Suanbo to Andong City
May 9, 2023
After two days of fairly flat riding we were off into more vertical country today. Our first climb was steep but not too challenging just after leaving the hotel. Coming from an area with some long and steep climbs, I have usually considered myself a good climber and I guess I am compared with the general population of bicycle riders. However, when compared with people who are seasoned bicycle tourists I rate average at best. I still make it up every hill without having to walk my bike but I take my own time and that time seems to be less than many other riders. I’m just glad it is not a race.
The view from the top of our longest climb of the day was quite nice and I was glad to use the excuse of taking a selfie as an opportunity to let the lactic acid drain from my leg muscles. The down hill afterwards was a blast. There was also a very large rock carving along side of the road. It did not look like most Budda carvings that I have seen and I could not translate the sign nearby or find anything on line about it. However, given that the make figure looks younger than most Budda carvings I am guessing they represent Princess Yaśodharā, the wife of Siddhartha and Siddhartha himself, who later became Gautama Buddha
Buying food or drink in small Korean shops and restaurants can be challenging and expensive. Since our hotel only had instant coffee at breakfast and since most of us don’t consider that sludge to be drinkable, quite a few of us stopped at this little roadside shop for our daily caffeine hit. Making the coffee was a slow, one cup at a time, process and the shop owner became confused and nervous about keeping us waiting and determining who was paying for what. I came in near the end of the process and just wanted a simple Coffee Amerciano. I wound up paying 17,000 Won or about $17.00 (Canadian) for it. It appears I involuntarily paid for a number of coffees for some of my fellow riders. At least I got a “free” cookie.
Plenty of interesting scenery in these more rural and small town sections of South Korea. Duck boats for rent, rice paddies, sculpted sections of bicycle trails and cherry blossoms framing kilometers of the pathway made the kilometers fly by. It was a tiring but satisfying day. Tomorrow is a rest day and time to do some laundry and see some sights in Andong City.
