Tag Archives: nakdong

Dadaepo Beach

Took the 1001 bus to Dadaepo beach. Read Death of a Salesman on my way there. At a little boat shack by the sea I rented a yellow kayak. I had wanted a sailboat but dinghy rentals were done for the season. I left the dock and paddled out to an area that was full of jumping fish. They were blue with white bellies and they shot out of the water haphazardly. They looked like little blue rockets, and they rose from the sea, imperfectly launched, slanting to one side, with their flight path quickly capping out. Their bodies static and their tails fanning air, descending and disappearing back in the water.

Above me low flying aircraft kept rumbling by as they approached Gimhae airport. From the mouth of the Nakdong a fleet of middleaged jetskiers came roaring my way. They closed in on me, jumping, breaking waves, playing out cowboy fantasies, chasing ghosts and imoogies east. Perhaps reenacting ancient sea battles. They passed me, looked at me, they likely craved encouragement– a thumbsup, a gogetthem. Then they disappeared behind the southernmost tip of Busan. Their wake rocked the yellow kayak and disturbed the sea around me. Once the water settled, the jumping fish resumed their exercises.

The Sun Sets On The Nakdong 洛東江

Monday, September 28. Sangjubo to Gangjeong Goryeongbo.  ~100km.

bridge-DSC_9248Unfinished bridge pillar or brutalist Jangseung.

nakdanbo-DSC_9262Nakdanbo.

nakdanbo-DSC_9267

nakdanbo-DSC_9252Fish ladders.

nakdanbo-songpyeon-DSC_9275The breakfast of songpyeon that Elly packed for me.

nakdanbo-DSC_9288

gumibo-fish-water-DSC_9292

gumibo-DSC_9303Gumibo.

gumibo-DSC_9295

toy-cars-gumi-lg-plant-DSC_9326Remote control cars in Gumi.

nakdong-near-daegu-DSC_9342Sundown as I near Daegu.

nakdong-near-daegu-DSC_9357A distant peak.

nakdong-DSC_9373The Nakdong from Gangjeong Goryeongbo.

gangjeong-daegu-DSC_9364 Gangjeong Goryeongbo and the end of my third day.

The River under the Harvest Moon

September 27.  Chungju to Sangjubo following the Saejae bike path.

light_on_the_bed-DSC_8963Light patterns on my bed.

budai-DSC_8986 Budai in the shade. Danhosa temple, Chungju. apples-DSC_8966 Apples along the path. tiger-DSC_9006Tigers in the grass. by-the-river-DSC_9013Campers by the river.

flowers-DSC_9019Flowers encircled by Korean honeybees.

crows-DSC_9023Crow scarecrows at an orchard.

crossroads-DSC_9029Crossroads.

crossroads-DSC_9031

wall-carved-DSC_9041Carvings on a rock.

soju-for-deities-DSC_9033Soju for the deities.

wall-carved-DSC_9035

scare-crow-DSC_9048A more humane scarecrow.

red_peppers_DSC_9058Red peppers by the road.

bike-station-DSC_9062A bike station at Hengchun gyocharo.

pass-DSC_9068The mountain pass at Ihwaryeong.

entrance-DSC_9072

hills-DSC_9073

road-rice-road-DSC_9083

woman-in-the-river-DSC_9088

seeds-DSC_9098

seeds-DSC_9116

man-in-the-river-DSC_9127Fishing near Mungyeong Buljeong Station.

bridge-road-DSC_9134

river-road-DSC_9136

tree-road-rice-DSC_9144Tree and rice paddies.

waterway-road-DSC_9157Waterways.

scarecrow-DSC_9179A more reflective scarecrow.

road-rice-DSC_9181I near the end of the Saejae bike path. I meet the Nakdong as the Harvest Moon slowly begins to rise in the east.

chuseok-moon-over-nakdong-DSC_9205The Nakdong under the Chuseok moon.

weir-DSC_9206I reach the final weir of my second day at Sangju, eleven kilometers into the Nakdong river bike path and about one hundred kilometers from Chungju.

food-DSC_9232I meet Elly in Sangju city for pizza and wine, an assortment of snacky snacks.

beyond the oncheoncheon | june 16

school cancelled for 3 days because of mers.
at 3 i start a long bike ride around busan.

west to oncheoncheon.

Polaroid CUBE

Polaroid CUBE

up the creek i find men net casting on a pool of water.

i stop in pnu for lunch.  i turn around and bike south to seomyeon. i cross to west busan, the industrial heart of the city.

i arrive at the banks of the nakdong around 7.

DSC_5744i travel south to dadaepo beach following the river.

DSC_5762night falls

DSC_5763men building fires in the dark. praying or passing time where the nakdong empties into the pacific.

DSC_5769in dadae, makeoli for the protectors.

a little after 10 i pass a shop that makes plastic lucky pigs and other creatures in busanjin. they’re working late, perhaps trying to meet a deadline. i hear a machine somewhere in the shop. the machine makes rhythmic sounds as if breathing.  with every exhalation out comes a new plastic toy. inside the shop i see a woman sitting on the floor surrounded by a thousand yellow plastic hearts. she is fixing heart-shape stickers on each plastic heart. handmade i suppose.

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DSC_5773

DSC_5772i stop in seomyeon for a burrito. by 11:30 im home.

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