At the feet of Bhudda

 morning prayers

Last night I slept under the stars again, this time part way up a volcano on the south west coast of Jeju; where a bhuddist temple is located. I was passing by after dark, and couldn't resist stopping, thank God. I wandered up where a bunch of people wearing strange yellow hats and organising flowers were; turns out the next morning was some sort of special event; but either way, I wandered up and let curiousity get the best of me, so I headed all the way to the temple at the top. This temple turned out the be a natural cave formation in this lava dome, with a sweeping archway stretching itself toward the heavens, and a likeness of Bhudda was placed atop a set of stairs lined with tallow candles and lotus casts. It was breathtaking; and my camera battery was dead, so I headed down the volcano, grabbed a fresh battery and headed back up again to capture this beatiful place as best I could. I was completely absorbed in the atmosphere; of the majesty that surrounded me, and the peaceful solitute of the night, and watching the fishing trolleys off at sea; I was definitely staying here the night.

So I camped out, and had a realy good sleep, waking only twice - once to do my best to be avoid being chewed on by a hungry mosquito, and again at about 4:15am to the beatin of temple drums and the gonging of ...well a big, loud gong. Thankfully that lasted no longer than about 15mins, and stayed asleep until I awoke for the sunrise just after 6am, when I hoofed it one final time up the volcano. I was so glad I had gone the previous night, there was now a cleaning lady taking away all the offerings that had been left the previous day, as well as the keen bean early bird prayer warriors, but the majesty of the night and stars glimmering off the cave walls was a bit dimmer in the sunlight. I came back down for another breakfast of champions (this time I was out of crackers), and watched the early morning event that was on, and then watched get torn down what I had seen put up the preceeding evening.

inside the temple at night

                                               inside the temple                                  the mops next to where i slept

Sleeping in a playground

Secretly, I've always wanted to sleep in a playground, especially after seeing this Japanese movie a few years ago where a homeless highschool student sleeps most nights in a slide that looks like a poo.

Ha. Ok, small dream, but whatever. So I slept in a slide last night.It wasn't the most comfortable sleep I've ever had, but better than last night with mr.creeper and waking up every hour just to make sure I was still alone. I woke up every few hours, either to adjust or

because the outside elements had changed - I was a little worried it would rain again, since it had poured a lot the previous day, but instead it was just really windy. I much preffered waking up to the AMAZINGLY clear stars, than a strange old man trying to get into bed

with me. The sunrise this morning was a beautiful purple haze (I'm on the west coast of the island), with gradient shades of clear blues painted across the sky in pastel hues, and an orange burnin sun rising over the volcano in the middle of the island. I ate my champion breakfast of canned tuna and crackers by the sea and black lava rocks that trace the outline of the island. This place is a beautiful dream.

Sleeping under a pagoda

Last night, I had three sleeping plans.

#1: Get taken in by someone

#2: Sleep by the beach under a pagoda

#3: Sleep at a plaground I had passed.

It was raining and due to rain more last night, and as I'm traveling sans tent, I wanted to be somewhere with good coverage, and since noone had taken me in yet (I did a bunch of messaging on couch surfing), I found a pagoda by the beach to crash out under, and had my things all set up for the night, and was just waiting for a few people to head off before crawling back under to sleep for the night. I was being a little more cautious than normal since I was literally surrounded at aft and fro with 'no camping' signs, so I was hoping the
last two stragglers staring off to the sea would hurry up and head for their respective homes.Then one holding a large heavy duty flashlight started heading straight for me, and at first. I thought I was totally busted. Turns out I was, but instead of telling me off, he said a girl would die of cold out here alone and to come stay at his house, which was just  across the parking lot behind the pagoda. I happily packed up and headed after him, bike in tow which got parked outside his side window. Meanwhile we we went inside and watched tv in his room and talked a bit; he just tapping my shoulder every minute or two to get my attention to talk again. This was a really small little place - two rooms and a bathroom and that's it (mind you that's still bigger than the average Tokyo apartment), so we're hanging out talking on his bed.
 

Then he tries to tell me to be more comfortable and lay down; even to the point where he pushed me down, but I just sat back up and said I was happy like that. I went in the other room and set my bed up on the floor, and ten came bck into his room to keep watching the movie, but apparently forgot to flick off my light switch, so he got up and turned that off, and his as well. He was laying down sideways on the bed, and when I readjusted my legs, he tried to tell me again to lay down and share a pillow with him. At this point, nothing seemed too sketchy - he's like a 60year old man who seems to just be typically Korean in the way that the older generations are a bit overbearing with kindness and looking after the younger ones, but I still only hung out for about 30mins before saying i was tired and going to bed at 10:30.

A few hours later, I wake up to him in my room in the dark trying to get into my floor bed with me, tryin to get up on my business. HELL NO. I just told him '안대!' a whole bunch in Korean, which translates to 'no permission', or 'do not do'. Ew. I set my alarm and got up just after 6 and gapped out of there without having done anything but hastily pack my bag and saying goodbye. The irony is that this old pervert had been telling me how there are a lot o unsavory characters on Jeju island and to be careful. Little did I know I would have to  exercise this advice in his own house, just 2 hours later.
Good job, buddy.

Island fever

I'm on Jeju Island. I can tell I'll like it already. I've got a small budget for my stay, so the longer that money can last, the longer I can stay. I slept 12hrs straight last night - crashed at a love motel with 2 friends who left this morning because of school and work commitments, an I literally stayed until the last mintute for check out time at noon because I slept until after 11am.

Now, I've just got to find somewhere to sleep - hopefully for free. I met a cool dude yesterday on the boat ride who rode his scooter from Seoul to Mokpo and saw me at the Jjim jil bang we slept at. Fun! The boat ride got pretty rough towards the end, and I with my land legs and not sea legs wasn't doing so well, so he got me some medicine. The kindness of Koreans always blows me away. He's camping and roughing it as well, so I might see what he's up to while he's on the island.

Also, some people told me about the laca tubes here - since Jeju is a volcanic island; there's apparently hollow lava tubes and cool caves to check out! I'm a bit in love with caves, so I've got to try and find where these are.

Today kicked my ass

Today was intense. I had trouble waking up this morning - I had kind of an uneasy sleep since the other older gentleman in the place was in control of the TV remote (men the world around apparently enjoy this small pleasure in life), and I guess he's a little hard of hearing. I lucked out in a big way though; since there was no one really there, all the sauna rooms weren't operating, so I claimed one all to myself, dragged in two bed mats and shut the door in complete bliss. I could still hear him, but for the most part he was drowned out. Same went for this morning when it was s t i l l going at 9am, so I put in my headphones and kind of just laid there lethargically until close to 11am. I had a breakfast of champions (bought a small milk and alternated spoonfulls of dry cereal and swigs of milk, and a not so tasty can of peach slices.

After strapping my bag down to my bike (have I mentioned I dislike this part of my trip the most?), I hit the road with a bit of a dreamers goal to be in Mokpo by days end, and 100kms later, I made it there. Mind you, there was some stopping, climbing, photo taking, and curious motorists stopping to have a chat, or people yelling "Fighting!" out there car windows, or sometimes just a thumbs up and a "Number 1!" yelled as they were passing by. One of my small victories in life yesterday, was that the tractor behind me could not catch me for the few exits he was on the road for. Booyah. You take what you can get. haha.

The last 20kms into Mokpo was so intense. It was through a hilly range to get to the coastline, and it was a struggle after two such big days, but I made it through. I stopped on the last apex  before my final decent to get some water at a resturant, and ended up having a conversation with the older family sitting around the table, and was even fed for free!

I head out just as the sun was setting, and by the time I got down into the valley, the darkness was quickly setting in, and I managed to blow not one, but TWO tires. I haven't ever blown a tire in the whole time I've had this bike (for a few years), and have even hardly had a flat, so this was a bit of a bummer, but a really awesome biker who happened to be passing right then helped me out to make it go faster. Thank God, because I was really worn out by this point. He ended up showing me where I could sleep that night, and since my front tire was ruined , he said he would bring me a spare in the morning since 700c's are hard to come by here in Korea. So true to his word, he came by at 11am the next day and gave me his repair tire, and then even offered to bike me to the ship where I was going to head to Jeju Island. So off we went, and he showed me around Mokpo, which the shoreline of is completely beautiful - slightly milky blue-green water with old sail boats and fishing boats moored and gently lulling back and forth.

After finding the ship, and getting a ticket, this awesome boy had run off to go get some food for us - I realised later how smart that was, since I was about to get on a boat for 4 hours and hadn't even thought about food. So we ate, said a quick goodbye, and off my boat went!

87.5kms

Today was a big day. I'm in a town called Gocheok, and I biked my ass off to get here. I did it in 6hrs, and pulled into my destination just as the skies had gone from a hazy purple to a burning deep red as the sun withdrew itself away, chasing the next day down behind the mountains. It was beautiful.
Tonight I'm sleeping it a Jim jil bang again - the public bath/ sauna places. You actually can't beat it; it's ₩7,000, which is equal to $6.20 Canadian dollars. So I had a shower, swam in a small lap pool, sat in the jacuzzi for a bit as a treat to my weary muscles, and got a fresh set of clothes and towels for my stay. There's also a common area with the hot/cold/oxygen rooms and a gym.
As forthe last time I wrote, at around 11pm, I found a couch to crash on, and was totally sweet and lucky to be there, because it ended up raining that night and into the next day. I ha one night sleeping out in the rain, and I did not need another just yet. Fingers crossed the weather holds out- forecasts say it's due to be good utility Sunday, but I'm hoping for clear skies for at least another week, unless I can find somewhere free and good to hole up.

I'm soooo beat.

Like Willie Nelson - on the road again

After getting back to Korea a few days ago, I gave myself just enough time to sort some things out, do some work on my bike and have a few nights out and a few sleep-ins before heading back off. I'm pretty excited; as usual. I'm not as nervous about biking alone like I was the first time; that whole fear of the unknown thing kind of eliminated, and now all that's left is the burn to get back on to the road. I'll probably chill for a day or two in the next town before truly heading out, since I made some friends when I last wrapped up the first half when the summer sun started to to really beat into me, and made biking in the majority of daylight hours unfathomable. Even the nights burned a fever, but thankfully now the worst is over, while still warm enough to sleep outside when needed.

Packing is always a little tough. I've got two t-shirts, one skirt and one pair of shorts (all this includes what I'm wearing), some food like crackers mixed nuts, tuna and canned peaches; all with pull tabs for easy access, and I've also got some Korean cookies my friend gave me for the trip last night, and a whole bunch of Cliff bars for when I need a snack. Also in is my three cameras and three lenses. And the film or other accoutrements needed for each. I can't seem to leave any of them behind, since they all suit different moments, or capture the same thing in such a different way.

I also obviously brought bike tools, spare tubes, a compact pump, patch kit etc etc as well as my Bulgarian sleeping bag and tarp. I also got loaned a camel back (a water backpack) which I honestly adore having with me on these trips. I slapped a blue Knog logo on my helmeINSince they're being so ridiculously awesome and supporting this adventure of mine, so I'm all set! As I walked out of the house, I realized I forgot my camera tripod and my waterproof shoe covers but it was too late to turn around or I'd miss the last bus out of town, so hopefully I dont regret that. Plastic bags can make do as shoe covers, but will I regret the lack of tripod? I hope not..

Oh, did I mention it's major holiday here in Korea this week? It's called Chusok, and means everyone floods to their hometowns so the transport systems are completely innundated with thick swarms of people. Hopefully biking on the roads won't be trecherous because of this, but my main worry is that when I want to catch a boat to Jeju Island, the boats might be booked out, so I'm just gunna wing it and see what flies my way.

More of Japan

 In the heart of one of the busiest suburbs of Tokyo, this guy has
probably been people watching for his whole life.

So back to my Japanese escapades, I had a great time there. Obviously, I took a million photos and am still going through them. I need a new computer ... this one is 4 years old, which is eons in computer years, and it takes forever to go through them. Overall at this point though, I'm happy with what I seem to have captured.

My overall impression of Japan was completely wild. I dont think I mentioned before, but the guy who I was traveling with (Ralph - you can see a video of him below), had a Japanese neighbour back in his hometown in New Zealand, and she pretty much pulled all the stops to make it an amazing experience for him, and I was lucky enough to get to partake in the festivities as well. She even did up an itinerary for us for how to best use our rail passes and see the best of what Japan has to offer. What a freakin gangster! We mostly stuck to it, actually, but once the nights ran out of places to stay for free, we skipped off the itinerary completely (in all actuality; we missed our train stop on the express train and spurr of the moment decided to just go with it and stay on the train! Luckily, I have a friend who just happens to be living out in the boondocks a few hours from the North coast of Honshū (the main island mass), so we went out to his REALLY small neck of the woods and had a great time out there at his local haunt and corner karaoke booth. Gotta say though, kid had a ballin house for living alone. You'd never see such a thing in any of the cities.

c'mon, how can you not love this?!

One of the things I loved most about Japan was ..shoot me.. but the bikes. They were EVERYWHERE and a lot of them; as hipster as they may seem; were freakin HOT. They pay through the nose to look that styley, but apparently since the economic downfall, biking has become an even more popular mode of transportation and recreational exercise, hence the being willing to dole out fat wads of cash on your sweet ride. 

 In the clear and in line for Space Mountain!

In the meantime, I'll finally mention one of the things we did that I was so stoked about. This is actually my favourite one, and one of the craziest things I think  I've ever really gotten away with completely in the clear.

We snuck into Tokyo Disney. I won't go into a whole lot of detail, just incase  it might somehow get me in trouble one day, but lets just say some climbing, sneaking, jumping, running, and ninja moves were involved. I actually think we lucked out that it was heavily raining at the time were were doing the actual sneaking; plus the park was really not full. The one bummer was that the Haunted Mansion was closed that day, and opened literally the following day for the Halloween period! Dangit! But WHAT AN AWESOME DAY. We ran around like kids who forgot to take their prozac medication that day, and ran from ride to ride and even rode Space Mountain something like 6 times in a row right as the park was about to shut. Glorious, glorious monumental marker in my life, for sure.

Back to the bike

 

My ride 

So the plan is to begin my ride again tomorrow (if I can get ready in time), or Saturday. I'll try and do a bit more about Japan soon too - there were some amazing things that went down that I left off because they deserved their own sections. I have done some awesome stuff in the past, but one of the things we did was possibly one of my greatest feats of all time. 

In the meantime, I have a new cycling sponsor; the company Knog (knog.com.au), has decided to get behind me as I pedal around the west coast of Korea. I'm also planning to do a bike trip in the middle east starting April of next year. If all goes as planned, I'll be a part of a women's bike ride through the region to raise both awareness and funds for the area, and promote biking for women in areas where they are usually not permitted to do so after they hit puberty. 

Booyah!

Adrift

I'm currently out to sea; staring at the amazing stars and constellations peeping through the big fluffy cumulous clouds that litter the midnight sky. I'm the only one at the bow of the boat, and it's been that way for a few hours; which I completely love. I am even thinking of getting into boat hitchhiking or working on a boat sometime.

We're about 3 hours into our 14hr journey - lots of travel today for me. I was up on an express train this morning at about 10am and going for aost 6 hrs zipping past some of the cities I have been to since I got here two and a half weeks ago - through Tokyo, past Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and a hundred other placesbefore finally making it to Kokura and Shiminoseki to catch the boat.

This one is run by Koreans, not Japanese like my previous one to Japan. Thank God - I couldn't afford to eat a thing on the last boat, but tonight I got a banana milk ans noodles for something like $2.50. I love korea. The prices on the boat aren't even marked up from mainland store prices; that's freaking integrity. This is totally the time to rip off the unprepared; such as me who showed up bearing an orange, a bag of mixed nuts and a mini bottle of wine. Still plan on drinking the wine.

Broke in tokyo

I ran out of money two days ago.

Thank God I finally got a credit card.

Doei tashi mashdae

best travel buddy ever. I got him to do this for a freakin peice of chocolate with a macadamia in it.

I've been in Japan over two weeks now, but it feels like I've lived a few months worth of adventures since I first stepped off the boat and on to Japans terra firma. My travel buddy and I (aka Ralph, the six feet four or five dude who made me sore from laughing on a regular basis) have seriously had a good time. Luckily it worked out that way since I hardly knew the guy - we met 6 months ago when he came through the city I was living in, Vancouver, which was his first city, and then I got to hang out with him here in Tokyo all these months later in his last city. I honestly thought we had only met once, at one of those hole-in-the-wall establishments littered along Granvle street, but since figuring it all out and remembering where we met, apparently Ralph wasnt even at that place, just his other travel buddy Sophie, and we'd met at multiple other locals; one even being my own home. Whoops, my bad. I 100% put it off to the fact that I had just finished that two month Eastern European trip and had only six weeks to pack up my entire Canadian existance before moving to Korea.

After we stayed in Osaka, we went to Kyoto and the family we stayed with not only cooked up a mean feast, but they had a party as well! It was SO ridiculously fun! There was music being played and sung (one of the girls there is a singer and her friend is the guitarist), breakdancing going down in the middle of the living room, champagne bottles being continuously popped open and the vessels releived of their burdonsom liquids. From there we saw shrines, temples, and the traditional side of Japanese life, and then trained out to Hiroshima, where that very life was blown not just apart, but away, and saw the tattered remains of what was left of the lives that lived there. It was heavy, like you felt Big Boy (the name coined for the bomb dropped on Hiroshima) was sitting and staring you down with all the crushed lives and tortured final moments. The hardest part for me was reading the stories of what they went through; what people saw. Stories like mothers yelling a childs name from a bridge where naked young bodies floated by in the crowded river, or how a child with melted skin made her way home after the city was destroyed only to be in excruciating un-quellable pain until she took her last breath in her mothers arms. All the watches were frozen to 8:15, and the shadows of heat were all that was left of others. It was so interesting, the approach that Japan took; not to blame or hate, where most countries would push their side of the story, and talk about the evils of the opposing people group who brought on this attrocity; but instead they were honest about the pains they too inflicted, even having history books from other countries whom they inflicted pain and strife upon, and petitioning that somthing like this; like war; ought to never be an option ever again.