I cycled to the north of Incheon today, to the start of the Seoul to Busan cycle path. There’s a canal-type waterway that runs west from The Han River to the sea. Since the mouth of the Han is shared with North Korea, I guess this is a/the way for water traffic to get from the sea to Seoul. Along this canal is the Ara Waterway cycle path (아라자전거길). There are many blogs detailing people’s trips from Seoul to Busan; just do a search! It’s something I’ve started doing in stages, and I’ll blog about it once I do more legs of the trip. Today, I technically completed part 1, and I’ve previously cycled from Seoul down to Yeoju; my next leg will start from Yeoju and go south.

This bike path starts at Jeonho Bridge (전호대교) and runs for about 37 km to the West Sea and the Kyeongin Hang Incheon Terminal (경인항인천터미널). It’s not hilly of course, being on a river, and is quite a pleasant ride. Once your tun off the Hang Gang onto the waterway, you have to pass through an urban industrial area before you get to the actual waterway, where it turn into a canal.

Some parts were cut into rock forming a canyon. Atop the north side of the canyon is the Ara Maru Circular Glass Floor Observatory (경인아라뱃길 아라폭포) where there is also a waterfall, apparently (I didn’t visit, just rode on past).

At the end, you cycle to a park at the a harbour type place. Where the waterway actually begins seem to be restricted so I couldn’t see the sea gates or anything. You can see the bridge that link Seoul to the island with Incheon International Airport on it and the surrounding mudflats.

There is the first red stamp booth for the 4 Rivers Cycle Path developed years ago by Lee Myoung Park and which forms part of the Seoul-Busan ride. This is marked with a big, round plaque. There is a gate, plus signs saying either ‘Finish’ or ‘Start’ depending on which direction you’re going!