Walk Thoughts #58: first checkpoint

I've made it to Ipo Dam. In another 14 km, or about 3-4 hours' walking, I'll be at my destination for today, Yeoju Dam, which also has a certification center. There's a guest house there called Yeongneung. Ought to be comfy for a night.

Here are some pics from this segment of the walk. No more hills: it's all been a flat riverbank walk since this morning.

Along a lonely part of the path, I met a chipper 29-year-old dude named Benjamin. He had lived in New York, and he's now working as part of a special firefighting team. We exchanged information, and we may meet up later this year: he comes up once a month to visit Itaewon, and he likes Turkish food. Benjamin's English is impeccable.

Righto-- back on the trail

The Benster himself:

A very, very small and intriguing house:

Another case of a sign with enough English to tell anglophones what the sign is about without conveying any essential information (same goes for Chinese and Japanese):

You spelled "weir" wrong, idiot!

Two kilometers to go. As slowly as I walk, that's a long distance.

1.7 km to go to the dam and the certification center.

Hangari (항아리):

More hangari:

A closeup of some hangari:

A sign indicating that I'm on the Han River bike path:

1.2 km to go:

I think I'm entering the city of Yeoju, with the Ipo Dam (weir) in the distance:

Ipo looms ever closer:

Even closer... and the path now slopes upward, dammit:

ARRIVED! Praise Cthulhu!

I wonder what little elves maintain the rubber stamps, the ink pads, and those pads of paper so that you can practice your stamping technique before marking your passbook:

I surely hope this feels as sexual as it looks:

Proof!

The nose-bridge crinkle of grim victory:

Did I mention I'm not shaving this entire trip? The facial hair is only going to get worse.