Seohaerang Gil | Day 63 – 65

29 – 31 May 2025 | Courses 100 – 103 (Incheon)

The final few days of our hiking travels! We make our way back up north towards the Incheon area and tackle the last six courses to complete the entire 109 courses of the Seohaerang Gil.

Day 63: Thursday 29 May. We make a later start today as our schedule is a bit more relaxed despite having to travel towards Seoul 🚍 We catch the intercity bus from Dangjin to Seoul City Bus Terminal followed by the express bus to Gurae, which is considered a small town in Seoul but seems massive after all the rural towns we have been staying in. We go to drop our bags off at the motel and they not only let us check in early but upgrade us to a deluxe room 🏨 It’s hot outside so we grab some drinks from the coffee shop (which there are hundreds of now) and get the bus to our courses for the day. We pick up where we left off when we first started hiking two months ago back to course 98. There are some big climbs today so we bring along the hiking poles ⛰️ Course 98 is lovely with lots of rolling hills, a few big climbs that get our heart pumping with great views plus some steep downhill. Course 99 was rolling hill trails that turned into actual roads. We are so close to Gurae at the end of the course that we walk back to our motel to complete 11km for the day 🥾 Dinner is a cheap and cheerful Korean place and we wander the big city before heading to Sulbing for one of the best Bingsu desserts we’ve had in a while.

Day 64: Friday 30 May. The weather is lovely today (a bit hot even!) and we catch a local bus from Gurae to Ganghwa Island where we will stay the next two nights and complete the final four courses of the Seohaerang Gil 🚌 Today we plan to hike 13km along courses 100 & 101. We drop our bags off at our motel and get another bus to course 101, working backwards today. The trail is a bit hilly, but mostly shaded which is nice 🌲 Along the way we meet Yoonho, a Korean man who lived in Sydney for 10 years. He tells us his name sounds like ‘You know?!’ in his best Aussie accent, which we think is hilarious 🇦🇺 Saw two snakes along the course! Course 100 starts with trail but finishes along the road towards Gilsang. We finish up at Woot Woot Bakery Cafe where we get the best coffee and olive cheese bread ☕️ It was nice to not have bus anxiety as the local buses now come frequently and can be tracked on the map apps like Naver. We plan to go to a noodle place for dinner but turns out it has closed down so we go to a meat restaurant nearby and confuse the staff by ordering two vegetarian dishes 😂 Our final day of hiking tomorrow!

Day 65: Saturday 31 May. Our final hiking day! 🌲 After 65 days we are off to complete the final courses along the Seohaerang Gil, 102 & 103 all the way to the DMZ. Yesterday got a bit hot so we set of a bit earlier and catch the local bus to course 102 ☀️ It’s a quick 6km along the coast and we have a quick chat with a another hiker at 망월돈대및장성 (Mangwol Dondae Watchtower) who has finished the entire Haeparang Gil course along the East coast, which we have also completed except by bicycle 🚲 As we head north the barbed wire gets quite serious until we veer away from the coast. The start of course 103 sits near 창후어시장 (Changhu Fish Market). The course starts along the highway but eventually makes its way up a trail on 성덕산 Seongdeok Mountain to an elevation of 215m ⛰️ It’s a steep climb up but a gradual decent. We get some nice views of the city and also the DMZ. We catch the bus back to Ganghwa town and it’s surreal to see views of North Korea just outside the window 🚍 We drop by a few food places (Kimbap, German bakery and 튀김) and grab some Korean toast for dinner. We both love street toast but when we can’t find it, Isaac Toast are the next best thing 🥪 We also celebrate with a giant bingsu at Sulbing. Tomorrow we head back to Seoul to recovery and take a break from the hiking. We plan to continue the Korea Dulle courses next year! 🇰🇷