Biking East: Niagara, PEI & the Iles de la Madelaine

In May, I headed east for a conference in Toronto and, naturally, brought my bicycle. I convinced Sarah and Alli, who I’ve biked with in Argentina and Cuba, respectively, to take a few days off work and studying and go on a little trip. We cycled in the Niagara region, tasting wonderful wines, and ending our trip at the falls.

Then I jumped on a train to Montreal, picked up Diane, and we headed even further east, to PEI. Of course, we had to visit ‘Green Gables’ and see the red sandy roads. Like many cycling adventures, though, the best things were not the landmarks but the people – like the family who saw that we were going to camp in the rain and convinced us (it wasn’t that hard!) to come and stay the night with them in their beautiful, historic summer home.

From PEI, we jumped on a little ferry and visited the Iles de la Madelaine, small islands north of PEI that are part of Quebec. The winds there rivaled those of Patagonia, but the people were warm and friendly and the microbrewed beer, homemade cheese and smoked fish delicious. We even got to see the fish being smoked, hanging from the rafters in an old building, with small piles of burning ashes

South Korea: new and old

In April of this year, I traveled to South Korea for a conference and took the opportunity to spend a few weeks exploring the country. I found it to be such a juxtaposition of ancient and modern. The advertisements, lights, crowds and shopping malls of the cities were quite exciting, if a bit overwhelming. I got to ride a moped in the city, which was quite a thrill.

On the other end of the spectrum, the slow pace of the countryside was absolutely charming and peaceful. I've never before finished a hike at a monastery! Although I'd heard that trails in Korea can be quite busy, and the signage seemed to suggest this, I found myself all alone in a hut and on the trail. It wasn't until a ran into a "power expressing" ranger that I discovered the trail was closed for fire season. Oops.

People were wonderful to me and it was interesting learning about some cultural practices different than my own. For example, in place of the gravesites and cemeteries I know, there are instead burial mounds all over the countryside, with little benches for people to go and visit their ancestors. A more modern tradition is hiking to the little mount overlooking Seoul and locking a padlock to a fence to represent the enduring nature of your relationship.