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  • Day 24

    Geumodo Island ferry trip

    October 21, 2017 in South Korea ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    A great day all round 🤗🤗. On the down side, I didn't find a sandy beach, and I MAY have paddled in water containing raw sewage, but on the up side the weather was perfect and the travel went without a hitch.

    I bought 2 tickets at the ferry terminal for a round trip to Ham Geum port on Geumodo island. The ferry going over was to leave at 9:50 and the return trip would depart at 4:05 pm. It was a car ferry and would make 2 stops at other islands before Geumodo.

    Although it's a Saturday (and you know what THAT means), there aren't the usual weekend crowds. On the ferry I sit outside taking in the view. On Korean ferries there can be an internal room with wooden floors and a landing for shoes. It seems to be mostly used by women and children. Bit of a waste to sit there today as there are magnificent views of various islands as we proceed. Very different from the other ferry trips I've taken on this holiday.

    We arrive on Geumodo at around 11:15. I remember it's a car ferry and successfully avoid the cars disembarking. A notice board supplies some information on hiking around the island. My plan is to walk clockwise along the main road, look for a sandy beach, swim, eat my lunch and return to port for the ferry back.

    The road is quite elevated from the sea. This means the views continue to be stunning as I walk on, but it does make it problematic finding a trail down to the sea. I walk through a small fishing village which also contains quite a few persimmon trees. Back on the main road there are stretches of long mesh tarpaulins along the side of the road where the locals are drying baitfish. I see no other hikers all day.

    I eventually reach a village called Daeyu around 1:15. This is the end of the road and my lunch spot. Although it's on the water, there are no beaches. I take off my boots and socks to dip my feet into the water at a jetty. Although there's a pipe nearby, there are fish as well as they jump into the air periodically to catch insects.

    Long walk back, maybe 13 km in total. I'm running low on water and end up with none on the returning ferry. However, I do get to enjoy the sunset over the water (took way too many photos). We reach Yeosu a bit before 6 and I catch the 555 bus back to the hotel.

    I have been looking forward to the Bledisloe Cup match from Lang Park, but daylight saving (in Sydney and Melbourne) means that it starts an hour earlier than usual. So I miss the first half. But I see most of the 2nd half and celebrate the win with soju and red wine. Go Wallabies! Hope that ticket for their match against Japan is waiting for me in Tokyo 🤔

    POSTSCRIPT: I woke up the next day and noticed rashes over the lower parts of both legs. They do go away within a few days thankfully.
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