Despite the lack of sleep, I was really feeling quite all
right. And I really did want to complete
a third leg on this Saturday, so I could do leg 49 on the Sunday. That would leave the final leg for a final
visit at some point, and the only thing left on the trail. So I continued on. It was a longer leg at around 17 kilometres,
but I really felt I could do it.
From Gajin Harbour, the first stop was over another headland
and onto another beach. It just looked
nice.
Then it was inland… along more construction. At times I have wondered if all of Korea is
under construction. I see it everywhere
from new places for people to live to ways for people to get there. This was another road under construction.
Another inland watery area for wild fowl was in use.
And then it was into another construction zone. This one blocked off the path. I had to find a way around to the point where
the river emptied into the sea. I
skirted the point, thinking I would run into the trail as it continued north,
but I couldn’t see any of the flags or other markers. When I got to the point and turned around,
there was one heading in the direction from which I had just arrived. I guess I hadn’t been looking hard enough. Then I headed off along the rutted dirt track
inland a little bit from the now almost constant fencing covering any
incursions from unfriendly North Korean attacking forces. I never did see any, but I’m not really
complaining, mind you.
The path led along the edge of more pine forest, filled with
more old mound tombs.
Then it led past a field bordered by the ever-present
security fencing. The coast all but
disappeared during this leg. The trail
led more along the fields and past homes inland from the sea. With all the security blocking any real good
looks at the sea though, it wasn’t really unwelcome.
There was another little lake area as I was getting towards
the end of the leg.
Another river was crossed by another little bridge.
As I was reaching the end of the leg, the daylight began to
fail. There were some clouds building,
and the sun was dropping behind them, and that gave a pretty nice sunset as I
was approaching the end point, in Geojin Harbour.
But there was still a little ways to go along more fences…
…and then a nice-looking little beach.
I’m not sure how it would be to live in an area with so much
obvious security in place. I’m also not
sure how it would be to visit a beach you can only access through barbed-wire
fences. It really doesn’t look all that
inviting.
The did try to make some of the fencing be attractive, with
artful pointy bit on top. And the path
was also fully paved and seemed to have been put in place for hikers and
bikers.
In town it took a bit of searching as I wasn’t quite sure
where the fish centre was. Then when I
found it, I had to cross the whole thing, and the path led right through what
would be working areas during the day time.
I wasn’t how safe it would be during the day, but again I wasn’t in the
heads of the planners of the path, so I could only be bemused about their
choice. I did find the sign on the
opposite side of the fish centre though.
Dark was falling and I headed back into town to find a place to
stay. I also found a bus terminal, so I
knew I could find my way back home fairly easily once I completed my trek the
next day. The really exciting part was
that I was only one leg away from completing the part I could walk. The final leg was only accessible by taxi as
it terminates inside the security controlled area and as such, only vehicle
access is allowed. Therefore only about
12 kilometres remained on foot of my journey up the east coast of Korea. Exciting!!!
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