Suanbo is a resort town with hot springs and ski slopes, set in the central hills. We managed to get a good deal on a couple of tired rooms in a tired hotel with an “oncheon” (Bath house) in the basement. The segregated pools were full at night so I thought a discrete plunge in […]
Author Archive | Jo Morgan
Bits and pieces
Weather here has been great. No rain yet, but air pollution is pretty awful near major towns. Major public holiday here. The Koreans will all be in the hills bowing at burial mounds on the hill-sides tomorrow morning, should be spectacular as they all dress in traditional gear. My knees feel stuffed after the hill climbs. Some […]
Dave has gone.
I know we have told you this. In a moment of weakness I said I’d show him the way to Seoul from Taejon (Daejon), its only about 160 km. Brendan said I couldn’t get back on my own so the three of us went. Took us 5 hours one way, and we didn’t get lost […]
Hyosung factory, puncture and a round bed.
We left Gyeongju (previously spelt Kyongju) early and followed back roads across rice paddies and through spectacular valleys. at the junction of some small roads we found a farmers market and a breakfast restaurant where Dave managed through sign language to get fried eggs. They were served with kimchi, tofu soup,whole pickled garlic, squid in […]
Penis Park and other highlights.
We rode a tiny train through the 1.5 meter high tunnel that the North Koreans dug under the DMZ for the invasion of the south in 1990, after they had started peace talks. Being way under a mountain range, under the DMZ, in the 4th Tunnel was really a thrill as was the foot-peg scraping […]
Wonderful bike roads
We swoop and lean around the mountain roads. Tight corners make me crave the Ducati from home and then we come across a battalion of tanks and soldiers across the road and I’m glad to be doing 80 rather than 150 km/hour, so I can stop in time. Brendan has found lines on the map […]
Show stopper
Today we moved into the Mongolian area. Great open spaces and a far more traditional feel with people walking their cows and sheep for grazing alongside the road. We passed through a little town with a market day on in the main through road, driving between the stalls and causing chaos. We stopped at the […]
Out of Xian
Today we again experienced the inflexibility of the Chinese toll-gate manager. We are farm machinery and as such can’t use the motorway. We were therfore relegated to the lanes and muddy tracks that wind under this wonderful construction and travelled 25 km in two hours. we wouldn’t have had a show of getting out of […]
Xian Warriors and Wangbaas.
Xian (she-an) a modern city with much of the vibrancy based on the 10 million tourists attracted by the “terracotta warriors” was once the capital of China until Kublai Khan moved it to Beijing. We went to see the excavated areas and were all gob-smacked by the sight of the rank and file soldiers with […]
Lanzhou Foreign Language School
We are in Ping Liang in China somewhere and everyone stares as we are the only tourists they have had for ever. Babies scream and grannies point and laugh. Crowds gather whever we go, especially with the bikes. It is quite amazing to get such attention when you are just having a long bike ride, […]
