17 – 22 May 2025 | Courses 63-64/76-79/Branch course64/1-4 (Seosan)
Previous —> Day 46 – 50 (Gimje to Boryeong)
We spend a good six days in Seosan and it’s nice to be able to unpack your things and not have to change accommodation each day. We manage to knock out 10 courses and still have a free day leftover!
Day 51: Saturday 17 May. Today we are hiking fully loaded, something we haven’t done since Mokpo 🎒 The courses we have planned sit between different cities and bus regions so it was easier to bring our packs with us. We start by catching the train from Daecheon to Hongseong before connecting to a local bus to our courses. There are few touristy areas along the trail including Hongseong Sky Tower, an Observatory and Ganwoldo Island 🏝️ There are a lot of locals collecting clams along the coast as we approach Ganwoldo. It is forecast to rain again today but luckily it holds out for most of the day until we get off the bus and are our way to the hotel. It’s a quick 10km along courses 63 & 64 before we stop at a cool unmanned bike-themed cafe 🏍️ Korea has a lot of unmanned self-service businesses that work based on the honesty system. I couldn’t imagine having these in Australia (unfortunately). The bus departs about 10 seconds before we get the bus stop so we have to wait two hours for then next one! (we very much look forward to not having to rely on rural buses). The bus eventually gets us to Seosan and we check into our hotel for the next week. It has a cool garden terrace where you can hang out, play pool and watch TV and movies on the big screen so we throw on the baseball ⚾️
Day 52: Sunday 18 May. The series of trails we are doing has 6 branch courses that veer off from official course no 64, so today we plan to do the first two of them. First course is all bike path along the main roads, probably more of a transitional route. The second course turns off onto trails up the mountains ⛰️ We were planning to stop by a nice cafe near the entrance but Naver maps has once again betrayed us with opening hours and the cafe is closed. We make the rookie error of not bringing enough snacks for the road as there were no other food places the entire course. We hike up Mount Dobbysan, although the official trail doesn’t take us to the peak, and back down through farmland 🌱 It’s a bit of a mission finding a bus stop that would take us back to Seosan town – we end up walking an extra 4km for a total of 19km for day, and as luck would have it, there just happened to be a cafe at the bus stop ☕️ We catch the bus back and pick up a few things from 7-11 for a late lunch. Later we head the big Lotte Mart to stock up for the week and head to a little hamburger pocha for dinner. Have a lovely chat with the lady while she makes our burger and toast for us! 🍔
Day 53: Monday 19 May. Today we complete 16.6km along courses 75,76,77. We have to transfer buses via Taean which will be the next town we stop into this weekend. Still passing through lots of farmland and seawalls 🚜 It’s very windy which causes Cheye’s cap to blow off over one of the seawalls and unfortunately it’s too high and steep to climb down to retrieve 😭 We say farewell to it and buy another one from Daiso later that night. Pass by lots of animals including chickens, geese, goats and far too many barking dogs, many of them off their leads meaning we have to divert the course a few times, including through an abandoned worksite with more barking dogs 🐕 Political campaigns are fierce and we see posters at even the most remote bus shelters. Back in town we treated ourselves to a special Baekban meal featuring Gulbi, stone bowl rice and various stews. So good!
Day 54: Tuesday 20 May. A shorter hike today as we’re both feeling it a bit and it’s super humid today 😓 We complete another two branch courses along 64-3 & 4 for a total of 12.5km. The end of course 64-3 is quite pretty along the rivers and mountains while 64-4 is more farmland. We pass through a tunnel and under a giant bridge, witnessing lots of rice being harvested 🌾 We have a brief chat to a cool Ahjusshi on his motorbike trying to pass the big rice tractor blocking the path. Finish up at the local Shinsung University (신성대학교) where we catch the bus back to Seosan and wander the local markets for some street food – hotteok, sikhye and kimbap 🍢 Dinner is 백반 baekban (again) and 된장찌개 soy bean paste stew (again). We comment during dinner why would you ever cook at home when you can have food this good every night for so cheap!
Day 55: Wednesday 21 May. We’re in Seosan for another two days but today is our last day of hiking official trail courses. Today we manage to knock our three (78,79,80) over 17.3km which takes us north past village roads, through Daesan, Samgilpo Port and towards Dobido Island 🏝️ There is one point that takes us around the coastal beach path, with a sign telling us to take an alternative route during high tide which just happens to be the exact time we are hiking (10:24am)! But we risked it and the tide is still fairly low. Along the way we stop by a newly opened bakery cafe called Butter & Bread 🥐 Don’t have to wait too long for the bus back which we are grateful for as there are some days we wait up to two hours for a local bus. Dinner is Japanese at Tendon Boss. We’ve had some good tendon in our time and this is right up there! 🍤
Day 56: Thursday 22 May. Gayasan / 가야산. Our final day in Seosan and we have a free day as we’ve finished all the Seohaerang Gil courses around the area. We plan to climb Gayasan Mountain, which sits at 650m alt ⛰️ There are a few mishaps with the local buses but we eventually get there, although it’s overcast and drizzly. The forecast says it will clear up but it doesn’t until the late afternoon. The first part of the trail is lovely, hiking through the forest in the cool but slightly humid conditions 🌲 However we make the final turn which turns into a lot of bushbashing and, for fear of injuring ourselves or getting completely lost, we decide to call it and turn around. By then we are about 350m up so still have far bit to climb. Luckily the buses are fairly regular (hourly) and we make it back to town by lunchtime 🚍 We get some market food before heading back to the hotel to pack our things up. Tomorrow we travel to the town of Taean which isn’t to far to the West. We head to the hamburger pocha for dinner, then stroll through the local park where we see the local choir performing 🎵 The other side of the park feels more vibrant than where we have been staying and seems to be where all the young kids hang. We visit Sulbing for dessert as it has been ages since we last had bingsu…probably not since our last trip to Korea! 🍧
eat bike fly 
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