
~KOREA: THE BARBED-WIRE COAST, 2012~
13 summer days road-walking up the eastern coast of South Korea, on an utterly unplanned journey from Busan to Sokcho.
I walked much of the east coast of South Korea on an impulse in the Summer of 2012. Starting at Haeundae Beach, Busan, I followed baking-hot roads, slept rough most nights & had the best adventure of my two-year stay in Korea. My 13-day journey ended (with excruciatingly damaged feet) in Sokcho on the far north-eastern coast. These shots are presented chronologically.

Day 1: The Sea & the Sea of Humanity, Haeundae, Busan
Hundreds of beach-goers on Haeundae Beach, Busan, on a hot summer afternoon. I'd headed straight here after bailing from my awful middle-school classroom, free as a Korean magpie. This was my start point & really, a sane man has no option in these circumstances but to keep walking - fast.

Dusk on the Headland Path Just North of Haeundae
Yellow daisies grow beside the forest path leading north from Haeundae, South Korea.

No Way to Treat a Beach: Garbage Duty on Songjeong Beach
A team of older people clean up the garbage left all over Songjeong Beach, Busan. Appropriate behaviour in the outdoors has a ways to go in Korea.

Fun Times on Garbage-Strewn Songjeong Beach
The faces on the yellow bag say it all. I hurried on in disgust.

Night Falls in a Fishing Village North of Busan
A nice place to rest at day's end on the docks of a sleepy fishing hamlet. A kind local man offered his travel-agency floor for my night's accommodation.

Day 2: A Roadside Statuary Workshop in Coastal Sprawl
Statuary in a roadside workshop as I continued north.

A Holiday Beach-Goer & the First Barbed Wire
It took a while to get used to the barbed wire. It marred otherwise-pretty coastal scenery - & only got worse.

Roasting Human on a Hot Summer Beach
A man "sunbathes" while buried in the sand. I was cooking in my own style on the open road.

Exotic Fauna in a Beachside Village
The vacation vibe ran storng all the way up the coast.

Sunset & a Peaceful Fishing Port

Looking South Towards Kori Nuclear Power Station, Dusk

Twilight Tetrapods: The View South Along a Quiet Coastal Road
The day cools at last. Tetrapods are frequently used in Korea (as in Japan) for beach stabilisation & protection form tsunamis etc.

Day 3: Korea is Shipping Container Country
You see containers used everywhere in Korea as sheds, offices, etc. This was on the approach to industrial Ulsan, Korea's 6th-largest city.

Cosmos Flowers & the Factory Chimneys of Ulsan
Beyond the rice paddies, the industrial skyline of Ulsan.

Ulsan Cityscape: Passing Through Korea's 7th-Largest City

A Church & Apartment Blocks, Ulsan

A Gas Station Dog on the Trek out of Ulsan
Another curious thing about Korea: service stations always have guard dogs.

Looking South Over Ulsan from My Mountain-Top Campsite
After finally getting clear of Ulsan, I trudged up a small mountain & slept on the ground right about here. All night, for some reason, hikers kept turning up. One pair stood above me talking loudly - perhaps they thought I was dead. I disabused them of this notion with a stream of abuse.

Day 4: Encounter with a Fire-Bellied Toad on a Mountain Road - Top View
An oriental fire-bellied toad (Bombina orientalis) I found by the roadside on my descent in the morning...

How the Fire-Bellied Toad Got Its Name
..and its fiery underside.

Rice Paddies North of Ulsan, Dawn
Lush terraced rice paddies as I neared the coast following my night in the hills.

A Fisherman on a Pebbly Beach
Walking this long, curving beach of pebbles wasn't easy; I had a swim at the far end.

A Broken-Down, Beaten-Up Blue Bongo Van
Another curious Korea fact: Bongo (the brand) vans are very common farmers' vehicles. And they are ALWAYS either blue or white. This is a very educational website, right?

A Detour Inland, Farewelled by an Emotional Soldier
Brought tears to my eyes too. I'm a vegetarian.

Day 5: Dawn at My Camp Near Gyeongju
A row of enormous concrete pillars, part of a highway construction project, stretches across Korean farmland near the ancient capital of Gyeongju. I camped at the base of the pillar on the left & woke to find a farm woman glaring down at me in what looked remarkably like disgust.

Roadside Lilies by an Inland Road

A Lotus Crop on the Trek Back Towards the Coast

A Sad Face in a Bongo Van on a Mountain Pass

A Moth & Passing Traffic on a Mountain Road
A moth in weeds on a Korean roadside during my interminable trek over a winding mountain pass.

Rural Colour, North Gyeongsang Province

The Slow Road to Pohang

Squash & Hibiscus Reach Over a Garden Wall
Nearing Pohang: roadside abundance.

Sunset Over Pohang: View from My Hotel Room
Industrial Pohang, largest city in North Gyeongsang Province, where I spent a pleasant night.

Day 6: People Stare from Windows, Pohang
Heading on from Pohang in the morning, watched by weird westerners.

A Rice Paddy Below a Busy Highway North of Pohang
A bright green rice paddy between hills seen from a highway I really, really regretted finding myself on. But I survived, despite feeling very conspicuous.

Red-Hot Chillies on a Stony Beach
Chillies drying on tarpaulins in the sun - it was good to be back on the quiet roads of the coast.

Two Red Umbrellas on the Sun-Baked Sand

Dipping a Toe in the Ocean

A Crude Fence & Lush Green Rice Paddies, Late Afternoon
I had a nice encounter on this hot afternoon when some fishermen having a barbecue on the roadside invited me to join them. Very pleasant despite our lack of a shared language.

Sleeping Beach Furniture, Early Evening
I spent the night cowboy-camping on the beach near here. Koreans love to eat & drink in Summer at tables right there on the sand.

Day 7: Dawn from a Peaceful Beach Campsite
One of many lovely dawns on the trip.

The Beach Before the Crowds Arrive

Yellow Buoy at the Ocean's Edge

A Rusting Dolphin in the Early-Morning Glow
On the road again as the sun climbs over the horizon.

Numbered Buoys on a Slow Beach-Walk
I walked in deep, slushy sand along this beach.

Back on the Highway: In the Land of Gigantic Crustaceans
You can probably guess what type of seafood is popular in this part of Korea.

Danger Signs on the Highway North
I spent hours trudging along this highway..

Rt 7 Road-Sign: The Road Goes Ever Onward

A Spider Colony as Another Long Day Ends
Lush rice paddies stretch into the distance as I walk the endless highway in search of somewhere to camp.

A Woman Carries a Baby Down a Lonesome Farm Road
Another view from the highway as night falls. Not too much later, I found a secluded spot near the beach to pitch my tent.

Yield to the Spiders: Walking Into Night in Search of a Campsite

Day 8: A Fishing Boat on a Placid Sea, Dawn
Mornings like this make all the struggle worthwhile.

All Cracked Up on the Highway
A fellow traveller, casualty of the unforgiving road.

A Silk Moth on the Highway Edge

Wild Rose of Sharon Blooms & an Overgrown Shrine
An overgrown shrine set back from a Korean road, with wild rose of Sharon - Korea's national flower - blooms in the foreground.

A Country Shrine Beneath a Shady Tree

Looking Back Down a Red Crab Gauntlet

The View North from a Ruined Military Lookout Post
The view up the rocky Korean coast from an abandoned pillbox. Hundreds of these still stand on the rocky coastline.

Three Umbrellas on a Lonesome Beach

The Barbed-Wire Coast
A barbed-wire fence with a distant pillbox vicibile on a rocky outcrop.

An Oncoming Police Car & the Rocky Coast
I feared they'd stop and ask my purpose, feeling very conspicuous & slightly out of place among all that wire. But they kept on going - fortunately, as I had no purpose.

Day 9: A Distant Hotel Overlooks the Dawn-Lit Sea
A view of a Korean coastal settlement & hotel overlooking the sea at dawn.

Morning in a Quiet Fishing Village

A Farm Road Bordered with Power Poles

Floral Splendour at a Mountain Viewpoint
A steep road brought me to this excellent viewpoint, where I met a female walker going the other way & a young school student doing a long multi-day trip on his bicycle.

Looking Back from Just South of Samcheok
A view of the elevated highway cutting through mountains south of Samcheok, South Korea. That wasn't my road, fortunately - far too risky.

Entering Gangwon Province, Welcomed by a Roadside Bear

Late Afternoon: A Spider on the Rice Paddy Fringes

Day 10: Dawn in a Coastal Village, Gangwon
Morning views in Gangwon, my final province.

Snorkellers in a Glassy Sea

An Ancient Zelkova Tree in a Small Town Backstreet

Sunflowers & Drying Garlic on a Rainy Morning
Garlic is more than a key ingredient in Korean cuisine - it's virtually compulsory.

Kim's House: A Restaurant Below the Coastal Highway Near Samcheok

Mugunghwa (Rose of Sharon): Korea's National Flower

An Unoccupied Armchair, Samcheok Harbour
I spent the rainy night in this harbour city (n a hotel, not the armchair).

Day 11: The Coastal Road North of Samcheok, Dawn

Before the Picnickers Arrive: A Rainy Morning on the Departure from Samcheok

A Deer Warning Sign on the Road Back Into the Mountains

A Mountain Vegetable Plot in the Rain
Right before one of the scariest tunnel-walks I've done - & I've done a lot. It was long, there was considerable traffic & there was no pedestrian walkway.

A Looming Warehouse on the Road Back to the Coast

Sun Cruise Resort & Jeongdongjin Beach, Gangwon Province, Dusk
A huge hotel shaped like a cruise ship & a smaller pirate ship on the southern end of Jeongdongjin Beach at dusk.

Day 12: A Spiderweb Sunrise Near Yangyang
Distant taillights on a quiet Korean road at dawn near Yangyang.

A Slow Walk Through Sleeping Rice Country, Yangyang

Good Morning, Spider: A Quiet Stroll Through Farmland

Buddhist Statuary Observes the Passing Walker

Say It Ain't So: Another Derelict Hotel
One of several abandoned hotels on the north-eastern Korean coast.

Summer Colour on a Popular Beach

Beach Umbrella Sentinels, Sunset

Demon Surfer & Placid Sea, Dusk
A Korean surfer stands at the water's edge at dusk, a rare occasion for me of asking permission to take a stranger's picture.

Early Evening in a Quiet Seaside Village

Day 13: Soldiers Patrol the Beach South of Sokcho
A group of distant soldiers patrols a breakwater at dawn after I'd spent a rough night on a noisy bus-stop floor.

Patrolling Soldiers on a Grey Morning

Barbed Wire & Searchlights: A Dark Morning on the Northern Coast

Beachside Defences, Morning

Looking Inland on the Welcome Approach to Sokcho
A creek heading inland from the Korean coast just south of Sokcho, dawn. I was limping badly at this point, with blisters aggravated by hot roads & days of walking with wet, sandy socks.

An Abandoned Hotel & Bowling Alley on the Outskirts of Sokcho

The Finish Line: Sokcho City Limits
And after all that walking, I was on a return bus back to Busan within a few hours! In Autumn, I returned to Sokcho in comfort - by bus (cheap in Korea) to hike the beautiful Seorak-San National Park inland from the city.
































































































