Day 25, Andong, dammit

The story's not actually over. I have one more thing I need to do, and I'll do it tomorrow morning. That said, I made it to Andong proper just fine, first arriving at the barrage or sluice gate that you might think is the dam (but it's not), then arriving at the Andong Dam Certification Center, then finally arriving at the dam itself. What a walk today was—an adventure for sure.

Before we get into all that, though, my final stats: 35.2 km, 45,370 steps, 482 minutes, 4.4 kph. Again with the exaggeration of the distance walked—by 26% this time (Naver said today's walk, including doubling back from the dam, totaled 28K).

The initial jaunt back to the bike trail from my motel, this morning, took some time. While the walk was generally a happy and cheerful one, it was also something of a cavalcade of death: I walked past three dead mice in a row and several splattered, exploded snakes. Just a reminder of how life and death are intimately linked. 

I also passed several distance markers that were utterly untrustworthy. One marker said the dam was 7.8 km away, then the next marker said it was 10 km. Measuring distance is apparently a very subjective thing. I can't trust Naver, or my pedometer, or the local distance markers. All I can say for sure is that it was a tiring trek.

Plenty of farmland and riverside scrub along the way, plus the usual barking dogs. I passed through apple-orchard country and ate a fallen apple after removing a large, brown spot that ended up running surprisingly deep into the fruit. There were plenty of flowers and quite a few pumpkins; one section of my walk was lined on both sides with cosmos flowers. 

There was one weird section involving an old man in an electric scooter. The guy followed me like a stalker for well over a kilometer, coughing and grunting the entire time. He finally pulled ahead of me and took a side road, much to my relief. It could be that I was simply walking the same route that he was riding along, but the net effect was that I felt as if I were being slowly pursued by a phlegm zombie. Part of me tried to remember that, God willing, I too will one day be that old, but another part of me wanted the guy gone pronto. It's sad to be truly old, even sadder to be old and unwanted.

There was a section I passed through called Danho which, when pronounced the Korean way, sounds like the name of that famous Hawaiian singer Don Ho. So I walked through Don Ho's district and crossed over Don Ho's bridge. 

Speaking of singers: toward the end of my walk, I passed a crowd that was listening to a woman sing, and damn, was she terrible. I recorded a few seconds just so you can hear for yourself how off key she was. 

The weather got warm and sunny at times, and my forearms did end up getting a bit burned, but if there's one place on the body where sunburn isn't a huge issue, it's the forearms. For all of my walk, the weather today was awesome... but the moment I reached the dam and sat down to rest, it started raining. Just my luck. I don't recall seeing rain in the forecast, either.

If the Pungcheon-myeon part of Andong had a chill vibe, so did the more central part of Andong where I found myself today. I am currently in the Star Motel, a mu-in (person-free) facility with a check-in machine that worked in an easy, straightforward manner. At W50,000 a night, the place is a tiny bit expensive, but it's well maintained and not lacking in facilities.

I'd mentioned in an earlier post that Andong struck me as a place of living history, not a land of monuments. Well, the day ended with a park full of monuments, many of which are dedicated to things like the March First independence movement and the beginning of the Korean War. The dam is a focal point for history and tourism, but one thing I noticed was that people liked congregating in the park, but few people walked to the dam itself; the ones who did go that way did so by driving. Of course, everyone fled the moment it started to rain. 

So the one thing I have left to do (aside from eat an Andong specialty) is to climb the dam and see Andong Lake (안동호, Andong-ho). Since I have to check out by 11 a.m., I think the strategy will be to be out the door for a walk up the dam (via some stairs at a park next to the dam) by 7:30. I'll fart around and take some final pictures, go back to my motel, take a shower, dress in non-smelly clothes, check out by 11, and quietly enjoy a local specialty before taking the bus across town to Andong's rail station or bus terminal. From there, it's back to Seoul. 

This means I won't follow my usual routine, which involves an evening shower and change of toe bandages. That'll all happen in the morning. I'm looking forward to a good climb, tomorrow, followed by a decent meal. There's a gan-godeungeo/간 고등어 restaurant just a couple buildings over from where I am. They refused to serve me this evening, but I bet they'll serve me lunch tomorrow. 

Actually, that's one disturbing thing that happened this evening: I went to two different restos and got rejected by both. The first restaurant said it was turning off its lights and closing down for the evening even though it wasn't yet 7 p.m. The second restaurant (the one I'll try again tomorrow) was friendlier, but the girl at the front counter said the restaurant had run out of ingredients for the evening, so it wasn't accepting any more customers. Seeing as I'm a Seoulite, this sort of thing is unheard of to me. You don't close your restaurant at dinnertime, and you always plan ahead to be able to accommodate customer traffic. Running out of ingredients? That's pretty unprofessional. But the resto is right next to me, so I'll try it again tomorrow. 

Despite all of the day's animal deaths and personal difficulties, I had a blast. This was a great way to finish the Andong path, which I'd been wanting to do for a while. I'm left with the bittersweet feeling of accomplishment that comes at the end of every such walk, and l look forward to doing the Four Rivers path again next year—first time since 2020.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot: Day 4 was the day the Andong path decided to get funky with the terrain. I encountered two hills today; the first was a challenge, but it was only a warmup for the second hill, which was far meaner and nastier. Still, even the second hill wasn't quite as bad as some of the worst hills on the Four Rivers trail—which also lie along the Nakdong River. 

So I guess there's one more entry after this, then I'll write my comprehensive wrap-up entry, in which I'll have plenty to say about both the Jeju and the Andong hikes.

Meanwhile, enjoy the following pictures.

leaving my motel

the hornèd moon

first of several crushed snakes

Ha-ri Bridge

end of the Four Rivers in Busan = 326.6 km

finally picking up the riverside path

lunch discount special on Pungsan sashimi

arfer

and friends, with one pup showing what he'll do to me

pumpkin on an incline

bikers

cooking and camping prohibited

a building devoted to prehistory, I think

those fall colors

the Danho-gyo (Don Ho's bridge)

river sandbar

pure life of the Nakdong is our pure future

God is telling me to turn left

myo

what one type of porta-potty looks like

first dead mouse, maybe killed by the cold

Number Two

and at last, Number Three

snake—alive, for once

Nakdong River Jongju Bike Route

another turnoff

froggie looks poisonous 

froggie looks military

flailing balloon guards apple trees

apples

that fallen apple

squirting water

mmm

Don Ho, First Village

giddy kittie

looks at me when I pssst to it

cowz

that first hill

withered chili peppers

more flailing

7% grade

up and up we go

dramatically splayed frog carcass

looking down at the Nakdong

seen while descending

Goha Bridge

another smooshed snake 

bridge in the distance

another smashed snake

placed at intervals are these sandbags

I swear I'm not placing these snakes here.

this is the West Andong Bridge (not crossed)

Mo-un Temple (pronounce it "moh-oon," not rhyming with "town")

Geomam Bridge

Right about here is where that old man started following me on his electric scooter.

algae follows me from Jeju

God tells me to go right.

Hay says hey.

The old man scooted ahead of me but fell behind soon after. God, the coughing and grunting.

cluster of asters

Here is where he pulled ahead and turned onto a side street. Bye!

Geomam Center for the Elderly

up a hill

This is the hill that turned out to be a bastard.

up and up we go... again

It just never stops. And the sun decided to shine hard.

overgrown shwimteo

many myo

approaching the top

yeah!

I scratched my own memento.
"Kim Kevin, 2022"

the top

7% grade going down

This sign says this route is a detour.

Sand Plant, with dirt-related machinery

very chill dawg, silently watching

place for sorting trash

I liked the rose/garbage contrast.

more sorted garbage

I didn't like all the flies, though.

more serpentine tragedy

train tunnel

dog off leash and barking = not good

almost as dramatic as a snake

Does this really say "laxative"?

lots of open parkland coming 

Jesus Christ: the biggest hornets' nest I've ever seen up close—easily two feet tall

good God

Apartments in the distance herald a city.

I rested here a while to let my phone battery recharge.

back on the bike path after some time on the walking path

weir to help aerate the river water

afternoon sun; shadow points east

What's that about love?

fascinating masks

Would've been better to have water pouring out of their mouths.

Danger Man reappears

People know when they're being watched.

This turns out to be a favorite spot for jet-skiiers and speedboaters.

pergola in use

차선준수 (chaseon junsu) = keep in your lane
보행자전용 (bohaengja jeonyong) = pedestrian use

Someone knows a Romance language?

It came from another galaxy.

mini speedboat

and another

dam, 9 km

right next to the previous sign: dam, 8K

tent under bridge

about to cross the first of two footbridges

great view of the river from the footbridge

ducks

Dongcheon Dam/Weir

approaching a horrible music festival

about to cross the second footbridge

now starting the final few kilometers to the end

cert center, 2.5K

the barrage you think is the dam, but no

cert center, 1.5K

the walkable top of the barrage

the backside of the whole thing

bridge under construction

I assume they'll build a tunnel or something.

1K to the cert center

spider eats dragonfly—yeah!

These are boats with tiny outboard motors.

All sorts of fun boat rides on this part of the river.

Resto serving gan godeungeo, an Andong specialty (mackerel) that Charles mentioned in a comment.

heading into town

a popular riverside area

where those boats launch

Read right to left: Weolyeong-gyo, or (roughly) Moonlight Bridge

Weolyeong-gyo, but top to bottom now

Andong Water Cultural Center

that familiar little booth

cert center at last

stamp

Moonlight Park
(vaguely looks like a Jeju stone grandfather)

Andong March 1st Memorial

for Korean War vets

finally, a dragonfly

and another!

fall colors

Dafuq is this??

leafy leaves

the actual Andong Dam

Waterfall Park, 850 m

Christ, more walking

note the lighting—crass commodification of nature

'brary in the middle of the woods

I think this is part of the dam. Turbine driven by water flow?

hydroelectric power

can't climb these stairs

but a man can dream

the stairs I'll take in the morning

my motel for tonight, Room 207

hilarious: a sign saying "fridge vending machine"

free: water, drinks (just remove and consume)

pay: beer, adult products (pay W10,000)

So they keep their adult products in the fridge, eh? Whatever's in there had better be alive, in that case. If I'm stuffing anything up my ass, it had better struggle.

That's the photo tour for the last official day of the walk. Except for going atop the dam, Jeju and Andong are now done. I need to go back, fill in captions, enlarge the pictures, and write a wrap-up post. All of that will take a few days. But first, tomorrow is sort of an unofficial Day 26. Expect photos and a small writeup of how the morning goes. 

Last thing—some videos from today.

Flappin':

More flappin':

Mini speedboats whoosh by:

Really bad singing:

Me walking: