Day 3, Course 4

22.65 km, 29,245 steps, 309 minutes, and again, about 4.4 kph. I started and stopped a lot because of the massive number of photos I took. Before I upload all those pics, though, I'm going to go through the entire collection and eliminate as many "unworthy" images as I can.

Today's walk was pretty straightforward. I implemented my plan to skip out on the difficult parts, and I think that that worked out well enough. I left the Olle-gil several times—at least once inadvertently. It was easy enough just to follow the coastline and choose routes that kept me away from the main road, but even when I was on the main road, the traffic wasn't bad at all. I'd say that, overall, I was on the Olle-gil for at least 70% of today's walk. 

The morning was pleasantly cool until about 8:30. I caught another sunrise, as you'll see below. That's the advantage of being on the east coast. The forecast is for more heat tomorrow and Monday,  with cooler temps and thunderstorms on Tuesday. All that could change, of course; weather is always more chaotic around mountains.

In reviewing the addresses of all the places I'll be staying at over the course of this walking tour, I noticed something strange: all of my lodging is in either Seogwipo City or Jeju City, as if both cities covered the entirety of the island. Maybe I just don't understand how the whole "city" thing is reckoned here. I got curious as to why, after three days' walking, I was still in Seogwipo. Well, now I know. Last year, I recall Gangneung being surprisingly large, taking three days to pass through. Going west to east, Seoul takes me only two days to cross—and that's if I start in Incheon.

I'm currently at a modest motel that misnames itself Gipoong Hotel (기풍호텔). The place set me back W40,000, but the accommodations are about what I'd expect for the price. No one was at the front desk when I arrived somewhere after 2 p.m.,  which is typical at that time of day. A handwritten message at the front desk said to call a certain cell number if no one was there, so I did. The lady said she'd send someone to help me, so imagine my surprise when a distinctly non-Korean girl showed up and spoke to me in Korean with a strong Southeast Asian accent. She accepted my payment, gave me a room key, and that was that. Yay, immigrants!

I should also talk a bit about yesterday's accommodations before I forget. I was slated to stay at a place called New Green Pension. When I got to that area, I saw a Green Pension, but not a New Green Pension. A sign at the entrance of Green Pension advised New Green customers to check in at the building next door (a motel), so I went there and was called by name by a dude who rushed into the office right as he saw me entering the next-door motel. I paid W60,000 for what turned out to be motel accommodations: pensions normally have kitchenettes (not that I use them), but yesterday's room was a standard motel room. It was quite comfortable after I bought some bug spray and killed the huge fly and annoying mosquito that had taken up residence there. For some odd reason, though, I had trouble sleeping. That's not the fault of the lodging; I simply couldn't sleep for most of the night, and I ended up taking a three-hour nap.

Back to today's walk. Mostly coastal, with several portions next to the Jeju beltway I mentioned yesterday. Still, the beltway traffic wasn't bad at all, and I never once felt unsafe. Because I'm shutterbugging and using Naver Map so much, the activity is taxing my phone's battery, so I have to take occasional recharging breaks. I decided, at one point, to both charge my battery and catch up on lost sleep when I found a nice, shady shwimteo. That's the nice thing about being on vacation and on your own schedule: there’s no pressure on you, and if you want to stop and take a Fuck it all nap, no one's gonna say otherwise. Plenty of bikers and some random walkers; most greeted me when I greeted them, but some did that stupid/stony stare thing as I passed, prompting me to mutter "Asshole" under my breath. 

The good news, as I continue to gain knowledge about Jeju, is that I think I've discovered the Olle-gil's dirty secret: like the Four Rivers path, the Olle is more like a network of paths instead of being one single trail. I know this because, when I paused to watch the sunrise this morning, I stepped off what I thought was the proper Olle (ribbons and arrows marked my way) and found some benches next to another, parallel path that was also marked as Olle. Putting two and two together, I realized that the path was built to allow walkers to choose their own adventures. This discovery came as a bit of a relief because it meant that switching paths had been built into the Olle experience. So even if I think I'm doing my own thing, it seems that this style of walking was anticipated by the trail's designers. Upshot: I think I can legitimately claim to have done the Olle-gil even though I've taken certain liberties. I won't have to change my blog's banner after all.

Without further ado, then, let's go right to the photo essay. 

about 5:55 a.m.

I now call this The Merry Chase.

Projection lamps create a watery effect. 

Impressive: a CU open at 6 a.m.

black-pig resto

As an American, I do wonder about the racial angle. This gives me a Black Sambo vibe. 

another black-pig resto

Grandiose hotels abound.

lightening sky

If I fixate on palm trees, it's because we don't have them in Seoul.

basalt curbs

on the right track

where I decided to await the sunrise

where I guessed the sun would be coming up

that other Olle path

boom

a bit higher

distracted by a ship in the distance

20X digital zoom

jogger confident enough to keep his dog leashless

restaurant sign

The two different bike icons stenciled onto the path reminded me of Busan last year, where I saw something similar. The major difference, though, is that in Busan, the two different images were placed on top of each other, as if mating.

obligatory Kev-shadow pic

This sparked a vague memory of my visit to Jeju in 1986. Something about how, traditionally, these horizontal fence posts conveyed different meanings depending on how the posts were arranged. 

more stuff I can't read without a dictionary

Rainbow Village

White Hill Pension

Stone tables and seats really are a thing here.

I'm afraid to ask what "more excellent than moisture pellets" even means.

jogger

nosepicking?

I took this wide shot of the bushes because so many spiders lived there.

more uses for basalt

liquid-oxygen tank

Do you see a person somewhere in there?

the town of Saehwa 2-li (Saehwa 2nd District)

Gwang-eo apparently means "flatfish."

I would love to try tangsu-eo: batter-fried sweet-and-sour fish.

All those shells make for a cute tower of death.

here, too

not sure what gamari means

wouldn't have minded eating here, but it was too early

You like to travel?

Pac-Man laughs at your misfortune.

This was interesting: a jangseung paired with a haenyeo. Given how haenyeo have an almost totemic status in Jeju, this makes a weird kind of sense.

Gama Church of Christ

Gashi Creek

not a very impressive creek

Hangeul Day is October 10

Arfer arfed at me.

a very nice elementary school

Zounds, what grounds!

reading to cultivate the body and mind

child-protection area

makes me think of an elephant

I guess you sleep standing up.

looks vaguely like a squid

a path I would eventually abandon

I rarely show you the texture of the path.

rubberized mat peeking out

not animal assholes for once

sentry

something-something su-san (fisheries)

a shell on the path

teeny crab

About here, I realized the path was getting rough.

some trash (more to come)

another place for the rich

This family asked me to take their picture.

Right about here, I decided not to continue along this path. I detoured to the bike path, which was nearby.

up a little hill, toward the bike path

following the bike path now

Would Rosa Parks have been proud?

It's a pension.

almost as though it had died in mid-scream

more places for the rich

See the spider?

like a dead, skeletal alien hand clawing out of the ground

vicious fucker

closeup so you can appreciate the bared fangs

Walking through the neighborhood with the mean dog brought me back to the Olle-gil. 

I don't know how to read this sign.

Caught this spider with digital zoom. The arachnid was huge.

where I decided to rest and recharge my phone's batteries

same type of shell as before, at my resting spot

also at my resting spot: this tiny cairn

just up from my nap

What horrible massacre led to this?

The stone grandfather's posture makes more sense in the recumbent position.

The Two Towers

I'm always learning new vocab.

Is this Jeju dialect for "come alone"?

I believe the Chinese says, "Dong-a Su-san," or East Asian Fisheries.

I see a screaming walrus.

more liquid oxygen

garbage

chillaxin'

some admin building?

more animal assholes

closeup

I assume this is algae. Impressive.

Will Miss Coffee marry Mr. Crab?

vaguely disturbing
(and the place is called "Mr. Crab," but that's a lobster)

penguins

some sort of festival celebrating 45 years of something

Old folks have the niftiest rides.

Airstream was big back in the day. Still around?

These are all being used for glamping, which I hate.

nifty building used for nothing

self-service juice using the honor system

I almost stopped in here to eat.

a grove of trees, groving

JW's wife is named Bo-hyun. This is her temple.

Final stretch. Into town we go.

Olle-gil info center.

This rude couple took forever. 

end of Course 4

beginning of Course 5

Gi-poong Hotel

slightly burned face

the inevitable burned hands

With weight loss come turkey wattles.

A couple notes before I close out this entry:

1. Resizing hundreds of pics has become too time-consuming, so I'm not going to do that until after I'm back from both of my walks. Meantime, just click on the first pic to start the slide show, and if you really want to see the pics at full size, right-click on any slide-show image and hit "open image in new tab." The image will probably be too big for your monitor. 

2. WiFi at my current motel is crazy fast. Not bad for W40,000 spent. 

3. I think I've finally got the hang of how to use Leukotape. Dedicated readers might remember the fiasco of 2019, when I wrapped Leukotape completely around my pinky toe to protect it from friction. My toe swelled up and became horrifically stinky. I've learned a lot since then, and I now use Leukotape much more judiciously. I still think moleskin for blisters is bullshit, for what that's worth. If you're of the Pop It school when it comes to blisters, well, God bless you. As you know, I'm of the Don't Fuck With It school of thinking—just walk it off, and nature will deflate it when it's ready to deflate. 

Righto—a new day dawns tomorrow. Course 5 looks to be a coast-hugger. The bike path, meanwhile, quickly splits away from the Olle-gil to follow the coastal highway, but the Olle has plenty of opportunities for me to leave it if I find it too difficult. I'm also doing Course 6 tomorrow; the total distance—in theory, anyway—is somewhere between 25K and 29K (different sources vary wildly in their numbers). With the heat, the walk promises to be brutal. I may end up on the bike path just to be able to walk a shorter distance (farther inland = shorter route).

As always, wish me luck.