Road Trip! (Day One ~ Daejeon to Taean)
Day One
I left a little later than I had expected Sunday morning because I had a few loose ends to tie up. Namely syncing my ipod with some audiobooks to listen to at night when camping. But at 10:30 I set off on my bike. Here’s a shot of the bike and backpack as I’m leaving Gongju.
I made into Deoksan just as a thunder storm was passing through so I go drenched and my map got wet. Luckily my Guide book survived and I was able to use provincial maps to continue on my bike. I visited an interesting temple called Sudeoksa, the nice thing about this spot was a nice view from the temple overlooking the surrounding lands. Here’s the gate which surprised me with it’s unpainted finish, and a couple of nice shots from inside the temple grounds.
After I finished in Sudeoksa I had a choice: go to the next town and sleep in a sauna, or try to get to Taean. I opted for Taean and got there just as the sun was setting.
I elected to spend my first night on the road in a local jimjillbang because it was getting too dark to look for the campground and then set everything up. So after my first day I realized a couple of things. One is that a full day of riding means a tender arse! Maybe it’s the backpack but after the first 50km I found I had to stop every 25 km or so to stretch the legs and give my butt a break from the bike.