Korean Bound

We arrived in Korea on Sunday, October 23, after about 41 hours on the ferry. We went from Tokyo to southern Japan, Kitakyushu, and then cycled about 15 km to Shimoneseki, where we caught another ferry from there to Busan, Korea. The ferry from Shimoneski was very rough, definately the roughest water I've ever been in. It was full of Korean toursits running to the bathroom to get sick. Luckily, thanks to a little dramamine, I didn't get sick.

In Busan we spent a day seeing some sights that we hadn't taken the time to see before. We weren't quite ready to cycle in Korea, and we had a lot of time before our flight out of Seoul, so we decided to stay an extra day. We made a day of sightseeing and hiked to Seok-Si, and temple that is hard to find, tough to get to, but well worth the visit. After climbing a peak, and walking around the mountain, passing many Koreans dressed to climb Everest, some little resturants on the other side of the mountain, we finally arrived at the Seok-Si Temple. A quiet temple outside of the second largest city in Korea, nestled in the mountains. It was breathtaking. The temple had large Buddha carving and the temple itself was set inside the rocks. Totally worth the visit.

We cycled out of Busan and decided to stop in Gyeongju, a tourist city, before taking a bus to Seoul. We had a lot of time, and have already over spent out budget, so we decided to do a night at Golgulsa, a temple which is also the headquarters of Sunmudo, a zen martial art. The templestay proved to be one of the highlights of our entire trip.

We arrived at Golgulsa at around 2:00 p.m., enough time to change into our monk wear, put our stuff in our separated rooms and head to our first session - archery. Archery is used as a form of meditation at the temple, and they were kind enough to give us a little lesson. Martin proved to be the star, and hit the bullseye a couple of times, I think he lost his calling. After archery we were to do "Community Work" however, the Head Monk was out of town, so we were let off easily. Dinner time was at 6:00 p.m. and the meal was fantastic! Monks are vegan, but, in Korea, they do like their pepper paste, which is very spicy. We then were off to Sunmundo training where we learned some kicks, stretches and a few yoga-like poses. We were in bed early since we had to wake up at 4:00 a.m. for our morning chants.

Day 2- Woke up with no issues, partly because if you were late, you had to do 1,000 bows, which is Not easy. The chants lasted 1/2 hour, and I tried to keep up, but giving that it is in a different language, I quickly gave up and just listened and bowed when i needed to. We then did a 1/2 hour of meditation. I thought this would be hard, but it was agonizing for me, partly because we had to sit in lotus position, which is crossing your legs and having one foot on top, ouch! Then we went into walking meditation. Both Martin and I agreed that we do much better at walking meditation. Martin is convinced that his climbing is a form of meditation, and talked about opening a temple of his own. ;) 6:30 a.m. was breakfast, again, delicious! After breakfast we had a bit of a rest before going into 108 bows. My knees really started getting raw after the first 50!

Overall, the templestay was a wonderful experience and I recommend it to anyone going to that part of the world. Yes, it was a tourist attraction, but we were able to get an idea of what life is like in a temple. I'm happy I'm not a  monk. ;)

Back to Korea, in Photos

off the boat in Kitekyushu, Japan. About to cycle under the water to Shimoneski and get on yet another ferry to Korea.

Martin had his Fugu, or pufferfish in Shimonoseki. Everyone said it was soooo good, we were disappointed.

Seok-Si temple. These sculptures were all over, and impressive. I was exhausted from the hike, obviously.

Martin in his "Monk wear" at Golgulsa temple, posing as a Sunmundo Master.



At Gulgulsa Temple, rubbing the Buddha for good luck. Do I look enlightened yet? 






From the top of Japan to the largest city

Well we did it. We climbed Mt. Fuji.






Martin at the top.

We had to wait in Fuji City for 4 days for the bus to go up to the 5th Station on the mountain. Actually, it was a welcomed rest to many days of biking and camping. We were lucky enough to find the one and only hotel room available, which was also the smallest hotel room I`ve ever stayed in. We decided to stay there for one night, and camp two other nights at a real campground (our first in Japan).   The day before we headed up the mountain, it rained, it poured. We were hoping to climb Fuji on Saturday, but had to wait the weather out.

  



Mt. Fuji on a perfect, yet windy day.



Finally we arrived at 5th station on Sunday morning at around 11:00 a.m. 5th Station is at 9,00 ft. It was windy, very windy. Hiking up we had thought we were going to eventually get out of the wind, but nope. The wind stayed strong. We made it to the cone of the volcanoe. Now the wind was stronger, and erratic. It felt like it was giong to lift me off the ground. It probably didn`t help that we were also at 13,000 feet either. The true summit was just about 70 or so more feet. I couldn`t do it, the wind was just too much. Martin made it to the top, with a little bit of strugglee and cold hands. The hike itself was easy and it was the first time I`ve ever been as high as 13,000 feet. I was concerned how I`d react to elevation, but it turns out I only had a small headache.

The next day, after spending a night in a warm comfortable hotel room, we headed out of Fuji City. We had about enough of that city, and wanted to get back on our bikes. Somehow we actually missed cycling! As soon as we started out of the city, things weren`t going our way. We had planned to head towards Tokyo and be there within the next two days. The only issue was that we may have had to go over a large mountain pass and we wanted to avoid that and stay on the coast as long as we could and avoid any mountain passes. Martin had a route planned out, but as soon as we started the route we had planned called for no bicycles. Then we had plan B and plan B failed, with our only option was to turn around and go over a 1,500 ft pass on our loaded bicycles. We camped in what we thought was a quiet area, but it turned out we were right next to a construction zone, of which was an all night ordeal.

We woke up early the next morning, with sights on the mountain pass that we had to bike over. The road over the mountains was actually really nice. We had the road to ourselves, and it was nice to be away from all the people and factories. The only noise we heard was the Japanese Military training in the distance, every once in a while, BOOM! Otherwise, it was one of the best roads we`ve cycled on so far.

After our very quick ride down and out of the moutains we were faced with 70km more to Tokyo, and we had already done 30km in the mountains. The wind wasn`t helping either. But, after 108km of cycling,  we made it to Tokyo at around 5:30 p.m. and found our hostel with no problems at all. The city wasn`t a headache to drive through at all, and it is actually very orderly. It reminds me of New York City, but polite, orderly and clean. Also Tokyo is pretty bike friendly. Of course, you always take a chance when cycling the streets of any city, but people are very polite and patient.

Today we spent the day visiting some sites in Tokyo and we finally made it to a Ramen Shop. I am disappointed that we didn`t try it earlier. It was by far the best noodles I`ve ever had. Tomorrow we plan on waking up early and heading out to the fish market. We leave Tokyo tomorrow night by ferry and we will arrive in Kitakyushu, which is southern Japan. That ferry is 34 hours long, so we have a lot of time to rest our legs, and catch up on some reading. From there we will try and catch another ferry to Busan, Seoul. We will most likely be there with in the next 4 days.

From my perspective

I was testing out the video on my camera, when we did the bridge to bridge ride in southern Japan. This gives you an idea of what my view is most of the time.

Drying off in Kyoto

We made it to Kyoto in the pouring rain. It was only 34km away from Nara, but it felt like a long ride. We arrived at the hostel soaked and had to wait for another hour to "check in". We did not have much time yesterday to sight see, so we decided to take a break and stay two nights. We first went to Gion Corner, last night, where we had a crash course in Japanese Theatre. It was good to see the Geisha dance, a traditional puppet show called bunraku, and some traditional Japanese music, but it was all too much to process.

Today we visited various temples, gardens, historical streets and shrines. A couple highlights were attending some sort of buddhist ceremony and an evening of Kabuki theater.

view of Kyoto behind me at one of the temples

streets of the Gion District

This is actually from Nara- Largest enclosed Buddah statue in the world.

another temple with traditionally dressed women.

From Bridge to Bridge, to Ferry!

On Sunday, October 2nd we headed for Onomichi, which is where we started our cycle tour of the islands. Onomichi is famous for a temple walk.  It was a short walk through the windy streets of the city, from temple to temple. We were lucky enough to catch a traditional Japanese wedding. I was reminded of my sisters wedding, when a bus load of Japanese tourists took photographs, so I didn:t feel guilty sneaking a couple of shots. Onomichi is also the start of the Shimanami Kaido cycle tour - which is a 70 km tour from small island to small island, ending in Shikuoku, a large island south of Osaka. The tour takes you on 7 or so bridges that offer brilliant views, especially on a clear day. That night we stayed in a guesthouse on Ikuchinjima Island, which had the best onsen yet, with views of the ocean. 

Have I mentioned the ferry system in Japan? It is more like a cruise ship then a ferry. We took an overnight ferry from Shikuoku to Osaka last night . The ferry lasted about 9 1/2 hours, but arrived at 0600 in Osaka, so we slept the whole time.　These ferry`s are nothing like Alaska State Ferry system, and I thought those were nice - the Japan ferry`s have hot tubs in them, and this last one even has a cold tub and sauna. Lets just say that it is totally worth it to take the ferry`s in Japan.　We are also pretty limited on what public transportation we can use being that we have bikes - we can`t take the trains, which is a bummer because those bullet trains look fun, and we can`t take a bus.

Today we made it to Nara. We are always surprised to see how many kilometers we`ve wracked up. 80km doesn`t feel as tough as it did in the beginning. We are also noticing how much we`ve been eating - seems like most of our money is going to food- yet, I`m always hungry!! Tomorrow we plan to cycle to Kyoto, which is an easy 47km away!

Martin with one of the many bridges that we cycled over.

one of the islands, great views, and great bike lanes!

When he looks at the map, I take self photos, I`m a big help.

Osaka Castle, and the most beautiful castle we`ve seen so far.

5 story pagoda in Nara.

Largest wooden building in the world, in Nara.

deer roaming in Nara, and I am fascinated!

I can`t fix this photo, but I had to share - Sake in a sippy cup. Not the best.

Photo updates!

Hsukushima　shrine, an UNESCO world heritage site.

the  deer on Miyajima island were like cats, you could pet them.

the A -Bomb dome.



one of many shrines in Japan



third class passengers on the ferry from jeju island to busan.

buddist temple in korea.

iwakuni bridge in japan. I am showing off dirt from the days events by bike!

this is for Laurie - coke in korean.