Seohaerang Gil | Day 37 – 39

3 – 5 May 2025 | Courses 35-40 (Yeonggwang)

Due to Golden Week falling between 1-6 May there was no accommodation available in Yeonggwang as people from the big cities general visit the smaller towns during this time. We had planned to visit Gwangju until rooms became available again but it was lucky we checked hotels the night before and noticed a few had become available so we made a change of plans and decided to visit Yeonggwang after all. Turns out the unavailability was due to a big Taekwondo tournament going on in town!

We figured out the local buses quite quickly and came to ‘trust the board’ (and not Google or Naver maps) when it came to bus timetables.

Most small shops were closed over the weekend but there were still few things open.

Day 37: Saturday 3 May. It’s currently Golden Week in South Korea which means many places are booked out, particularly the smaller towns 🇰🇷 We are lucky to get accommodation in Yeonggwang as it was originally all booked out until we checked again the night before! Today we catch the bus from Muan and did 16.1km along courses 39 & 40 🌧️ The morning starts with rain but ends with sunshine and it is a really enjoyable day of hiking. We hit a few tourist areas and pass a lot of other hikers along the way. The area specialises in 굴비 / Gulbi, which is a salted, dried fish 🐟 The coastal trail is really pretty and we come across the Birthplace of Baekje Buddhism. We finish at a little cafe before getting the bus back to town for a Chinese Korean dinner 🥘

Day 38: Sunday 4 May. The weather today is clear and sunny so we do 16.7km of coastal hiking ☀️ The start point for our out-and-back for course 35 is at 향화도항 / Hyanghwa Port. There is a big tower and shops drying and selling Gulbi 🐟 The scenery is all mudflats and there is a big bridge in the distance that leads to Haeje. When we get back to the start point we pick up some 붕어빵 / bungeoppang, a red bean filled fish shaped bread and common street food in Korea 🇰🇷 Course 36 is more coastal views and some farmland with no elevation so it’s a pretty cruisy day. Back in town we visit the fish market and find a cute bakery. One of the great things about being an adult is you can have dessert whenever you like so we go to Dessert 39 for dinner 🍽️

Day 39: Monday 5 May. The forecast is rain today but not until the afternoon so we set off on our hike as normal 🌧️ We complete courses 37 and 38, which officially takes us over the halfway mark having completed 56 out of 110 courses. Today’s courses have lots of wind turbines, solar panels and salt harvesting. At first they are quite fascinating but after several hours of weaving back and forth amongst the same sights it becomes a bit repetitive, so we are quite happy once we finish the 16km 🥾 We arrive back in Yeonggwang for a late-ish lunch but as always all the food places are closed for ‘break time’ which is normally between 2-5pm. So we buy a few things from the bakery chain Paris Baguette which is average but reliable 🥐 For dinner we go to restaurant 그집밥상 (That House’s Dinner Table) for Gulbi Baekban and soft tofu stew, both awesome!