Donghae to Gangneung

South Korea | 2024

Donghae to Gangneung

Korean adventure Day 10 (56km, 500m)

South Korea | 2024

55km and almost 500m of climbing. But what a day!! It felt great to be back on the bikes after our day of leisure. I had a renewed sense of ‘get-to-it-ness’ and an extra store of energy. Time to hit the road!

We started in the rain, but soon started chasing those blue skies and running away from those dreary dark clouds.

South Korea | 2024

We had a couple of cultural stops:

1. The Sun-Cruise Hotel in Jeongdongjin which was so unique. Some rich guy had a vision and made it happen. Two cruise ships built on land, turned into a hotel. The grounds surrounding it were filled with art and boardwalks and koi ponds and beauty. It was a neat change from everything else we’d seen up to this point and absolutely a must see if you’re ever in the area.

South Korea | 2024

South Korea | 2024

2. The Deungmyeong Nakgasa Temple where we were able to fill our bottles with actual healing water. There were many statues of different Buddhas surrounding a gorgeous temple. It is a very popular temple for all Koreans and many drive for hours to get here simply to fill their water jugs with the magic water. I don’t know if it did anything for me and my knee, but I absolutely had to fill up my bottle – just in case!

South Korea | 2024

The countryside is littered with hundreds of the persimmon trees and we were treated to the most delicious and juicy persimmons along the way.

South Korea | 2024

We were very polite and only took the ones that had already fallen from the tree; we did not want to be accused of stealing. Wow. They were amazing. We would tear off any bruised/not edible/mouldy sections and then dive in. The juices poured down our chins and arms and we didn’t care. Living in Canada, this was likely going to be the only time for us to have this kind of experience. 100% worth it. You just can’t get them tasting like this from our grocery stores.

We ended our day as we pulled up to our traditional Hanok for the night. Once we got settled in, it was time to go out for yet another different and local dinner. It was a traditional feast that was served to the emperors and other royals that would have stayed in hanoks like this.

South Korea | 2024

Korea is known for their perfect skin and beauty regimens so us ladies decided to spend an evening doing some self-care We got together and had a wine and facial night. Our days are long and we are usually too tired after biking and dinner to do anything but crash so this was a big deal. Yet another true Korean experience.

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