Yesterday my friend Alissa and I set out on a journey to three islands off the west coast of Seoul. I had read that it was a good place to get out of the city and enjoy a safe, peaceful bike ride, so I really built it up in my head and was really excited for it. I need to stop doing that.
After 2 hours on the subway, three bus rides and two separate ferries, we finally arrived at the place where you can rent the bikes. There was a cute little old man there, and we got the ricketiest old bikes you can imagine for 2 bucks for an hour. We hopped on and slowly made our way down the road, where I saw maybe three cars the entire time. At one point, the not-so-bike-savvy Alissa called out to me, "Uh, is your bike making a lot of noise?" It was, in fact, and I soon found out that the gears didn't work at all, so we had to walk our bikes up any little hill. Turns out biking isn't as fun without gears. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day and very peaceful and quiet out on the islands. They were connected by bridges, so that was cool to bike across the mud flats and see the Yellow Sea. The ferry rides were also entertaining: the Koreans like to feed the seagulls chips from their hands, so the birds are constantly swooping and overhead. It was a tad frightening at times. A little girl shared a chip with me so I could join in the fun, but I preferred to to just throw it up and see the crazy birds catch it. Pretty impressive.
So, all in all, it was a good adventure, but not one that I would do again. Six hours of transportation for one hour on the island, riding a bike with no gears. The things I do to get a little nature in my life!
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