By now you will have realised that this hasn't been a foodie's trip, or a guide to shopping for cosmetics in Seoul!! there are so many other sites, which will offer tips and photos of things to see and do in Seoul. Cross me off the list, if this is what you were looking for!
Food for vegetarians in Seoul, especially those that can't eat hot chilli spicy food is almost non-existent! TV shows on food are all about red meat, chicken, pork and seafood... however, I don't think I have lost weight and am thankful for the good buffet breakfast that is included at this hotel - L'art Hotel... Gimpo, recommended by me!
Today, the plan was to go for a ride - not into the city, but along this peninsular. I thought there might be a bike path along the Han. But no... this end of the river is very neglected and when I eventually found my way onto the road, I could see that there were quite a few cyclists out and about and wow! there was even a blue line. Looking good...
We were purling along nicely, but then I saw a coffee van, so pulled over as it was that time. Thought I'd better do the favourite here - Iced Americano - ie iced black coffee... I did notice that there were several rather large Harley Davidsons parked here and as I waited for my coffee I realised that I had stopped at a bikie hang out! they all smiled and gave me the thumbs up, so no worries... though other cyclists hurried past!
We headed off and just down the road was the end of the blue line and here all the cyclists were hanging out at their coffee van... But that's OK! I'm not really a lycra lass, so I pedalled onwards.
although we were only 8km from the busy cosmopolitan centre where the hotel is, it was really rural here. Veggie gardens were everywhere and as usual every thing was flourishing. There were several blocks where there were trucks and some cars, parked along the roadside... No drivers snoozing, just vehicles parked. It reminded me of the parking problem at Redland Bay!
By now the smaller street I was riding along, was right next to a busy highway, so that was pretty boring, so I turned left and continued on my merry way. Its kinda fun just to be pootling along. Nothing much to see, other than the market gardens and as always, very tall apartment blocks. I came to an area where there was a very nice walking path, but the sign said no cyclists... so we rode on a bit.
Around a corner and now we are in a bustling city street, lined with shops of all sorts and sizes, including eateries and as it was around lunch time, I stopped at a bakery and bought an egg and lettuce sandwish and an apple danish. There was a rather shady park, so we stopped there for lunch. I then noticed a building saying University and by looking around, I suddenly noticed all these young kids hanging out. OK, that made sense.
Maps.Me was opened to try and find out where I was. Up ahead was a green patch, with a hill and it looked like a path went through that. So what a nice idea.
The path was covered by a thickly woven hessian mat, so nice to walk on. I have seen them in many areas here and really like them. The track tilted upwards and as it was too narrow to ride (and too steep) I easily pushed Hennie along - so light without those panniers!
There was even a short flight of stairs, with a dirt path on the side, which we easily managed. Nice benches at the top, so we took a rest and did a little bird watching. There's a thrush I keep seeing, but I have no idea of its name... but it has a really varied call... Nice!
With the help of Maps.Me we eventually managed to roll down to the Ara cycle path where I will be riding tomorrow on my way back to Incheon. There was a fair amount of noise, drums beating and singing to be heard. I had stumbled onto a small performance of folk dancing again. Fabulous! The performers were all of a very mature age, but it was so good to see their costumes and watch their performance. There were several men carrying a brightly decorated shrine. These are quite heavy made of solid timber and brightly painted with colourful designs. Two women carried a much smaller shrine at the front of procession and behind the large shrine there were old women wailing. Behind them were mostly women, but some men, carrying bright flags. So colourful and so not a tourist performance - I was the only westerner there! so much more authentic than the general tourist traps!
As it was on the cycling path, several cyclist had also stopped, though many had kept rolling along. Once the shrine was set down, then the dances began. There was definitely a gardening theme, with one dance about digging the ground, the next, planting the seed and the final one was about threshing the rice. When it ended, I headed off back towards the hotel.
Pretty happy to have stumbled on this performance on my mystery tour. I think it was near the bridge that I hope to cross tomorrow and by the look of it, there's a lift to take a cyclist up to the bridge and hopefully, the lift on the other side is working... could be a tad fraught!
So here are some pics of my mystery tour, where I clocked up about 35km, an easy pedal on an unloaded Hennie. She is getting a tad tired of all this touring... The brake cables need to be tightened as does the stand. Think its nearly time to go home!
No comments:
Post a Comment