[kaltura-widget wid=”zcqsci4o7o” width=”400″ height=”365″ type=”whiteblue” addPermission=”-1″ editPermission=”-1″ /]
While visiting the in-laws this Chuseok holiday, I decided I’d bring my bike. Highway 31, which runs parallel to the coast provides some excellent scenery, both to the left and right of the road. On one side, is the ocean – the East Sea the Korean’s call it – the Sea of Japan on everyone else’s map. On the other side of the road, the mountains and forests.

Before I’d been gone too long, I was getting into fairly hilly country. Sometimes the road would wind around a fishing village and up into the foothills of the mountains and I rode through cool pine forests laced with homes sporting rooms for rent At others, it would drift right up to the beach and give me spectacular views of crashing waves. Sometimes, I’d end up on an overlook where the vista of rocky shores seemed endless.

I rode almost 55km that day. Far longer than my usual daily rides, but far more interesting, too. I rode 27km from my mother-in-law’s house near Gampo to Goryongpo, a fishing and crabbing town on the Pohang Peninsula. In Goryongpo, scads of restaurants offered “hwey” (Korean-style sushi) or crab.

In some places, fishermen brought in their catch and passed it over to waiting salt-water trucks. I watched as the fish, a mess of flounder, went from boat to truck to restaurants within minutes – it doesn’t get much fresher than that. Along the way, several batches of fish were drying in the warm October sun. Fish jerky is popular here. I’m a fan myself.

As I started my ride home around 5:30pm, the hostesses came to the door of the crab restaurants to await the evening dinner rush. They bowed to anyone who caught their eye – me included – as they passed. The evening sun was just right for photos of the women smiling and bowing.

I still had a long way to go, and the sun was setting fast. Fortunately, I have both rear and front lights on the bike so darkness wasn’t really a worry. But as the sun set and the moon rose, I got several more pictures. My camera is only fair and I’m sure a pro could have gotten better shots. If these had come out even close to what I saw with my eyes they’d be wondrous.

This one is my favorite

The ride around grandma’s place is nice. I wish it were closer. Riding in town is great, but has little of the scenery available on the coast. I can’t wait to get out there again and explore some more.

Another weekend in Pohang with MyeongHee’s family is over and I’m happy to be sitting in a real chair again. I had a good time up there the past two days. It’s really peaceful on the coast and the weather was gorgeous. Since this was one of the two biggest holidays here, it was a family affair. The newest baby, GaEun, is getting cute and silly. She got the most of my photos.

The kids are all getting serious. DongHyun’s cousin, MinGyung wants to set up weekly phone calls so she can practice her English. She does really well with grammar, vocabulary and sentence structure, but she has to think about it a bit and she speaks slowly. I’m looking forward to helping her out. She, like DongHyun is in her junior year of high school and they’re both thinking about college. She wants to be an English teacher.

,

Last year this time, MyeongHee’s mom wasn’t doing well.  She was hospitalized with TB but has since recovered well and has lots of energy. She’s very spry and is up early preparing food each day for her family. She’s enjoying her newest grandbaby.

There are plenty of western style strollers in Korea. Sometimes the streets are full of mommys strolling through with their babies. But a traditional baby papoose is common as well. This just a blanket with two long straps to able a woman to tie her baby on her back. MyeongHee models the traditional Korean style of carrying an infant.

I had decided earlier this year that I was going to bring my bicycle with me to Pohang. Since the mother-in-law lives right on the ocean and there’s a nice road that run adjacent to it, it was a perfect opportunity to get some quality miles on the bike. I did indeed do that, of which I will write more about later. But I also did some teaching other than English. DongHyun has never been able to ride a bike. Just never learned and never needed one. I lowered the seat on my bike and taught him how. It only took about 10-15 minutes of running alongside, holding the seat while he practised balancing and pushing off. He was well on his way and riding around the little fishing village his grandma lives in. I had to kick him off to get my bike back and get my miles in.

While my brothers-in-law went fishing in the afternoon, I took the bike up the coast. I ended up riding 55km on Saturday on a pretty hill coast road. I rode from just north of Gampo-eup to Goryongpo-eup near the tip of Pohang peninsula. Check out the satellite and map views to follow highway 31 to see where I went.

View Larger Map

I like maps. GoogleMaps is cool. In this extreme closeup, one can see the mother-in-laws house. Just near image center, there is a large brownish-orange roofed building. To the southeast is a small green roof house, adjacent to a yellow roof. The green roof is grandmas.

View Larger Map
I’ll write more on that fabulous bike ride later.