Leg 3 (pretty much): Daebyeonhang to Imrang Beach

 

Dear Busan:

When I was researching the Haeparang Trail, I couldn't seem to find a consistent trail length. Some sources said it was 680 kilometres. Others said it was 770 kilometres. I was confused. Didn't anyone know? Now I think I have a theory. You got tacked on, didn't you? Poor lonely Busan, all by itself down there at the south end of the peninsula, the second biggest city in South Korea (although I have heard that Incheon is actually bigger; can you tell me if it's true?), was feeling left out by the people who put the trail together. So you jumped up and down and stamped your feet and got yourself added to the nature trail.

There is just one small problem. You are a city, and I think this is intended to be a nature trail. And I'm sorry, you don't quite fit. Sure, the first leg was quite nice, starting at the Oryuk Islets. There was quite a bit of nature trail to be seen along the cliffs near there, and along a couple of the beaches. Of course, there was a lot of city to be seen, too, but you are a city and I suppose that is to be expected. Even the second leg was fairly natural, walking in the forest along the cliffs north of Haeundae Beach. The bit through the next part of the city had to be borne I suppose, but you made up for it with the seaside Buddhist temple.

And when I started this third leg, I was quite impressed. Over hill and through small valley I went. And then there was the concrete fishing wharves. For kilometre after kilometre after freaking kilometre. Maybe there are those out there who like to see the places where they bring fish out of the trawlers... and then the places where they can eat seafood. If pressed, I might even admit to some interest in such things myself... for a little while. But after 15 kilometres of the same thing, and very little of natural splendour, I was just depressed. This was a real let-down. Couldn't you have sent me up into the hills for a little while instead?

Yours disgruntledly,

Me.

After finishing the second leg, I went back home to check on the cat and spend the weekend. She had fared quite well, but was a bit upset when I returned. I don't think it was the being away so much as that the heating had failed while I was gone and the apartment was quite chilly when I returned. She must have been quite cold for a while. It was lucky thing that I returned when I did. The floor heating was blocked by what I presume was ice. Had it been much longer, there could have been broken pipes, and that would have been very messy.

After a nice weekend in Seosan, recovering from the first couple of days of hiking, I headed back Busan for leg 3 and beyond.

The start in Daebyeonhang was quite nice. The day was clear and blue. I found my way back to the sign by the harbour island where I had left off the previous week and started off. Only a short way down the shore, I found the sign for the end of second leg and the start of the third leg. I guess there are sign posts announcing the end of each section.

 

Off I went into the hills north of the town. There were traditional graves, and hills and rocks and a beach. There was even a lighthouse with a church attached to it. The first few kilometres of the hike were very refreshing.

And then it went into concrete shoreline with nothing but fishing villages and places to eat stretching on and on and on. It was thoroughly demoralizing as I was looking forward to some nature time.

By the time I reached the end of the third leg, I was so completely depressed by what I had gone through that I decided to just press on and get through the next leg, too, hoping that there would soon be an end to the concrete...

Leg 2 (almost): Haeundae Beach to Daebyeonhang

 

My friend came along during the second leg of the Haeparang Trail. Kind of. He slept in and I started out when I figured he had decided not to come along. I began the leg at a spot I figured would be a good starting spot. It may have been the beginning. It may not have been the beginning. In the absence of good signage, it was the best I could do.

I followed the flags and signs that were there back to where I had left off and then beyond. Initially, the views were really nice. The trail wound and twisted along a hillside through a forest by a rather nice part of town. There looked to be a lot of nice food along there inland, and the sea stretched out to the horizon past the shore.

 

As I arrived above Songjeong Beach, the next beach along from Haeundae, my friend got in touch. He had slept long and was just then getting up. He was going to hurry along. I noticed a rail line below and there were people walking along it. I told him he could probably go faster along there if he wanted to catch up. He did that, but shortly after this point, the tracks were blocked and he had to take buses and then walk along a road to catch up.

I decided to wait for him at Songjeong Beach. The waves were coming in and it was apparently a good place to go surfing, as there were surfers in the water. There was also a large group of university students rushing around the beach. They seemed to be in teams and it looked a lot like they were completing some sort of tasks as teams. I didn't know for sure, but I did imagine some kind of scavenger hunt going on.

When Geoff caught up to me, we got some lunch and headed off further down the trail. But where the initial part had been quite nice, the next part was less so. We were walking along streets and roads. I thought we must have missed a turn somewhere, except that the flags were still with us and we were clearly following the trail. We came upon a Korean version of an outlet mall and we wandered around there for a while. I even bought a winter-ish jacket, something I have kind of needed for a while. I guess it wasn't a total loss, but the trail really was a bit of a disappointment during this stretch. Geoff even suggested that if it continued much longer along the streets he would beg off and return to Haeundae.

Happily the trail headed back to the coast towards a fairly famous Buddhist temple, situated on the rocks of the coast. Haedongyonggungsa (the temple) really was a beautiful sight and must be breathtaking under the right conditions.

Then it was on towards the end of the leg at Daebyeonhang. But not without some wave watching as the surf was a bit high that day.

I was unsure of where the end of the leg was, so when we reached a bridge to a little island in the harbour, I decided to say that was my end. I would prove to be wrong about that, as I found a leg beginning/ending sign a short distance farther into the harbour on the next day that I hiked.

Then Geoff and I headed back to Haeundae and a well-earned dinner... after missing a bus by seconds and waiting for about twenty minutes for the next one. Drat!!

Other than the part through the streets between Songjeong Beach and the seaside temple, this was a good leg and I recommend it.

Leg 1 (more or less): Oryukdo to Haeundae Beach

Mid-January in Seosan brought some cool weather. People here always complain about the weather. It never seems to be just right for anyone. Actually that seems to be somewhat universal. But the temperature went down to minus 10 Celsius, or something like that. And it was my vacation from work. I don't know why I didn't choose somewhere warm to spend my time. Actually I do know. I would have had to put my cat in distress. I found her on the street as a kitten and she had apparently already had a fairly traumatic time in her first month of life. She is mortally afraid of being outside. She protests loudly when I to take her out. If I need to take her to the vet, she will hide in my clothes where she can't see the world and she feels safe.

I went home to Canada last summer for a visit and had to make arrangements for her. I found a vet who puts up animals while owners are away. I was told he loves cats. And he did seem to be very good to cats. I left her with him. When I got back two weeks later, she was in a darkened cage because she had been going wild. She had even bit the vet so that he required some kind of medical treatment. She had not been eating her food and I got back about two-thirds of the cat I had originally taken. Poor thing. I felt very bad and decided I couldn't do that to her (or to a vet) again. It kind of limits the choices I have for vacation time.

Since I haven't really mixed too much with the expat community in Seosan, I didn't really have anyone who might come and mind her while I took a break from Korea. So I found a programmable feeder and set it up so I could be away for a few days without worrying that she would starve. I filled up bowls and bowls of water for her and headed off for a Korean vacation.

Since I wasn't completely sure how well things would be marked on this trail, I went down to the start point on the evening I arrived. The start was well marked and there was an information booth for the trail. I got a map and I saw the amazing sunset for the area as well.

I set off the next morning, destination Haeundae Beach, about 20 kilometres away. It was a chill, brisk morning. But that meant clear air and a nice view of the islands. Oryuk means 5 or 6 in Korean. There are five islands here at high tide (or is it low tide), and 6 at the other tide.

These people have a great view over the islands. Of course there is not much else. There is a school nearby, but no other services. Those are around the corner and down the hill from here. I couldn't decide if they would be expensive apartments because of the view or inexpensive because of the lack of anything nearby. Probably exclusiveness wins and it's expensive to live here.

After the start, the trail winds around the hillside towards the Gwangalli area and one of the beaches. There is also a big-ass bridge that curves around the bay.

Then it follows into the Haeundae district where it goes past a yacht club and then the Busan movie area.

It finally goes around a park on a point and into the Haeundae Beach area. The end of the first leg of the is somewhere near the end of the beach. Or maybe it's up the hill a bit. Or maybe it's along the hillside somewhere. I couldn't find the sign marking the end of the first leg, so I ended up into the first part of the second leg before I found I was too tired to continue. Besides I was meeting a friend and so I just stopped after a while at what seemed a convenient sort of place to stop

Hence the title of this: The first leg (more or less).

Introduction

It won't be a thousand miles, only something over 700 kilometres, which is just under 500 miles. It's not an epic trek that requires months of planning and the ability to carry one's house on one's back. Nor does it call for staying in the woods through rain or shine, or worse, fighting off bears and coming back to civilization for a resupply and a shower. It mostly looks to be just a nice walk along the coast over a few hills that Koreans think are mountains. And hopefully there will be some nice views here and there. But the Haeparang (or Blue Sea) Trail up the east coast of South Korea looks to be interesting, and I would do it. I have been on bits of the trail before, but I have a desire for a project, and this trail should take me a good chunk of the year to complete, on weekends. This will be the story of that project.