Day 18, Leg 12

Problem solved. I sent a text to the motel manager asking how I should pay for my second night: instead of answering the text, he knocked on my door right at checkout time (11 a.m.), as I thought he might. Having stepped out around 9:30 a.m. and walked into town to find the local Nonghyeop ATM, I had already pulled out a wad of cash, so I was ready to use the machine again or to pay the manager directly. Since he was right at my door, I just paid him directly, and now I'm good for my second night here. 

Today feels a lot less stressful than yesterday evening felt. Enjoy some photos of me with hat head, looking exquisitely handsome. 

I need to get the facial hair under control, too. 

whoosh

the "I have seen God" look

I believe I've found my next passport photo.

I was too tired to shower last night; I think I could use a shower. I might go out again and have a late lunch around 2 p.m.; Jibo-myeon is a small town, but even on Sunday, there's no shortage of open restaurants.

Check back at this post for more updates (read: food pics) later today.

UPDATE: I guess we'll start with foot pics. Let's check up on our dressings, shall we?

This new, stretchable Leukotape has been on here since I restarted the walk.

Left foot: I seem to have picked up a lot of hair off the floor.

left foot: grimy but okay

From above, things don't look horrible.

This several-kinds-of-bandage approach seems to be a winner.

a bleed-through that never got on anything else

The injury has stayed gone this entire walk.

The real horror came when I stripped all of my dressings off before showering. The right toe had bled a lot under a couple layers of bandage. There'd been some leakage, but not enough to cause blood spots on the floor, on the sheets, etc. The toe had bled profusely, though, and then the blood had dried, and I hadn't touched the bandages since leaving Libertar Pension. So when I peeled everything off today, I was immediately hit with a foul reek of dried blood and unwashed skin that had been covered by bandages. I scrubbed at my right foot with two alcohol pads, and that wasn't enough to banish the smell. It did reduce the smell somewhat, though, and everything looked cleaner. No actual gangrene or anything. I then took a shower and gave my feet a good soap-down, but this was also not enough to get rid of the odor. Short of scouring my feet violently, there's little I can do while on the road, so I'll have to wait until I get home to give my feet a proper Epsom-salt soak followed by a rinse with something stronger than regular soap. In the meantime, there's no odor as long as I'm wearing socks and shoes in public.

My other priority was having a nice, hot meal. I briefly thought about going to the chicken place in town, but ultimately, I went to my go-to option: Chinese. Very carby, but reliably good.

one little, two little, ten little mandu, plus spicy, salty broth (I did make a dipping sauce)

decent bokgeum-bap (fried rice)

unmemorable but okay jjambbong

I'm pretty sure I photographed the following cathedral when I was here two years ago, and I may even have written the following insights:

I could read the last two Chinese characters: 성당/seong dang ("cathedral," lit. "holy hall"), and I guessed that the first two characters were the town's name—Jibo. And when I looked them up, I was right! Ji/지 = knowledge; bo/보 = preserve or protect. When I saw the cross and not a crucifix atop the spire, as well as the church's relatively simple architecture, I'd initially thought this was a Protestant church. Wrong! Then I read the Chinese. Seong dang always refers to Catholic churches.

All in all, a day of eating plus a little walking. Tomorrow is a 30K leg to the Songhak Motel, then Tuesday, December 10, is the final 27K leg. I won't be sticking around long unless I decide to eat at a local pizzeria that caught my eye two years ago. We'll see. Whether I celebrate in Andong or not, I'll be coming home to Seoul that same evening, then I'm back to work the following morning. 

Weather's going to be a brutal -6°C in the morning (21.2°F), climbing to a high of 8°C (46°F, tee-shirt weather) in the afternoon, right as I'm finishing the segment. Sunny and partly sunny, with almost the same weather on Tuesday. Nice to finish this way, and not with rain or snow. (Fingers and tentacles crossed.)