Now, this is a real find: fresh basil being grown among the decorative flowers that line this post-Yeouido part of the path:
Here's a shot of several of the plants. There were dozens, and I wanted to steal them all:
Here's my lunch again:
And here's what my meal is supposed to look like, immortalized in plastic (sorry about the reflection; I tried to take the picture at an angle, but that didn't help much):
All in all, I walked about seven hours. It was an eight-hour day if we include my two thirty-minute rest breaks. I was sore and achy by the end, but things weren't as bad as I'd thought they would be. On my right foot, my second toe from the big toe is somewhat irritated, but I've got no blistering to report, and my feet aren't screaming from the battering, the way they've done in the past. This means that my new shoes are doing their job fairly well. I'm getting familiar with all the zippers and pockets of my backpack; I just have to remember to tighten the hip belt more firmly from now on, so as to reduce back pain.
I somehow forgot to bring along Q-tips for my ears. I'll buy a small pack of cotton swabs from a convenience store tomorrow morning on my way out of the city. Yes: Day 2 of the walk involves leaving Seoul and striking west along the Ara Canal. I generally like Day 2 much better than Day 1 because of the greater variation in scenery.
And that's about it for the moment. I've showered and hand-washed my clothes, which are hang-drying right now. If they're still damp in the morning, that's not tragic: I've worn damp clothes on hikes before; the clothes usually dry completely within an hour... only to be re-dampened once I begin sweating. Alas.
I miss the days when cabbage and peppers grew there. Back when old people enjoyed both their outdoor gardening and not having to pay highway robbery prices at local grocery stores.
ReplyDeleteI still remember my first trip to the southern peninsula and seeing the medians and shoulders of highways and street sidewalks covered in cabbage before the politicians outlawed most of it in favor of more "western-style" useless grass and flowers. Can you imagine all the people that could be fed in the United States alone if interstate and highways shoulders and medians were cultivated in food for human consumption? People adopt sections of highways to keep them clean of litter, too bad the same can't be done for a more useful purpose. Maybe even getting more high school kids and the homeless into the job force and contributing to society in a positive way.
Really enjoying these photos and commentary on your walk. Next best thing to being there! The weather looks perfect for a walk. Man, those Yeouido pics were a stroll down memory lane for me. Glad the walk is going well so far and will look forward to the next installment.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good start. Hope it continues that way!
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