Ibike Korea People-to-People Program
   
 

Photo essay: Jinju to Geoje-si

Jinju to Tongyeong  (50mi, 80km) After the last of the mainland hills, head out to some islands – but there still will be hills.
Points of Interest: aqua-culture, turtle ship
  Jinju market Jinju marketThe market in Jinju starts early. Individual vendors set-up at dawn, before many buyers are in area.  As time passes the shoppers come, many bring wheeled carts to carry home the days purchases.
  Riverside bike trail and walking path The river banks in many cities are used for non-motorized activities. In Jeju there are dozens of kilometers of walking and bicycle path. Besides trails, the area in the flood plain and inside the dikes is sometimes used for other kinds of recreation facilities like basketball and volleyball courts, inline skating ovals and soccer fields.
  Jang-seung, "totem poles" Jang-seung, "totem poles"Jang-seung, "totem poles", are a male-female pair of wooden spirit posts representing the earthly and heavenly gods. Usually locate at the entrance to a village on the mainland to scare off evil. They are smiling scary..

So-ttae, wooden birds on poles. Traditionally these marked the boundaries of a village and were for good luck. Contemporarily the are used more as decorative art.
  To help you remember that this is still a rice growing area I have popped in another rice field photo taken on this stretch of the journey.  The mixture of gold, blue and green is very kind to the eye and soothing to the heart.
    The historical point of interest in Goseoug are the Songhakdong tombs (several large mounds).  They date to the Gaya confederacy (42 -199 CE). Excavations have unearthed 1,000 artifacts: pottery, gilt-bronze earrings, horse gear, big silver thread-decorated daggers, high bronze cups, and glass beads.  The site museum is in the final stage of construction [2011] and the group was caffeine deprived so we moved on..
  Aquaculture and islands of the South Sea, Korea Aquaculture and islands of the South Sea, KoreaBefore we got our first good view of the South Sea, we could see the roof of a gas station decorated to look like a boat.  The gas station was part of a large rest area that offer great views of the South Sea and the extensive aquaculture that was being carried on there.  In the photo to the right, all of the white specks are floats that are supporting various kinds of marine farming operations such as oysters, scallops, mussels, and sea weed.
  Piles of oyster shells along the roadside, KoreaThe primary marine culture activity in this area is oysters.  There were long piles of oyster shells along the roadside (right).  Some were loose and some were strung together to be hung from floating racks for spats to attach to and mature. 

There were also what looked like scallop shells strung together (far left).  There are a couple of methods of cultivating scallops that involve hanging them from racks and ropes, but these set-up don't fit our understanding of any of the methods..

Oyster shucking factory, Korea Oyster shucking, KoreaThere were several long workshops along the road where women surrounded long tables and shucked oysters.  Cultural note: They seemed to be able to keep up a constant conversation.  Can they do it for a full work shift, every day?
  Buddhist temple The south of the country is more Christian, so Buddhist Temples are comparatively rare.  The one Buddhist Temple along this route was distinctive because its architecture was so uncharacteristic of the other temples we had past.
  At regular intervals along South Koreas coast are elements of their coastal defense system.  Though we are about as far as you can get from the border with North Korea, and still be on the peninsula, the block houses are a bit of a reminder that the Korean War actually never ended, it is just in an armistice.  This observation post was unmanned and hadn't had a good cleaning for a while, but the exterior paint job was still sharp.
  Bicycling across the bridge from the mainland to Geoje Island, KoreaThe south coast has a very active economy.  Beside fishing and aquaculture there is boat building.  We avoiding the most industrial of the boat building areas because these include the mammoth operations largest ship builder in the world.  The smaller harbors and ports were nice enough and sufficient.
  A small museum had a variety of models of Korean heritage, including a good size turtle ship.  The turtle ships were the armor clad boats that Admiral Lee developed to reeked havoc with Japanese supply lines and eventual force them to retreat from Korea in 1597.
  Nicely maintained on the south side of Geoje Island is a 6.25 cemetery and memorial. June 25, 1950 is the day that North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel and invaded the south.
  View from Geoje Island, Korea View from Geoje Island, Korea View from Geoje Island, KoreaWhether the route was along the shoreline of through the forest crossing the island, the back roads of Geoje Island offered delightful views and experience.
    Daega reservoir, road no. 1009, Daega-myeon, Goseong-gun Yeongun-ri, Sanyang-eup, Tongyeong-si
     
 

Jinju Geoje-do

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