Despite the building clouds of the evening before, Sunday
proved another marvelous day for trekking.
And I figured I would be in plenty of time to finish my leg, get back to
Seoul and head home, possibly even early.
I went back to the fish centre and headed up the hill for a
bird’s eye view of the town of Geojin.
The fish centre dominated the view of town.
Looking out to sea provided a beautiful view back down the
to the south, from the way I had come. I
was very excited about how far I had come.
The way forward led along a ridge overlooking the sea. It really was a beautiful morning.
After walking about a third of the way through the leg along
the ridge, I reached a spot overlooking the final little town on the
trail. It was arrayed around a couple of
inlets although they may have been small lakes, given how the beaches were
arranged, with only a couple of small rivers leading out to sea.
The path led down the ridge and to a castle. When I saw that on the signs, I was thinking
it was another stone walled fortress, of the kind that you see all over Korea,
where the Koreans of old barricaded themselves against outside invaders. It wasn’t.
It was a real castle… ish.
It was more like some manor house you might find in the English
countryside. But it was sitting on the
side of a hill near the border of North Korea.
I went inside and found there was supposed to be an admission fee. I had missed that because I had come over the
hill. But when I went to leave, the
woman beckoned me in and said it was okay.
And it was interesting.
There was a good view from one of the windows out over the beaches.
There was also a bedroom set up. It had kind of an old style and I wasn’t sure
what it was about. Then I heard another
of the visitors talking about Kim Il Sung, the first dictator president of
North Korea, and grandfather to the current loon in charge there. The man had some English and told me some of
the history. He said that after the
Second World War had been partitioned by the powers that be in the part
friendly to the West and the part friendly to the East, or probably more
accurately, the US and Russia. And the
spot where the castle stood had been located in what was then North Korea. When Kim Il Sung had been installed/gotten
himself installed as the North Korean leader, he has spent a lot of time in the
place. And that had been his bedroom.
There was a photo hanging outside that showed Kim Jong Il,
the second North Korean dictator, sitting on the steps of the castle.
It was all just a little bit eerie, yet still fascinating.
I headed down into the parking area and bought myself a
ticket. It seemed only right. But the ticket was for three venues in the
area. There was an eco-museum right
nearby. And there was the cottage where
South Korea’s president, Syngman Rhee had spent time. Hmmm…
Perhaps I wasn’t going to be finishing this leg as soon as I had
thought.
I went to the eco-museum next. It was a standard sort of place, with stuffed
birds and other animals that were found in the region. (I hope they had died of natural causes,
given the nature of the museum…) But
they didn’t pull any punches about showing what we are doing to the
planet. I wonder if it shocks anyone
into actually thinking.
From the museum, I headed around the little lake. Then the trail headed off to the left, but
Syngman Rhee’s cottage was off to the right.
It was only a short distance, and I had a ticket that got me, so I
decided to go and see it. I had plenty
of time…
There was a lot of history in the area, something I hadn’t
realized. This sort of thing certainly
isn’t promoted very well by the tourism boards in Korea. They should really address that. It made the area really interesting, at least
to me.
From the town, Daejin, it was on into the final push for the
end of the leg. Fences were there the
whole way along the coast, but sometimes seemed more decorative than for any
security purpose. They were there
nevertheless. The beaches seemed quite
serene otherwise.
The trail followed the road and passed a condo. The last beach I passed had a fairly
formidable-looking fence around it.
Then
the road curled up and ended up at a registration area for entrance into the
security-controlled portion of the path.
I couldn’t see a sign there for the end of the leg. I asked at the tourist information booth
there and, while she didn’t too sure what I was talking about, she did seem to
know the trail and she showed me this sign.
I wandered around the area for a few minutes, but didn’t find the actual
sign. I thought it had to be around
there somewhere. I decided to try and
find it. It might be a bit down the road
a bit. I still had lots of time. It wasn’t quite noon yet. Ha ha!
Before I did that, though, I decided to get some information
about going on the final leg. The
website and the physical map I had said that I had to call ahead to register
and get permission to go on the last leg.
But when I talked to the lady in the booth, she looked at me funny, like
I had two heads or something. She told
me that all I had to do was go in and pay the fee. Then I could get in my car and head in. When I said I had no car, she said I would
have to go in with a taxi… and that it was 50 000 won. I had been prepared for that. I had hoped it wouldn’t be too high. She was a bit concerned about that as well,
but I told her that I had a friend who might come with me. She was satisfied with that.
Then I struck off down the road to find the end point sign
for the leg. I didn’t find it.
I climbed onto a small mountain and along a fairly disused-looking
pathway, bashing my way through bushes, and thinking that I should turn
around. I was beginning to wonder if I
had somehow gotten behind the security area.
I didn’t see how, since I thought there should be a major fence there,
but still… When I passed a sign that I
couldn’t read that nevertheless had big red lettering and seemed to talk about
a fine, I was fairly sure that I was somewhere I wasn’t really supposed to
be. But then I passed a man in a
car. And he didn’t say anything to
me. So I was a bit confused about what
was going on. And I was waaaaaaaaay past
where I should have found any sign for leg 49.
I looked at maps and such later and I found that I had gone
a fair distance into the final leg, but before reaching the security perimeter
for the DMZ. It wasn’t a restricted
area, but the sign had probably been warning that there was a time to be there
and a time not to be there.
I turned off the map app and headed back. But now I was on the other side of noon and I
was looking at a fairly long return journey back to Seoul. Drat!!
Of course, it was my own stubbornness that had led to this. I wanted to find that darned sign. Oh well.
I was able to get back to the registration area and then
head along to the bus stop nearby. I
happened to get there just a bus was about to leave. The driver told me that he was going farther
up before heading back. That was
okay. I just wanted to sit on a seat and
rest.
The bus went into a really decrepit little town, that I
think was just on the outskirts of the security perimeter. Then we headed back to Geojin. I went into the bus terminal and there was a
bus just pulling out. I got on that and
got into Seoul with a bit of time to spare.
But it certainly wasn’t the great amount of time I had assumed I would
have when I started the day. The best
laid plans…
But there was only one leg left. I had almost completed my quest.
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