After two years in Canada returning to Korea and especially Gwangju (the city where I spent my last year) was a lot like coming back home.  I almost headed back to my old apartment after a night out with friends.

I have a strong connection with Korea and coming back is a dream come true for me.  This is Ryan’s first trip to Asia and that makes the trip even more exciting as he experiences everything from a fresh perspective.

Ryan and I took the opportunity to get our bikes looked at while we were in Gwangju.  The motorcycle chain had been stretched since we left Seoul and would get extremely loose then tight again at different points on the sprockets.  It wasn’t a uniform tightness and would slap around as I rode, often jumping teeth and causing the bike to chug and jump as I accelerated.  I was worried the chain would break and jam, locking the back wheel.  This could cause a nasty fall, especially in the city with cars and busses always close behind.

We found a nice bike shop and the mechanic looked at the chain, shaking his head at the state it was in. A closer look at the front sprocket made it clear we needed to replace both chain and sprockets.  The teeth on the front sprocket were pointy and curved unnaturally rearwards.

Ryan and I left the bikes at the shop for their service and made our way by bus to the Damyang Bamboo Forest.  We wandered through the paths lined with bamboo and listened to the sound of the wind in the forest as the hollow stalks knocked together.

After picking up the bikes we rode downtown for a radio interview with the Gwangju Foreign Network.  It was fun answering questions about our trip and a sharing our adventure.  Afterwards we met up with Mykie and Justyna for Shabu-shabu, which is a Japanese dish with a Korea spin.  It’s one of my favorite meals in Korea!  Shabu-shabu starts with a pot of spicy red broth simmering on the inset burner in the middle of the table.  Asian mushrooms and greens are added along with thinly shaved slices of beef. Everyone takes a bowl from the pot and enjoys it with the numerous side dishes laid out on the table. Thick rice noodles are added for the next stage and more broth from a golden kettle, which thickens from the starch in the noodles.  Ryan definitely felt the heat!  Luckily we were able to order him some milk. The restaurant didn’t normally sell milk but happened to have some in the fridge and made a one time exception.  For the final stage of Shabu-shabu, rice, green onions and egg are fried in the bottom of the pot with the remaining broth.  This brings all the flavours together for a delicious finally.

Wednesday morning we waved goodbye to Gwangju and headed south.  Rugged mountains created a beautiful backdrop as we made our way to the ferry port in Wando.   The sun was shining, the temperature a happy 15C.  It was nice to be back on the road again, Jeju Island here we come!

TWT