A couple of weeks after completing the
Pohang section of the trail, the weather forecast looked great. It
was time to head back out and continue. I was looking forward to it.
I knew of a new bus from Seosan to Daegu, a city in the direction of
where I was headed. But I wasn't exactly sure of connections from
Daegu to the spot where I left off last time. I decided not to
chance it and I went the other route, the one that required three
buses and a train, and passing through Daejeon. Go ahead. I dare
you. I dare anyone to ask me how to get pretty much anywhere in
Korea. I can now probably tell you, no thanks to anyone connected to
tourism in this country.
I decided not to bother with a late bus
from Daejeon to Pohang. There were early trains and I could get to
the train station. From there the next bus I wanted would come right
to the station and take me to the next spot. So I stayed in Daejeon
and caught the first train to Pohang. I got on the bus from there
and proceeded to where I would transfer to the next bus. I arrived
around 9 in the morning. Perfect. I could get the next bus. And
that would be at... Let me see here... Hmmm... Eleven o'clock...
You mean I could have slept in and caught a later train and still
been in plenty of time? They really need to get some information
about bus schedules into this process somehow.
I may have missed one bus that wasn't
on the schedule at the transfer point. The bus driver looked at me
as though he wanted to ask me as he went by, but I was too focused on
trying not to be annoyed about schedules and lack of information.
But in due course, the bus I was expecting arrived to take me to
Hwajin Beach. And I got out there around noon. About 5 hours to get
to where I wanted to start. That's a bit excessive.
Leg 19 itself wasn't particularly
interesting, especially in the early stages. There was a lot of
this...
And not enough of this...
It really seemed more of a
get-through-this-rather-uninspired-part-of-the-trail-to-get-to-the-next-part
leg. It wasn't without its interest though. Along leg 19, I came
upon this behemoth. At first I wasn't sure what I was looking at.
Maybe I was coming upon a military base. Should I take a photo of
it? Or would I find myself locked up for photographing forbidden
things? But there was what seemed to be some kind of gangway
entrance for the public as well.
Then I came upon a memorial site. This
was apparently one of the landing spots for a counter-offensive
during the Korean war, used to distract the North Koreans while a
real landing was made at Incheon. It was still too early in the
season for it to be open, but maybe I will come back sometime to get
a real look inside. In any case, photos of the big ship were
allowed.
From that point, there was a bit more
dramatic shoreline to cover before entering into the Ganggu Harbour
area. 
Signs of spring had been steadily growing and near Ganggu
itself there was a small cherry blossom festival. Those blossoms are
very nice, but the ubiquitousness of the trees now is diluting some
of the excellent cherry blossom festivals in the country.
Then it was down the hill and snaking
along the shore to enter into Ganggu Harbour. It was a rather odd
place to encounter a Porche. And a gold one at that. (The red blotch is not a bad paint job... just my attempt at protecting the fabulously wealthy.)
The harbour was like any other harbour,
but as I got close it became clear there was a festival going on. It
turns out that Ganggu Harbour is well-known for snow crab. And it
was the snow crab festival.
I arrived at the bridge to complete the
leg and was greeted with their mascot. Ugly critter...
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