Two weeks until "Chuseok" // Letters to my family in Canada Returning to Korea, 2007 //

South Korean "Chuseok" is a celebration for Thanksgiving. 

Families will gather and eat Duk (sticky rice cakes), fresh fruits and cooked fish are the selected cuisine. Buchinggue (Korean veggie pancakes) are also popular on this holiday. Chuseok (Korean: 추석), originally known as hangawi (한가위 from archaic Korean for "the great middle (of autumn)", is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar.

Most foreigners I know are traveling abroad outside of Korea. The most popular destination this time of year is Cambodia. Another former English teacher "Ben" is mountain biking along the coast of Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and finally Thailand with another former teacher and outstanding guy, Scott. If I had the time/$, I would like to ride on a similar adventure, but our baby is coming, and it could be dangerous. 

1994 KONA Explosif mountain bike around Daegwallyeong

Mountain biking in South Korea

There is a cheaper alternative to expensive overseas vacation travel - this year, I will ride my mountain bike across the eastern coast of South Korea. So I'm taking that option and riding from Sokcho to Gyeongju starting on September 22. It'll be an East Coast trip to the southeast corner of Korea. This will be my first adventure crossing the country on a mountain bike. Looking forward to the trip!

According to the Lonely Planet, For almost 1000 years, Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla Dynasty...it has it's origins as far back as 57 B.C. 

The area is well known for it's royal tombs, Buddhist temples, and numerous other options to check out. ^^++ Question is, can I find a riding companion in so little time...I'll put the word out, it would be cool to ride with someone having a similar interest. But, I'll meet Mi Sung in Gyeongju around the 24th of September if I ride 10 hours per day. We'll have a great time. ^^++ 

It's also been 14 years since I first motorcycled across the USA on my Suzuki GS500. 

I did similar rides in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1998. I rode "cinco" times across the United States, and once from Alberta to B.C. all alone on my own motorcycle. I totaled more than 24,000 miles in 60 days (including two winters in Ontario). My photo albums are non-digital, so for now it's not included in Blogger. Maybe I'll update those old stories and scan the photos to share next year. My last ride was on a 2005 Honda CBR600, from White Cloud, Minnesota (where I bought it from eBay) to Windsor, Ontario. I totaled only 1200 miles and sold the bike before returning to Korea. I'm too old for "crotch rockets" but they make touring more exciting...Dad, good luck with those Spanish, Korean and ??? lessons.