Your Day One in Korea, hour by hour

Last verified: 2026-07-21

06:40 — wheels down at Incheon

You build the bike right there in the arrivals hall — nobody minds, you won't be the first this week. Grab an eSIM if you didn't pre-load one, fill both bottles, ignore the coffee prices. The airport does NOT sell the Bike Passport, so don't waste time looking.

09:00 — Ara West Sea Lock: the ritual begins

A short ride or taxi from the airport and you're at the start gate. Inside the center: ₩4,000 in cash, your travel passport for the ID check, and the little book that will run your life for the next week is yours. Walk to the red booth. Press the first stamp. That soft 'clunk' is the sound of the next 632 kilometers starting.

10:00 — the Ara Waterway warm-up

21 dead-flat kilometers of canal path to shake out the flight. Planes drift overhead into Gimpo, anglers nod as you pass, and the blue line — the one that ends in Busan — rolls out under your front wheel for the first time. Second stamp at the Hangang Lock, and suddenly you're on the Han River with Seoul's skyline stacking up downstream.

14:00 — Seoul slides past

This is the strangest part of day one: crossing a 10-million-person capital without meeting a single traffic light that matters. Riverside parks, tents, couples on rental bikes, someone practicing the saxophone under a bridge. Stamp at Yeouido. Snack at a convenience store with a river view. Keep east.

18:30 — first sunset, first motel

Most riders sleep around Paldang or Namyangju, ~70 km in. Find a motel on Naver Map (no booking needed), roll the bike into the room — normal here — and eat at whatever's glowing next door. Passport on the nightstand: three stamps already. Tomorrow the city noise disappears and the river gets quiet. That's when the trip really begins.