中国89 - bike all wrapped up and shipped! (Qingdao to Chizhou via train)

中国88 - MISSING GEAR ACQUIRED (Qingdao)

中国87 - one of my greatest fears followed by a ray of hope (Seoul to Qingdao)

한국84,85,86 - A Ferry Stressed Medal Recipient (Seoul to a Incheon Port)

한국83 - Operation Seoul by Christmas was a success! (Yeoju to Seoul)

I completed the Cross Country route and got my medal and certificate! The bike passport was a lot of fun, I think more places should try something similar.

 I was worried because the Ferry said booking closed at 12, I figured that was online booking, but just to be safe I left early. Not early enough! My rear brake froze (probably frome ayer in the cable housing) and it was 72km to the Ferry Terminal. I thought it would be more like 50. So I flew down the rest of the bike path!

After rushing to get my medal I had to cross a giant industrial district. It took forever. The stoplights here feel like they take 5 minutes to do a full cycle. I got to the terminal just after the ticket office went to lunch.

I was able to get a ticket though! I had to pay 50,000 won for my bike. According to the ticket office I did not need a bike box. According to the sign on the ticket office window, I did.

Bag drop was only open from 3-3:30, when I rolled up at 2:45 the guy was already in a super rush. But he was helpful. He gave me a box and tape. I had to take all of my bags off of the bike and put them in the box. Luckily I thought that might happen so I already stuffed my panniers full.

The ferry terminal is chaotic and confusing. Multiple ferries board at the same time and lines seem to be...flexible. As I write this, I am not on the ferry. Hopefully I will be soon...

OK I am now on the ferry! Hopefully my bike is too. I stuffed myself at the buffet. There are 52 people in my room! I have a little bunk bed. Luckily I'm on the lower bunk. For some reason the ferry has a little room full of tea sets. Not sure why - maybe collecting them is the captains hobby.

I'm so tired I will sleep well! 

- SEOUL REST DAYS -

I took 2 rest days in Seoul to escape the cold and celebrate Christmas. My favorite part was walking around the palace grounds. It was very busy near the gate, but nice and quiet further back. It's amazing how big and empty the grounds are. I think that's a symbol of power. It says "I am powerful enough to have all of this empty land, a giant lawn, in a very dense city". At least that's my theory. Most of the buildings were burnt or torn down by the Japanese and rebuilt recently. I enjoyed finding all sorts of cool angles in the rooflines.

Unfortunately the Kimchi museum was closed and I missed the other palace by 2 minutes (they closed the gates at 4:30). So I decided to check out the Seoul Christmas market. It was...pretty lame. But the food nearby was great!

I also met up with Choo, who I met in Kagoshima. She just finished her bike tour of Japan and lives in Seoul so she took me to a tiny place serving simmered BBQ. I would have never found it on my own. It was delicious! After you finished the meat, you dumped rice into the pan (the burner is built into the table) and make fried rice!

Overall I enjoyed Seoul, even though it was very cold. But it didn't really stand out to me. I think I didn't give it enough time. But I'm more excited to be on the way to China!

Thanks for reading this far :) 

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Ian Caragol

한국84,85,86 - A Ferry Stressed Medal Recipient (Seoul to a Incheon Port)

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中国89 - bike all wrapped up and shipped! (Qingdao to Chizhou via train)

中国88 - MISSING GEAR ACQUIRED (Qingdao)

中国87 - one of my greatest fears followed by a ray of hope (Seoul to Qingdao)

한국84,85,86 - A Ferry Stressed Medal Recipient (Seoul to a Incheon Port)

한국83 - Operation Seoul by Christmas was a success! (Yeoju to Seoul)

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