Han River Biking

So my best friend James left almost a month ago. It doesn't seem like it's been that long, but life goes on, as it must. The silver lining to that rather large cloud was that I got his bike, which was mine to begin with anyways, but that's another story. I've only taken it on two trips, because the rear wheel has a slow but steady leak, and I haven't had time to bring it down to the shop for them to fix it. I actually tried today, but they were closed, which is surprising, as many places around me are open on Sundays.

Anyways, I've gone on two rides so far. One on my own at sunset, and one a week later with my friend Amy. Amy doesn't get off work until 9pm, so we did a night ride of about 5 miles total - 2.5 east and then 2.5 back.


Even though there's another bridge with access to the Han River Park that's closer to me, I use the Hannam Bridge to get to the Park. This is because there's a ramp and an elevator to get down to the park, rather than the maze of stairs with a small ramp for your bike to navigate through.


The first time I went by myself was at sunset, which was chilly, but beautiful. There's something very calming about a large body of water with the sun low in the sky. Especially if you're riding around near it on a bike.


There was one part of the river where it looked like a building had sunk into the water, and a large crane on a boat was pulling pieces out. I don't think I've ever seen a spiral staircase coming out of the water like this before. It had attracted a small crowd of onlookers, mostly ajushis, or old men, walking on their own.


The bridges themselves are interesting, and I plan on going to try to see the Banpo Bridge Light Show, though it's been difficult to find out when it's scheduled. It's in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest bridge fountain.

When I went riding with Amy, we went a bit farther than I had by myself, and discovered this giant tunnel full of graffiti. Apparently you can come down on the weekends and see the artists at work remaking different sections of it. It actually looks really cool, and as graffiti is very rare in Korea it made it feel slightly more like home.