The guy traveled across Korea by bicycle

To mark the wonderful milestone of turning 25, Dang The Bao (25 years old), from Hai Duong province, took a cycling trip across South Korea, flying the red flag with a yellow star on Hallasan mountain, the highest in the country.

Watching the moon hovering over the top of Chirisan hill, welcoming the sunrise, watching the sunset from the East Sea or blending in with the first cold wind of the season near the mountain range next to North Korea and the salty sea scent of Jeju Island, those are the experiences that Dang The Bao excitedly recounted about his 16-day cycling journey of more than 2,000 km across Korea.

Portrait of Dang The Bao

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Dang The Bao works at Volvo and Hyundai Joint Venture Company in Busan City (South Korea). This cross-country bicycle trip has been cherished by Bao since 2021 when he saw a post by a Vietnamese international student who completed a 663 km bike ride. At that time, Bao thought, why can others do it, but not him? He must do it and do more than that. From here, the young man has gradually prepared for the journey to realize his dream.

The Bao completed a 633 km journey along the Han River.

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Instead of using public transport to travel, this young man chose to ride a bicycle every day. Bao said: "The distance from home to the company is about 6 km, I consider this a physical preparation for conquering my dream. I cycled every day for 4 months to stabilize my physical condition. After that, my backpacking trip began." In the first 8 days of the journey, Bao completed a distance of more than 1,300 km, starting from Busan City to the North to Incheon City. Then, he continued to the east in Gangwon Province and continued to Pohang, Mungyong, Gunsan, Mokpo and ended in Gwangyang City.

The Bao (left) meets and interacts with a friend from France

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In the following days, Bao continued cycling along the Han River, covering a distance of 663 km. During the journey, the young man made friends with people he never thought he would meet in his life. Bao shared: "When I arrived in Incheon, I met some Koreans and French people and they wondered why I always had the Vietnamese flag hanging on my bike. And I was always proud to say that I was Vietnamese." Cycling across Korea completely changed Bao's thinking about this country. Bao said: "Before, I thought Korea was a place with only skyscrapers and leading technology corporations. But when cycling across Korea, I witnessed many types of terrain and beautiful scenery. For example, the sunset on large rivers, moon-watching on hills or pristine beaches... These were all scenes I had never seen before. It turns out, Korea is also very poetic and peaceful."

The Bao always carries the Vietnamese flag with him.

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After completing the first two stages which took about 12 days, Bao ended his journey with a 4-day, 3-night trip around Jeju Island. Here, Bao conquered Hallasan Peak (the highest mountain in Korea). Bao recounted: "When I was near the top of the mountain, unfortunately there was a big snowstorm. At that time, I was soaked and very cold, but luckily I still conquered the mountain and the Vietnamese flag reached the top." Bao said that when he planted the flag, he was really proud. At first, he only intended to prove that he was capable of conquering the highest mountains. But when he climbed up, the first thing Bao wanted to do was to show that he showed the will and resilience of the Vietnamese people. During Bao's trip, his tire was punctured a few times and the chain slipped due to road conditions, but he did not encounter any dangerous incidents. Bao said, {The flat tire did not cause any difficulty, because the experience of 4 months of practice helped me handle all those situations". During the journey to conquer Korea, Bao had the deepest impression of watching the moon on the sea. Bao excitedly said: "After crossing Seoraksan mountain near the North Korean border, I also watched the moon rise from the sea. At that time, I did not want to pedal any more, I sat here for a long time and enjoyed that wonderful feeling".

The Bao also received a certificate of merit after completing the journey.

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For Bao, this trip is an environment to practice his patience and how to balance emotions in life. Bao shared: "Sometimes I feel a lot of pressure, so I find a way to... heal. Cycling is one of the effective things to do. Going on a long journey is really not simple, but I am sure it will give you experiences that you do not have to spend money to get."

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chang-trai-di-phuot-xuyen-han-quoc-bang-xe-dap-185240821164827943.htm