← PreviousA day to rememberSunday 25 May
Sometimes you thank yourself in hindsight. For example, we'd planned a stage of barely thirty kilometres today to reach a spa town. The perfect plan to forget yesterday's awful day. The weather is set fair when we open the curtains, and since we're in no hurry, we let Clémence wake up in her own time. We have breakfast in the room: Pasquier brioche found on the shelves of the local convenience store, and orange juice.
We set off very gently around 11; the streets are deserted on this Sunday. We cross a big farming area to get out of Chungju, which arouses the curiosity of Clémence, sitting on the seat on the front of one of the bikes. She notices the lettuces and leeks and asks what the people in front of their greenhouses are doing. We don't really know any more than she does, so we let our imaginations run. We rejoin the cycle route along a new river before leaving it to head into the mountains. The road climbs slightly but nothing nasty, and we make good progress.
We pass a cute little café with a big terrace, so we stop. That's one of the pleasures of bike touring: you go so slowly that you can stop wherever you like. There are a few children's toys, including a little ride-on car that greatly amuses Clémence. We enjoy hot drinks, because even though it's sunny, it's unusually cold in Korea for May. The temperature struggles to rise above 20 degrees.
For the first time since leaving Seoul, we leave the protected cycle path and mix with cars. It confirms our first impression: Koreans are very respectful behind the wheel. They never overtake if there's no room, and when they do, they always give us a very wide berth. The only two cars that skim past us are driven by foreigners, whom we find a hundred metres further on at our sight of the day: the Sujupalbong suspension bridge.
It's overrun with tourists, so we only stay long enough to take a few photos and stretch our legs. Our destination for the day is only 13 kilometres away, and we reach it at 1 pm. We look for a restaurant with only one criterion: truly non-spicy food. Because since we arrived, we never know what we're going to get. Yesterday's non-spicy dish had an aftertaste of blast furnace. We go for bibimbap, which turns out to be excellent.
Suanbo is a spa town, and spring water gushes out naturally at 53 degrees. So in the town park, little courses have been set up for soaking your feet. We soon get a taste for it, and Clémence has a whale of a time alternating between the cold and hot parts of the pools. The day stretches out slowly and we make the most of it.
Around 4 pm we arrive at a hotel almost dedicated to cyclists. Here you can do your laundry for free, use a bike workshop and store your bikes safely. The owner is a keen cyclist too and has every tool you could dream of. The room is basic but comfortable. No big bed for Clémence tonight; she'll sleep on a small traditional Korean mattress on the floor. When families travel in Korea, they can rent almost empty rooms and sleep together on mattresses. It's an economical option and also practical when travelling with a little one who doesn't necessarily need a huge bed. It clearly doesn't bother her, as she falls asleep quickly.
Monday 26 May
Coffee is truly part of Korea's cultural heritage. There are cafés on every street corner, and we're not just talking about the drink. Every hamlet has at least two cafés. Unlike France, where bars smell of tobacco, alcohol and despair, here they're lively family places. Sometimes they don't look like much from outside, but they're always nicely decorated and comfortable.
Unfortunately they always open late, usually around 11. And after the first climb of the day, we'd have liked something to eat. We decide to be patient. The little village where we are has a natural waterfall right nearby. We stroll over and dip our feet in. Clémence plays with the pebbles and has fun making courses in the water. It's sunny and almost hot today, a first since we arrived in South Korea.
The place starts to fill up, so we retrace our steps and find the café we'd spotted on arrival open! Another feature of these places is that they seem to make everything in-house and with care. We order a waffle and watch the lady make it from scratch. Service can be a bit slow because Koreans pay great attention to detail, but the wait is always worth it. We can't linger, though, because even though we're doing another short 30 km stage today, it includes the only "big" climb on the whole route between Seoul and Busan.
It takes us 45 minutes to climb the 5 kilometres at 7%. Not a racing speed, but with our whole rig it's decent. The view from the top of the pass is spectacular again, and a young man stops by Clémence to fill her hands with cakes and sweets. We don't even know how to thank people any more; they're adorable.
The descent towards Mungyeong is of course easier, and we've barely caught our breath when we're already at the bottom of the hill. We stop at a restaurant where we're brought generous portions. When you order in Korean restaurants, you're always brought lots of little side dishes: banchan.
More than an appetiser, banchan are considered an essential part of a Korean meal. Here, with our two dishes, we're brought little bowls of pickled cucumbers, small fried fish, kimchi and lots of other things whose names we don't know. There's something for every taste, and it takes all three of us to finish everything. A little anecdote: there are said to be hundreds of kinds of banchan in South Korea, most of them made from vegetables. They're only served in small portions and can be refilled when you finish them. For most Koreans, banchan have been free since childhood, so a restaurant that rationed them would become suspect!
Refreshed, we ride to our stop for the night and head straight for a lovely playground that also has the good taste to include a little foot spa. We take the chance to play in the water again, and looking up we spot a suspension bridge a few hundred metres above the ground. Funny, it wasn't in any guide, even though we'd done exhaustive research. After playing long enough for Clémence's liking, we get back on the bikes for two minutes and find ourselves at the foot of a big staircase. "400 metres of climbing", says a sign, and the little one climbs all the way up on her own. Not the least bit scared, she crosses the bridge as if crossing the road. The view from the top is of course sublime, as Mungyeong is surrounded by mountains.
After all this physical effort, we've well earned checking into the hotel. It's another nice surprise, with a very big bed and a bathtub. The area is quiet and we know in advance we'll have a good night.
On the road