RTW East to West: Hell ride through the heart of Seoul...

We left Incheon yesterday morning after a later start and our first non-western Korean style breakfast. The late start was due to the self inflicted over serving of tequila shots to ourselves (and strong peer pressure from Seoul Joe) and the Korean style breakfast was the result of a miscommunication between ourselves and the hotel staff. We were to meet English Mark from Australia for breakfast in the hotel restaurant around 9:30 or 10am. We went down to the lobby bar/restaurant that we had met up with Mark last evening to find it deserted with a single staff member at the front. She welcomed us and we sat down and glanced at the table tent beverage menu while she brought us some water. Coffee 8,500 WON, Juice 13,500, sodas 5,500 - no thanks, we didn't even want to see the food prices. On a several month trip you have to have some discipline on spending money. We knew S. Korea would be one of our more expensive countries, but these were the highest prices we had experienced so far. We decided to venture out into Incheon to find some cheaper coffee and breakfast.

Incheon is not a tourist area but rather a very industrial port city. It is southwest of Seoul right on the water. No westerners around and no English translation on the Korean sign fronts that were frequent in the other areas of Seoul we had visited. We wandered a bit and found a restaurant open for breakfast. As we entered the host motioned us towards the steam table buffet of unrecognizable (to us) food items - exception only being the Kimchee and tofu. There were lots of vegetable salads too. After grabbing some samples off the buffet we were directed to the kitchen window where we were given a small dish with fish in red sauce and meat in brown sauce along with some steamed rice. The fish I didn't like as it had bones in every bite. The meat in brown sauce was tasty and the squid salad in red sauce was super spicy and good. Ken pointed out that the meat probably wasn't beef due to the grain and muscle structure. I didn't really want to think what it was but he was right that it was probably from a small animal. Oh well, it was tasty although a bit greasy. Coffee included and only 6,000 WON each. Much better than the hotel pricing. We later connected with Mark who had found the REAL hotel breakfast restaurant on the 15th floor which was a traditional western buffet spread for about 25,000 WON. Oops, we had missed out on that but saved about $19 USD. Our budget for the trip for fuel, food, lodging and misc. is $50 per day so probably good we didn't blow half of that on breakfast.

We loaded up the bikes and headed toward our chosen destination of Chuncheon - a resort area with a large lake in the middle of the country about half way between Incheon and the eastern coast. We had picked the easiest (navigation wise) and most direct route that would take us through the heart of Seoul. About 20 minutes into the ride it began to rain - hard. We didn't have time to prep or add any rain gear and we were in fairly heavy traffic so we just rode on. We had made some loose plans if any of us got separated - plan A was the lead rider(s) would slow down and hope the separated rider(s) could catch up. Or plan B we would try to meet up in Chuncheon (about 70 miles from Incheon). I brought up the rear so was mostly the one who had to play catch up which meant running red lights and splitting lanes to keep up with Ken and Mark. The "direct" route actually involved many re-directions through crisscrossing intersections and disappearing and reappearing lanes. All through stupid insane heavy stop and go traffic. I knew this ride through the city was going to require my full attention. Add to this the fun of Korean drivers just forcing you over and taking your lane even if you are right next to them. Motorcycles and scooters get no respect as the other vehicles use the "I'm bigger than you and want your lane" tactic - which with buses and larger trucks this actually works quite well for them and you just give way. With the cars the better move is to counter with aggressive offensive tactics such as eye contact and moving back towards them as they move towards you and sticking a boot out to gesture that you will stick your foot through their window if they try to take your lane. After 4.5 hours of non stop riding through the worst traffic and drivers I had experienced in my life, we made it to the outskirts of Seoul and took a break. We had covered only 32 miles in 4.5 hours. We got off the bikes and just looked at each other with a look that said "shit, glad that is over". Ken said it best - "That was one of the most unique and crazy rides that I never want to do again". Amen.

After a coffee and quick snack we jumped on the bikes to finish 40 some miles to Chunchen. We were entering a rural section that skirted the massive river that also runs through Seoul. We passed many massive dams that obviously were necessary to power a city of 25 million. Now we were having fun as the traffic was light and scenery beautiful and the sun came out to allow excellent visibility. We arrived in Chuncheon and decided to look for a hotel. We were originally going to camp by the lake, but the clouds were building again and we wanted a place to dry out our gear. We found a small guesthouse for 20,000 WON each, but was Korean style rooms which had no beds or useful furniture. Just a dresser, pads, blankets and pillows. So we basically were camping inside - which was fine with us. We wandered a few doors down and grabbed a traditional Korean dinner - sitting on pads on the ground at low tables. The food was great and our hosts were very friendly and fun. Again we could not communicate with speech but got by with gestures and hand signals. Today we are targeting a twisty mountain road that will take us to Sokcho on the east coast. No picks from the hell ride portion through Seoul - needed full concentration during that stretch.

Pulling off to the side.