A Scare in the Night @ Yeoju-Si, South Korea

In the morning we took the subway to the bike shop. The owner was happy to see us and welcomed us with a smile. He helped us select and prep the bikes while we packed the panniers. With everything feeling good and no time to waste, we snapped a photo then made our way through the city to the bike trail. 

Navigating our way through Seoul’s city streets was somewhat stressful. We made frequent stops to check our phones and eventually made it to the river; thankfully from there it was smooth pedaling. We spent the whole day on a dedicated cycling trail, not a car in sight. We biked down tree lined paths, over scenic bridges, through several tunnels, collecting stamps along the way. The 4 Rivers bike trail might be the greatest cycling path we’ve ever been on.

With daylight rapidly fading we switched on our lights and pedaled the last stretch in the dark. We made it to our destination, Yeoju-si around 6 or 7. It was a long day and getting the bikes set up took much longer than we anticipated, but we completed 60 miles on our first day.

In Yeoju-si we found a budget hotel named the “Prince Motel.” For only 45,000 won per night ($33 USD); a steal, if we do say so ourselves. We checked in and the nice man behind the desk even gave us each a little goody bag. The room itself was surprisingly clean—could even be described as sterile. Out of curiosity we opened our goody bag and pit rolled a toothbrush, lubricant, and a condom. All of a sudden the black out shades, cheap price, and hourly rates made sense. We laughed and collectively agreed “a bed’s a bed” it was time to get some food.

With the bike crew in need of some calories we wandered out to the commercial street. Eduardo bravely asked a local for a BBQ recommendation. She began giving us instructions but as she rambled to us in Korean the blank stares on our faces made it clear that we had no idea what she was saying. So she waved her hand to follow her and we did. The kind ajumma (Korean nickname for an older woman) walked at a brisk pace a couple blocks. We arrived at a restaurant with several full tables. She jabbered animatedly to the owner of the restaurant, who appeared to be a friend.

The owner sat us and after fumbling through Google translate and pointing at items on the menu the waiter came out with what seemed like all you can eat servings of pork belly. Not trusting us to cook our own food the local way, the waiter stayed near our table and periodically turned the meat. We were happy to let them, because we’d just stumbled our way through a foreign city after 60 miles of biking and found the perfect Korean BBQ— plus it was omakase style!

After dinner we were craving a sweet treat so we walked around the corner to the local Baskin Robins. There we met a friendly server who grew up in New Zealand who was clearly excited for some English speaking company. We told him we were staying at the Prince Motel and raised his eyebrows. He said it’s known to be “a bit dodgy” and claimed some traveler told him it was haunted. Good thing we don’t believe in ghosts.

We went to bed with full bellies eager for a full night’s sleep because tomorrow we had 50 miles of biking to do. Adam, the sound sleeper that he is, fell asleep before his head hit the pillow. Helen, a light sleeper, put her eye mask on and slowly nodded off, lulled by Adam’s rhythmic breathing.

In the middle of the night Helen was startled awake by a noise that sounded like footsteps. For a confused second she wondered if it was the neighbors, but no, it was much too loud. She lifted her eye mask and to her horror, there was a woman standing at the foot of the bed. Helen reflexively yelled “Hey!” then (for some inexplicable reason) “Excuse me!” The lady gasped and muttered something in Korean. Adam woke up just in time to see her slinking out of the dark room. Still delirious and not quite sure if this was a bad dream or reality Adam clung to Helen in terror. Eventually coming to his senses, Adam got up and locked the door.

Our minds raced with possibilities. Adam mentally logged the time (10:58) in case they needed to file a police report. We debated what to do, but in the end we decided that it was most likely an honest mistake. Adam was fairly certain he forgot to lock the door when he walked to the bike to get a water bottle, and unlike most hotels this door was not self locking. Either way it was an unsettling event. It took our heart rates some time to settle back down. Fortunately, we‘d biked quite a lot that day and were very tired, so we eventually drifted off. However, from now on we will be triple checking the locks!

Authors’ note: we’d learned later on that love motels, like the Prince Motel, are very common in Korea. It’s common for young people in Korea to live with their parents into their 30s. The love motels create private spaces for young working couples who live with their parents.