I made it to Jibo-myeon, arriving a bit after 6 p.m. after leaving Sangju and the Bobos Motel at 5:30 this morning (excluding breaks, my average pace was 3.1 kph—better than the previous day). I'm in the Gangnam Motel (W50,000 a night), and after looking forward to a hot dinner ordered via Yogiyo, I discovered that Yogiyo doesn't work where I am, but my motel room does have a list of food establishments with phone numbers. Or, assuming I finish this post quickly enough, I can put my shoes back on and walk a half mile into town and either hit a restaurant or grab some stuff from the lone convenience store. But frankly, I'm too tired to do more than tap this tiny cell-phone keypad, so I'm going to either order some food by phone or just wait until tomorrow to grab whatever I want.
Today's walk took several kilometers to get back onto the official path, but I ended up heading east into the sunrise. Sangju is not exactly a small city; it's famous for persimmons, which are hang-drying everywhere right now. As with many cities the world over, Sangju's vehicular traffic is busy by 6 a.m. I was happy to leave the city and find myself on back roads and quiet trails, but I did occasionally have to follow roads with cars passing by every few minutes. Overall, though, the situation wasn't bad or dangerous, not even on the bridges with no shoulders or bike lanes.
Lots and lots of farmland as I moved east toward Andong. And there was plenty of activity at those farms, even in November. Garlic and cabbage are still being grown, along with another leafy plant that I at first thought was perilla. A closer look showed I was wrong, and I still don't know what plant it is.
I'm here at the Gangnam Motel for two nights. Friday morning, I'll mosey on over to western Andong, a 30K trek that I hope will be easier on the feet than today's walk had been. And finally, on Saturday the 15th, I'll do the final leg, a 28K segment to the Andong Dam.
While I'm at my current motel, I also need to wash my clothes again so that they won't be too stinky when I bus home on Saturday. But I guarantee that everything will get a thorough (re)washing once I'm back at my place, including yours truly.
Just two more legs to go. Enjoy the pics.
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| my second-longest day at 36K |
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| a bit northeast, but mostly east |
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| licking its lips at its own demise |
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| jinggeom-dari (footbridge) lit up for night crossings |
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the moon, Jupiter, Procyon, and Sirius
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| a resto for cabbies |
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| "sunrise" |
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| persimmons hanging out to dry |
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| view from a hill |
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| Don't eat the unripe ones. |
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| amazing sunset sky |
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| Gangnam Motel—where I am now |
VIDEO: How they make the giant marshmallows.
VIDEO 2: I was sure it was dried up and dead. Then it moved.
EPILOGUE: I ended up walking into town to visit the local convenience store, tired as I was. Step total now: 62,000. I tried calling the nearby Chinese place, but I called at 7:20 p.m., and the lady said they didn't take delivery calls after 7 p.m. With the universe's constant and consistent attempts to thwart me, I was worried that the convenience store would also be closed when I got there, but the gods were merciful.
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