!






The restaurant was also home to the cutest puppies on the planet.












Shortly after the restaurant we had a little climb followed by this wild downhill with a gradient of 15%!!! I clocked up 69 km/h bombing down this. I was bricking it!


This is Tim flipping off the camera in the background.