in Seogu, western Seoul

Never trust the distance given.

This is not the exact course. I held to the water.

I'm in the unimaginatively named Seogu (West District), in Seoul, staying at the overpriced—and probably foreigner-taxed—Dean Hotel which, as obtains for many so-called "hotels," is actually a motel at the pricier end of the scale (W75,000). The amenities are okay, though, so I'll stay here tonight and avoid the place later, when I do the walk in earnest.

Today's walk was brutal. Distance from my motel to Geomam Station: 2.8 km. Distance from Cheongna International City Station to the Four Rivers starting point: 2.9 km. So that's nearly 6K before I even start the trail. Distance from Ara West Sea Lock Gate Certification Center (아라 서해 갑문 인증센터) to my current motel: 29 km. So that's just under 35K (34.7), but I also walked around to find a late lunch as well as some ibuprofen, so let's call it an even 35K of hell. The difference between today's 35K and my three recent 33Ks is as obvious as night and day: I did the Yangpyeong-Yeoju hikes at night when it was very cool, and I did today's hike in the daytime, when things got rather hot for me. I also stopped a lot to take pictures (I'll be displaying only 10 of the over 200 images I captured), so that slows me down. My post-stroke walking rate has been slowing down, too. That's kind of worrisome, but I'm still figuring out what to do about it. Best solution seems to be to lose weight and focus on endurance cardio. 

The walk was also eventful, although the announced rain never appeared (damn you yet again, AccuWeather). A cute young lady startled me out of my reverie, early in the walk, as she whipped past me on her bike. She yelled the Konglish "Fighting!", which I guess means anything encouraging from "You can do it!" to "Keep going!" to just "Yeah!" She giggled a bit when me saw I'd been startled. Barely an hour or so ago, as I was leaving the motel for a pharmacy errand, the front-desk guy (a different staffer from the one who got me my room) started quizzing me about where I was going. He asked me to leave my room-key card with him. I got a little incensed and asked him why he wanted me to do that. He explained that our motel was located in what was basically Drinker's Alley, and a lot of hotel guests get so pickled that they can't even find their room key.  With that explanation, I was a bit less incensed. I told the guy I don't drink, and he was fine with letting me go. 

Despite the heat and all the sweating I did today, it was a fun walk. A couple weeks from now, daytime temps ought to be even lower, which may help my walking rate to speed up. My feet felt as if they'd taken a real beating, but when I looked at them this evening, they appeared to be perfectly fine. Go figure. That may not be the case after three more days of distance walking.

Having an encumbrance might also be slowing my walking rate, and my current pack weight is half my backpack's base weight, so the full backpack could conceivably make things worse. We'll soon see how it all goes. 

Here are ten photos for your delectation:

around 4:50 a.m., leaving my motel

a decent shot of Geomam Station

finally at the starting line

buoy

signal fires

left alone with big, fat Fatty / she was such a naughty nanny / big, big woman! / you made a bad boy outta me

lots of pairs and groups there today

I always take pics of the gorilla.

Gayang Bridge (left) and the tower/platform on the right.

tired, tousled, terrible 

I'm exhausted and off to bed early for what I hope will be 7.5 hours of sleep. Up at 5 a.m. to start the process all over again!

PHOTO ESSAY

the park near my motel

a more or less typical street shot

one of two subway stops that I pass on the way to and from the motel

It occurred to be that, instead of walking nearly 3 km from Geomam Station, I could have transferred to this subway, gone two stops, and saved myself a walk. But by this point, walking the 3 km to and from Geomam Station has become a tradition.

a small creek in the city

the second subway station before I hit Geomam Station

a look left down a side street

straight ahead again

Geomam Station: I have to go one stop (about 8-10 km) to Cheongna International City Rail Station

waiting at Geomam

this & the next train are only passing through

9 minutes until my train arrives

an explanation of train etiquette

Not exactly a translation: the Korean actually says, "Watch out for [your] foot falling in." Gap is merely implied.

The morning people gather: this train is ultimately heading to Incheon International Airport.

more people, some of them masked

I've gotten off after one stop: Cheongna International City.

From here, it's around 3 km to the trail's starting point.

to the right—thataway

sign to Ara Canal (아라뱃길/ara baet-gil, lit. "Ara Boat Way," i.e., a canal)

We're going left.

This is new: the path is twice as wide as it used to be, and it's bricked over. It used to be narrow and overgrown.

It's also clearly demarcated for bikers and walkers. Note the apartment buildings on the left. We'll see them later.

Mirae means "future," and while ro means "street" in this case, mirae-ro can also mean "toward the future."

Yay! A spider!

This may be this year's first official Joro spider sighting.

I used to be impressed by these, but when I was in Jeju, I saw hundreds of windmills.

almost at the start of the trail

cautious kitty

American-style orb-weaver

final streeeeeeetch

The blue mama bear signifies the rest station. It's closed at this early hour.

I'm guessing these are utility buildings, but I like to fantasize they're for glamping.

almost there... just another couple hundred yards/meters

For people starting in Busan, this is the end of the path.

sit not thine ass here

The first time I came to this site, I recall feeling let down. This area has spread-out mud flats; the ocean is there, but it's farther out. And at the horizon, there's some kind of man-made causeway interrupting the view, so this isn't the spot to drink in any thalassic majesty. For this reason, I'm very hesitant to do what some people have suggested: the Four Rivers path, but backward. Doing it backward means ending here. With mud flats. Bleh. I am, however, contemplating doing the path backwards from Busan to the Andong Dam. That would be a shorter walk than the Four Rivers path: about three weeks. But it's all along the beautiful Nakdong River. I might do that next year. Some of the scary hills will be even scarier when doing them backwards, but what the hell.

Yay! Mud!

sunrise, kind of

The arch is kind of cool, I'll admit. The place has an overall low-key, relaxed feel.

The official distance of the Four Rivers path in meters. My route comes out to 633.44 km, a 0.49 km difference.

Two bikers took forever with all their posing and photo-snapping. One of their bikes is visible in this pic.

I moved far away and took my with-the-arch selfie. The bikers were still loitering.

blue mama bear with gold/brown baby bear perched on her

At this point, I've started along the path. The short tunnel is the first real landmark.

In we go.

Walking to Geomam Station, waiting for the subway, riding the subway one stop, then walking to the trail's starting point—all of this takes time, and Day One of this walk is a long, 35-kilometer day. So the sun is already well above the horizon by the time I start down the Four Rivers path.

Remember when I said we'd see those apartment buildings again later? I walked by them earlier.

The Korean says Gukto Jongju: a country-long end-to-end path.

glove, curled up in death... like an insect

As you'll see, bikers will be in a ton of these shots. They're impossible to avoid.

The puffy moss was fascinating.

Someone's little setup. I wonder what the story is behind all that.

We're just about at the Ara Canal, which is up ahead. I'll be turning right and east.

Follow the arrow.

The Ara Canal, being a canal, is unnaturally straight, and it hosts a lot of bridges.

I feel as if this bench is facing the wrong way.

I guess a landfill got converted.

In many American towns that have landfills, the landfills get topped off with a thick layer of dirt when they reach capacity, and the huge dirt pile is topped with green and growing things. The effect is that of a flat-topped mountain, and many towns with such "mountains" will name their erstwhile landfill Mount Trashmore.

spiky grass dominates the soft, puffy moss

I'd rather walk on the bike path, which is better maintained. But there are bikers.

a shwimteo (resting spot) off to the side

She's feasting. Quiet.

closer look

Dewy webs. I saw larger ones later.

We've found the Death Star's shield generator.

a rather artistic-looking buoy

"Freeeeeeedooooommmm!"—no, wait. That's red clover. Sorry, William.

Mugunghwa/Rose of Sharon, South Korea's national plant genital.

This spider had a unique look.

I love the cartoons of people in distress. Drown, baby, drown!

Or maybe it's, "Drow, baby! Drow!"

the strange dignity of the ornithoid

unnaturally straight canal means lots of straightaway views

This stretch of the Ara Canal goes on about 15 kilometers.

Aeration site. Air is being pumped up from under the water's surface to help oxygenate the canal's water.

I assume that's part of Incheon in the distance. I don't think we're far enough along for that to be Gimpo. Paul?

another bridge coming up

not quite the beacons of Minas Tirith, but a signal-fire station all the same

A sweat-print of my back and ass. Not sure why my back looks like saggy titties.

I'm pretty sure I translated this sign somewhere else.

some highlights of the Four Rivers path as you cycle across the land

shwimteo and another bridge

a glance sideways as I pass the tunnel to mystery

I think those plastic containers say "Incheon City" on them.

Caught! Whatcha gon' do widdat chain, boy?

When I got to the Fatass statue, I took a break.

Recycle.

I wonder whether a local bakery sells cake-sculpture versions of this.

One of many, many bikers to ride in the pedestrian lane.

another obnoxious fucker in my lane

All the interesting stuff seems to be on the other side.

stairs to mystery

not quite like a mountain-temple stairway in China

Another obnoxious biker heads my way while in the pedestrian lane.

There were so many bikers straying into the pedestrian lane (they'd grudgingly leave my lane only at the very last second) that I stopped counting. The photos I'm showing here don't account for even a twentieth of the obnoxiousness I experienced.

and another

live mantis

dead mama mantis, with eggs scattered everywhere... tragic

a bad shot of worm and insect drama, which plagued much of this walk

a closeup of the insect drama

and a closeup of the worm drama

Here, we go right and up. If we go straight, we end up at a park.

hopper, alert-looking

flight path to and from Gimpo Airport

Boston Wind Sox

yet another bridge

When you reach this point, you know you're at the last few kilometers of the Ara part of the path.

scattered sculptures

Gorilla and Robo, hanging out

looks like a refugee from a Transformers movie

Deadly, metallic flowers feature in Larry Niven's Ringworld.

This is new.

In town now... I'd say we're out of Incheon.

Ah. We're in Gimpo. My Korean coworker lives out here. Bitch of a commute to southeastern Seoul.

We loves the ramshackles, Preciousssss.

I'll be hooking around and following this path downhill. After I get a cold drink.

Down we go.

This forested part felt longer than I remembered. It's been a few years.

The sign says this is Haengju Bridge. A haengju is a dishrag. Phonetic coincidence, I'm sure.

a quiet, peaceful part of the path

closed off

"Caution: Wild-animal Area"

I stopped at this convenience store for snacks and drinks. It was hotter than I'd expected it to be.

bike-rental spot

"In this place, setting up shade tarps is forbidden." (The small font says to find an area where tarps/canopies are permitted. Otherwise, it's a million-won fine. Luckily, I had my wide-brimmed hat.)

seven-legged lady

Maybe I should walk to Paris.

small legs, big head... must be Asian

brief moment on a dirt path

No one's practicing rock climbing. Pre-COVID, this place was bumpin'.

"Tarp/tent Setup PERMITTED ZONE."

All this time, weve been trending rightward, away from the end of the Ara Canal and toward the mighty Han River. We're about to pop out close to the river's edge.

Et voilà.

another hilariously dramatic cartoon

We're basically in western Seoul. My walk has only a few more kilometers to go.

With the high berm to my right, you can't see that there's a freeway there.

I'll need to cross over the freeway at this platform, close to the Gayang Bridge.

looking east over the freeway while on the bridge

looking west

moving into town—the last kilometer or two until my motel

vegetables, fruit... and fish?

church tower

Oi, mister!

I ended up here, and they fucked me with a foreigner's tax. I was too tired to care.

The "after 35K" look.

Salt patterns from dried sweat: my own tee design!

September 28 was a hot, tiring day. I was lucky to be wearing my biker's toshi/토시, the sleevelets that the French cyclists call manchettes. Thus, my forearms were covered and protected from burning. My head and neck were protected by my new, wide-brimmed hat.  My hands, though, were another matter. They burned a bit and are now peeling. All in all, it was a good day. I had lunch at a Chinese place, then retired to my overpriced motel. Day 2 promised to be a bit shorter of a walk: 29K. Back to my apartment.