.

Why South Korea? 

Near the end of our New Zealand incredible-pedals adventure, Charlie looked at a world map. South Korea didn't look very far away !

After the mind-blowing scenery in NZ, maybe a cultural adventure was calling too.

Some quick research informed us that there is in fact a designated cycle route through the country ! 

Four Rivers Cycle Paths  combined with the Cross Country Route that stretches from Seoul to Busan.

You can even buy a route 'passport' and collect stamps along the way as a memento.

We combined the 2 routes with some add ons and quite a bit of 'getting lost'! Just for fun you understand 🤦🤦

The official website below gives lots of useful information:- 

https://www.koreabybike.com/routes/cross-country-route/

Above - a superb and almost silent overtake en route to Busan by these Speedskaters 👍

Our Route

Below - unfortunately we cannot plot our stops on Google maps or KakaoMap to show here.

This is a screenshot from the Korea by Bike website showing the country side route.

We mostly followed this route (lots of signage is on the route, with some not so clear!)

Jeju Island was a add on as we were told by friendly Koreans that it is "The Hawaii of South Korea"!! 

Our stop off points:-

Incheon - Seoul - Yangyeong - Yeoju - Chungyu - Mungyeong - Sangju - Chilgok - Daegu - Miryang - Busan - Yangsan - Jinju - Yeosu (Ferry to Jeju) 

Jeju Island:-

Hamdeok - Seongsan - Sangbansan (Haenyeo Divers) - Hyeopjae - Jeju City. 

Total South Korea miles 618

Total Jeju miles 165

Above: A beautiful painting on a temple, near Miryang 

The Journey 

We landed at Incheon airport built the bikes and cycled to a bicycle shop near the airport, due to a mechanical we could not fix ourselves.

The staff spoke good English, advised that we could not cycle over the bridge into Seoul from Incheon.....so called us a taxi van that dropped us at the beginning of the cycle path that would take us into the city of Seoul!!

Great ride initially, but then the last 4k was very difficult to navigate to the accommodation. As with all major cities it was incredibly busy. Alternating between road riding and pavements became the way forward! 

We soon realised that Google maps does not work well in South Korea but quickly found KakaoMap which worked very well. 

Below - heading towards Seoul and YES this really is a CYCLE PATH! South Korean style!

Complete with dual carriageways, roundabouts and in some places maximum speed signs!! Not a motor vehicle in sight! 

A bit surreal cycling towards this huge city on a bicycle only dual carriageway! A bit like being in your very best 'cycle dream'! 

Below - looking over Seoul from our first tiny Airbnb apartment. As you'd expect Seoul is a big bustling city.

We also realised that the sight and sound of fighter jets overhead and phone messages warning of imminent evacuation (that were then cancelled 15mins later!) was normal daily life here in South Korea. 

Our second night in Seoul and we drop on a pro Baseball match. Below. The Bears were the home team.

We decided we would go to watch South Korea's number one sport having watched the rugby in NZ. 

Over the next couple of days we had some 'elevatingly' interesting experiences learning that some of the cycle paths were joined up by elevators! 

Thanks to this very kind Korean gent pictured above who guided us to our first elevator when we thought we were lost! 

Below - a very wet elevator experience this time! 

We headed to Yangyeong along more cycle paths. Heavy rain all day hampering our progress. And at the motel our first experience of getting the room keys out of a 'vending machine'! 

A daunting task on that night, we arrived late, cold, wet through, not able to read or speak Korean (thank you Google Translate 😘) but a useful learning step for our SK Incredible-pedals. 

Below - keep a look out for the 4 Rivers cross country direction signs. 

We were astounded at how the cycle path network here beautifully intermingles urban, river and even tunnel riding. Pics above and below. 

Below - a very common sight along the cycle paths are workout stations. The South Koreans take daily exercise very seriously. There are even tennis courts under some of the flyovers! And of course lots of PARK GOLF courses!! But more on that later. 

Below - looking down on our cycle path, running alongside the Namhan River headed for Yeoju. Another fast day on the amazingly flat and smooth surface. Although a good soaking was dished out to us by the SK rain gods!! 

I mean, can cycling possibly get much better than this?! 🤔

Above - a misty early morning in Yeoju. And after our accommodation turned out to be a bit uncomfortable to say the least. A early start was needed! 

Above and below - en route to Mungyeong. The cross country route picks up many quiet lanes, past rice fields and through mountain passes. In this region we are cycling through the Mungyeongsaejae Provincial Park and up to the highest point in South Korea. 

Below - Close to Sangju and a quick stop at the 'SK Cycling Museum' (who knew!) a free guided tour was given. And we seemed to be the only victims erm sorry visitors! A very impressive building indeed. 

Below - Another bridge to cross! Small but one of over 39400 bridges in SK! The Han River itself which flows through Seoul has over 30 bridges! 

Some very spectacular bridges too. Below 👌

Below - our first glimpse of Park Golf. If you decide to cycle this route this is a common sight. Make sure, like us, you stop and have a go. Great fun (unless you lose to a Molly!) 

Below - Molly celebrates after we spotted another small shop/cafe on the cycle path selling her favourite stuff - FOOD!! 

We came across plenty of small cafes/shops on the cycle paths throughout our SK adventure. 

Above and below - pics taken en route to Daegu City. Just had to put up a few more because the infrastructure really is so impressive 

Heading out of Degau towards Miryang we found ourselves on a mountain bike track and a steep technical climb. The lack of cross country signs caught not only ourselves out but even a South Korean guy came and asked 'us' for directions!! 🤦🤦

Above and Below - we stumbled across a temple during our MTB expedition! And our prayers weren't answered even there, because we had to get off and push to get ourselves back onto the route! 

Below - Don't know what this Buddha is giggling about! You try pushing a touring bike around South Korea!! 🥵🥵

The view from the top was pretty impressive though! Below 

Following the Temple visit we made our way to our proposed 'Pension BnB' only to be asked for the equivalent of £250 for the night!! Considering we had been paying an average of £25 a night - we declined!! 

Thank you Tim, Carol and your 3 children ❤️

This created our next problem. Where to go now?? It was late, we had cycled past a campsite 3 miles back "let's go there"!! The last resort for Charlie!! 

At the campsite things were not going well. The camp 'security' would not let us pitch because we had not pre-booked. Suddenly out of nowhere our 'camp gods' appeared ABOVE (who spoke perfect English!!) and told him in Korean - "That they were leaving early and we could have their pitch" !! And then to top it all - they cooked us food before they left!!! 

Below - Busan City

During a rest day in Busan we decided that Jeju Island was a 'must do'! In all probability we will not get a chance to return to South Korea .....so South Korea's "Hawaii" here we come! 

Below - surfboards on Busan Beach 

So we headed for the Port of Yeosu via a stopover in Jinju. Some great cycling murals en route too! 

Following a 70 ish mile ride to Yeosu en route to the ferry. We suddenly found ourselves lost BIG TIME!

Up an alley, where you couldn't 'swing a cat' let alone pedal a bike! After much deliberation and a bit of swearing (from Grumpy Charlie!!) we eventually arrived at the port at 10.30pm. 

On board the ferry, where we had purchased 2 tickets for '2 x floorspace'!!! Plus 2 bikes. We sat down, looked at each other with vacant expressions and declared "what just happened"!! Then Molly fell asleep!! What a day!! 

6 hours later we docked on Jeju Island 

A rest day in Hamdeok followed (well upper body exercises and some stretching too) then over the next couple of days we got the pedals moving clockwise around the island towards Sangbangsan.

En route we came across the:-                                 'LADY HAENYEO DIVERS' 

If you want to know how incredible these ladies are, just follow this link:-

https://www.diveoclock.com/destinations/Asia/South_Korea/Haenyeo/

This CNN article is also well worth a read, regards these amazing lady divers. 

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/07/science/haenyeo-south-korea-divers-evolution

We were so incredibly fortunate to just cycle up, say hello, smile and then be allowed to sit amongst them and take photos whilst they prepared and then set to work! Without doubt one of our most incredible experiences ever!! 

These ladies 'free dive' for shellfish etc to make a living. Some of these 'incredible girls' are in their 80's!!

Below - en route to Hyeopjae. Rows of squid being dried out in the sunshine. 

Below - the coastal town of Hyeopjae

A nice seaside feel to this place - but if we're honest we don't think it was anything like Hawaii and we are pretty sure Elvis would agree! 

Below - carrying our bike boxes to Jeju airport (before we realised that if you fold them properly and have plenty of tape it's much easier to carry them!!)

These boxes were sourced from a local motorcycle store! Amazing luck. 

Food and Accommodation 

Food 

Tap Water - is completely SAFE to DRINK in South Korea. 

The food in South Korea is very spicy! Noodles (Ramen) fresh vegatables and various meat choices (pork, chicken) were the most common options .

There are 7 Elevens in South Korea which offer a variety of snacks, drinks, pot noodles (hot!!) etc

Below - South Korean style 'fishcakes'! 

Quite often we 'experimented' with our food choices. Unable to read the menu (sometimes Google translate gives strange translations that make you laugh but don't help in your choices!!) So best to just go for it! Some you win, some you lose! 

Below - a Korean Hot Pot. In Charlie's view it just needed "some salty buttered crusty bread" to "dunk" 

Below - a very tasty squid, seaweed and beer experiment 👌👍

Below - a proper good South Korean Barbecue! The restaurant staff bring you the food and you cook it over the grill in the middle of the table. Then add the spices/condiments to suit. 

Accommodation 

We found Agoda and Airbnb worked reasonably well in South Korea. Luckily only having to use the 'emergency tent' once! 👌

Above - the accommodation varied from small, very dim rooms to almost luxurious 'Love Hotels' Below:-

These Love Hotels are a common sight in South Korea. They are cheap. With the added bonus of your own garage under your room! So secure bike storage. 

Be aware, to not get caught out like we did on our first night in one! We'd paid at the kiosk machine. Gone to sleep, only to be woken and advised that we had to leave in the middle of the night! Turned out we'd only paid for 3 hours! Yep folks use them for 'a short time' (can't think why!? 🤦) The moral of the story is make sure you pay for a whole night!! 

And now to the best discovery of our accommodation adventure!

The Loo 

Not just any old loo. The type that wash, clean and blow dry your bum!! It's a must have!! Oh the joy!! 

South Korea - Ups and Downs 

Useful Pointers