Day 5, Leg 4

Today is a rest day, and there are six of these planned, so you get to watch the day/leg numbers slowly slide apart until it's finally Day 20, Leg 14. As I'd said before, this year's walk is truncated compared to a more "normal" 600K-ish distance. This is basically a two-week walk stretched out to almost three weeks thanks to the rest days. 

No rain forecast for today, but I'll probably be walking in rain tomorrow afternoon, again at the very end of tomorrow's walk. Temperatures are a lot cooler right now; barring Indian summer, it's almost at the point where I can leave a motel window open without fear of letting any mosquitoes in. Nice.

As of 10:15 a.m., a few minutes ago as I write this, some of my clothes are completely dry while larger articles remain damp. I didn't bother to wash my pants; as stinky as they can get, they're not as bad as my shirts (and recall that I'm wearing two layers—an inner, long-sleeved UnderArmour and an outer, short-sleeved walk tee). Today, I need to pick up a box of extra Ziploc bags to bag up some items that got soaked yesterday (including, alas, my first-aid kit), and I'll be hitting that Chinese-food spot for lunch. A second day of heavy carbs, and no real exercise today. We'll soon know how that contributes to arterial blockage, I suppose.

I got up late; my feet still hurt (the right foot has a blister in an inconvenient spot), but that won't prevent me from having a walk-around kind of day as I re-explore Namji-eup. Here are some photos I took earlier this morning when I woke up but didn't really get up.  Enjoy.

why it's always nice to bring along some nylon cord

the fan that's helping with the drying

Leukotaped right foot; I'll change dressings in 2 days

Leukotaped left foot (because of irritation on top)

the inconvenient blister—you either pop these suckers or learn to walk with them

As you know, I'm team Don't Fuck with Blisters as I prefer to leave them alone to either deflate or pop naturally. This, too, shall pass.

There may be more pics later today.

UPDATE: the clothes and other items are mostly dry, so I can wear slightly damp articles like my pants and expect them to dry through light walking and body heat. I'd put up a clothesline (nylon cords are useful even when you're not camping) to dry my clothes along with the help of an electric fan; that's been taken down so as not to frighten the cleaning lady. It's unfortunate that this motel, which styles itself a hotel, doesn't have a proper Do Not Disturb sign to hang on the room's outer knob.

I went out and did some shopping at a convenience store: bought some bottled water for tomorrow, plus some drinks for today (Coke Zero and omija-cha, all low- or no-carb). The convenience store inconveniently did not carry Ziploc bags, so I went over to a Korean-style grocery called Go Mart and found the local off-brand Ziplocs. 

I'd wanted to eat at the Chinese restaurant for lunch, but here's what happened: I passed by the resto on the way to the convenience store and saw several working men going in and out, so I assumed the place was open. I did my shopping (convenience store and Go Mart), came back to the resto, and tried the door. Locked, despite there being people inside staring at me. No one inside lifted a finger. I shrugged and continued down the street to a restaurant that specializes in gomtang, a white-broth beef stew that I hadn't had in years. The stew was wonderful, and I now have a new recipe I want to try to make at home. 

My little stroll in shoes that were still wet and stinky from yesterday's walk in the rain has left me with no desire to go back out today. My feet hurt; they could use some rest and maybe one more hit of ibuprofen. 

What's wrong with this picture?

Was it like this last year?

a look up at the Heitz

city gardening

looking down the street toward my favorite restaurants

I wonder whether 화계/hwagye is Sino-Korean for 불닭/buldak ("fire chicken").

my beloved NeNe Chicken

next door: Godong Jjambbong, which was apparently closed

gomtang at the gomtang-jip

It's turning out to be a lazy day, which is what the doctor ordered. More rest, then a long walk tomorrow. 

UPDATE 2: most of the damp items are almost dry, and I'll be bashing them up so that everything in my backpack will be waterproofed. Except me, of course: my poncho lets in rain when it's windy, and my windbreaker, despite the "Waterproof" label sewn into it, isn't waterproof at all. Let's hope it gets less rainy as the weather gets colder the farther north I go. 

UPDATE 3: my one big regret from yesterday is that there was so much I'd wanted to photograph during those final five kilometers, but no way to do so. When I finally put up the full photo essay for yesterday, you'll see it stops as the weather becomes cloudier and skips to a pic of my fried-chicken tenders. Which were awesome, by the way. Much better than last year's somewhat dry batch.

PHOTO ESSAY