Tag Archives: han

Cities on the Han

Saturday, September 26. Seoul to Chunju along the Namhangang bike path.

I take the night Mugunghwa train to Seoul. I arrive at 4:30 am and begin biking south towards the Han. I pass the high walls of the American military base, and the Dragon Hill neighborhood.

jangseung-stone-seoul_DSC_8673I reach the river sometime after 5am.

haetae_seoul-DSC_8694A Haetae 獬豸near Hangang Bridge.
As I cross the bridge, I hear a siren and look back. A small convoy of emergency vehicles enter the bridge behind me. They drive slowly. I dismount my bike and walk to the edge of the bridge. The water below is an empty field of darkness framed by a constellation of hovering window lights kept on by an army of hardworking Koreans.
From around an island, an emergency response speedboat floats quickly in my direction. It scans the water with a searchlight. They seem to be looking for someone.
speedboat_DSC_8711I travel east. The sun begins to uncover the city.
seoul-morning-DSC_8737Twenty seven bridges cross the Han in Seoul.
seoul-lotte-tower_DSC_8743Up ahead the unfinished Lotte World Tower rises in the morning haze.
monsters_on_the_banks_of_the_hanDSC_8758Kilometers beyond the capital, camouflaged creatures meet me at the banks of the Han.
han-river_DSC_8776A city on the Han.
han-river-DSC_8782Gun emplacements guarding the waterway against possible northern aggression.
han-bike-path-DSC_8789bridge_han-river-DSC_8798bridge-iron-train-han-DSC_8803
cat-at-cafe_hanriver_DSC_8813Lunch time. A cat and bikers outside a cafe near Paldang Bridge 八堂大橋.
fliers-on-the-road-DSC_8836Plenty of small roadkill along the path.
tunnel_han_DSC_8845Railroad tunnels turned into bike tunnels.
camels_han-river_DSC_8851Camels in the Korean wilderness.
korean-flag-tree-DSC_8855Nationalist trees.
branch-han-river-DSC_8862Trees with tiny purple pumpkins.
sotdae-jangseung-han-river-DSC_8866Jangseung 長承 and Sotdae at Ipobo weir.

hill-river-DSC_8879
jangseung-DSC_8888Jangseung in twisted anguish doing their best to keep demons at bay.
Jangseung-DSC_8905jangseung-DSC_8912
jangseung-DSC_8925

river-tree-island-DSC_8938The day ends at Chungju Tangeumdae, about 120 km from Paldang Bridge.

viajes por tierra en bici – corea

daejeon to sejong city

120 km south of seoul near the middle of the country.

daejeon to sejong city  (solar bike path )

goseong-gun to samcheok

unification observatory in goseong-gun county south to gopo village in samcheok by bike (east coast)

busan to seoul

busan > follow the nakdong river north> cross the middle of the country on the saejae bicycle road to where the han river begins > ride the hangang up to seoul

four rivers trails

four rivers trail system (korea joongang daily)

  • hangang (seoul) paldang station > chungju dam ~ 136-224 km
  • geumgang (west, middle of the country) daecheong dam > geum river estuary ~ 146 km
  • yeongsangang (south west tip of the peninsula)  damyang dam downstream > mokpo yeongsan river estuary weir ~ 133 km
  • nakdonggang (busan) ~ 100-378 km (korea herald)
  • saejae bicycle road (hilly link between the nakdong and the han) ~ 100 km

riverside biking trails in korea (pdf)

seoul bicycle website (in korean)

four rivers guide site