CRAZY! Stranger In Korea Lets Me Stay At His Home! (Bike Touring Korea #3)

Good morning from the Nandok River here in South Korea. This is the longest river in all of South Korea and I was doing a little homework last night doing a little studying and this river actually plays a pretty significant role when it comes to the Korean War. It’s really crazy to read like the North Korean fighters almost did it. they almost captured the entire peninsula they captured Seoul and they just kept on moving south and pushing the South Korean fighters the the UN fighters and the American fighters like all the way down to this area but this is where they were held off like right here at this point. I was reading a few North Korean fighters were able to cross over the river but this was kind of where they where they were stopped and then they were eventually pushed back but you look at the map. they almost they almost did it and it’s kind of crazy you know, reading about Korea’s history it’s just it’s just sad it’s just sad that over centuries mainly in the past like hundred plus years they’ve just had so many other people meddling in their business starting with the Japanese in the early 1900s and of course you have China and Russia and my country and so they’ve always had people just like meddling in their business and we’ll talk about that a little later the Japanese colonial period was pretty pretty rough here for now we’re gonna eat some breakfast and then I’m gonna get on the road we’re going to Daegu and so I reached out to a guy on Warmshowers last night and so all packed up let’s eat some breakfast first all right they’re doing some work right there but i want to read to you what that army general did during the Korean War it’s pretty epic man this guy was the Rambo of his time let me read this it says, it is at this exact location during the battle of the Busan perimeter that the m26 pershing tank commander master Sergeant Earnest R Kouma of the Second Infantry division single-handily fended off repeated North Korean attempts to cross the river after units around him had withdrawn so he just stayed here like a badass and fought the Koreans the North Koreans at one point, Kouma surrounded by an estimated 500 North Koreans had to engage the enemy from outside the tank with machine gun fire at point-blank range so he crawled out of his tank. It’s like I’m done start firing at him with his pistol and grenades To hold off the advance. it says, Following nearly nine hours of fierce combat. He fought these dudes for nine hours, Enemy attempts to destroy the tank by infantry attack finally seized and Kouma withdrew 13 kilometers to the newly established American lines So he fought him for nine hours Five hundred Korean North Korean soldiers. They finally withdrew he goes 13 kilometers to the the new American lines and It says Kouma killed an estimated 250 North Koreans troops and He was only wounded in the leg and shoulder What a badass He’s buried in Fort Knox, Kentucky USA Wow, what a story what a story All right, so this is the plan for today We’re heading to Daegu. I hope I’m saying that right. It’s about 65 kilometers away and Today, I’m not gonna use the bike course. I’m not gonna Stick to the bike path that goes from Busan to Seoul. I’m gonna cut through some small towns I think and well for one, It’s a lot shorter that way and lesss elevation I saw and two I think it’d be nice to, Good morning, Yeah, I think it’d just be nice to to go through some towns, the the bike course is really nice But it can get kind of boring after a while, Just kind of going straight forever along the river with nothing to see besides a few trees on the side but let’s cut through some towns and see some people and see some restaurants and houses and things and so that’s what we’re gonna do today good morning. hmm my first bakery in Korea but I’m not sure what’s going on over here. is that Russia? Russia I don’t know not really familiar with those flags don’t look like they got too many options hello. see what is this? one beef uh -huh no this is cheese beef cheese okay what is in this one potato potato oh apple oh cool I’ll try one of those one. yes. So this is definitely like an import store. I don’t think it’s Korean, oh that is definitely not Korean. Where are all these products from? From Russia. Oh they look good, Russian goods. From Uzbekistan. Are there many Russians here? Are there many Russians in this town? Yes. Yeah? Who wouldn’t known? Russia, Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan. Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan. Wow, okay. Thank you. Interesting. When I turned the camera off he was like, why are you here? I think he meant like why am I in this city, like why am I visiting his shop, well I mean look at it. Look at his place. It has bread all over it and I like me some bread so I didn’t expect it to go into like an international place like that but let’s see if it’s any good. Let’s try to do a little apple, apple bread, apple jam, covered in powdered sugar, just bread right now, kind of dry. Well, still only bread, oh man, that is some dense bread, that is, no, still only bread, whoa, where’s the apple at? Alright, next bite is definitely going to have tons of apple jam in it, it’s more like apple sauce, I wouldn’t call it a jam, that’s apple sauce right there, that’s good. Alrighty, let’s try this thing. It kind of looks like a crepe. It’s really light and it says there’s beef inside of it so let’s give it a go. Kind of looks like a Risoles in Indonesia too. Here we go. Okay, that’s not too bad. Like a pancake, like a crepe you know and then on the inside it’s just ground beef and onion. That’s pretty good. How are you? How are you? Good. Russia? No, America. America? Korean? Korea? No, Russia. Cycling? Russia, Russia. Russia, Russia? Russia? Really? And you? I’m from Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan, okay. How long have you been here? Two years? Two years? Russia. Oh, very good. What’s your name? My name is Nick. Nick. What is your name? What is your name? My name is Vladimir. So she’s from Russia, so many, many Russians here too. This is Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Really, okay. In this town or everywhere? In this town. Alrighty, let’s go try some Kyrgyzstan food. Kyrgyzstan -y food, however you say it. Let’s change it up. Cafe Boorsok I wonder what Boorsok means. where are you from? Kazakhstan How many years? How long? One year, two years, three? Two? Three? Yeah. Three, okay. Nice, okay. With family, mama, papa? One. Wow, okay. How old are you? Twenty -five, okay. Alright, thank you. Let’s see what we got here. We got some hot chili oil, hot chili sauce, sriracha sauce, and more sriracha mayo, okay. What else can you get in here? You got some cake. What is this? Some big ol’ sausage. Yeah, that’s a huge sausage. what is that? chicken stock or something? pistachios? wow okay all right look at that that’s a lot of food okay then we got some sort of bread dish over here okay okay and then not sure what’s in that so for here okay okay so the tea just goes in the bowl okay and then just eat this a little sugar in the tea maybe oh yeah that’s good that’s good I like that and this okay just gonna eat it as this that cheese? cheese? no no it’s just kind of like white bread there’s something in the middle but I don’t know what that is butter sesame seeds I don’t know okay they dropped off a little ramekin full of jelepenos which is kind of rare haven’t seen that it’s Texas but let’s crack into this stew looks pretty damn good mmm real tender has all these green flakes on it these green seasonings not sure what kind of herb that is but you can taste it mmm onions have some look like maybe some chili powder or something on it get a good bite onions chili powder wow that’s pretty freaking good mmm that was a little bit too much for me so I’m gonna take it to go so put it in my little container here that was good though be a nice snack for the road 48k to go looks like I’m on the highway all right lunch taken care of back on the road had to jump on the highway there for a little bit didn’t really want to do that but back on the side road got about 45 kilometers or so to Daegu and so we’ll see how long that takes. Happy about the weather, nice and cloudy today, a lot cooler than yesterday, feeling good and yeah let’s just keep going, a little update for you. It’s a pretty cool sight so the statue down below it says you know something like in memory of 1 ,232 people who lost their lives, I’m not sure if it was just from the city or what but you know something like 3 million people lost their lives during the Korean War. That’s crazy, 3 million people. And like I was mentioning earlier, like, it seemed like the North Korean army had almost successfully taken the whole peninsula at one point. And then the South Koreans and the Americans and the UN forces were able to push back, even going far into North Korea today. And so, eventually settling on the 38th parallel, not sure if I’ll be able to go to the DMZ, that’d be pretty cool. But I think it’s just one of the saddest things about Korea is that it’s split up into two, you know. It used to not be that way. It used to just be Korea. And then that’s what Japan colonized from 1910 to 1945. And then after World War II, the Soviets were in play, China was in play, the US was in play. And then the North side, they wanted to become communists, the South side wanted to be a democracy. And that’s kind of where the start of the Cold War begins. And, yeah, kind of the rest is history there. It’s just really sad that, you know, one nation is split up into two right now. It’s basically, North Korea and South Korea, they share similar cultures that are the same culture, same language, everything, but just different ideologies and different governments and whatnot. And so that’s a shame. It wasn’t always like that. It’s not like back home in the States, you have like North Carolina, South Carolina or North Dakota, South Dakota, which I was reading. So West Virginia and Virginia, two states in America, they were split on ideological differences, that of being, could you own a person or not? And so back during the Civil War, some American history real quick, West Virginia, the region, the counties in Virginia that didn’t support owning people, they created their own area called West Virginia and fought for the Union. Virginia fought for the South, and when the Union eventually won, West Virginia was like, nah, I’m not going to go back to, we’re not going to, you know, go back into one state, we’re just going to be our own again because you guys were for the owning, buying and selling of human beings, crazy. But it’s a sad reality here, unfortunately, in Korea that it’s split up into two and they are night and day I love watching videos about North Korea on YouTube, it’s one of the most fascinating places to me, honestly, the Hermit, what is it called, the Hermit Kingdom, you know, if I could go there one day, I’m not going to, but I’d love to see it, I would love to see it. But, alright, let’s get on out of here. Back on the bike path. We made it Welcome to Daegu, I made it nice little city waterfall right here The mist feels really good too All right Not to be at the Warmshower place as you can tell it’s a huge city Turns the skyscraper apartments Ready to get off the bike take a shower and clean up All right before we Before we make it to the Warmshower place Let’s get some fruit. I just passed by the street and there’s tons of fruit stands and That way I don’t show up empty -handed, too We have some plums tomatoes Mmm, some plums sounds good. I haven’t had plums since Taiwan last year How much of the plums? 10 10 okay, let’s do one one, okay More sweet not sour at all, but it’s super sweet No, I like a little bit like tangerines too, a little bit of sourness I don’t know why, these are just really really sweet, pretty good. never seen a fountain in the middle of the river like that that’s pretty cool, but it lights up at night, too So, my Warmhowers, they’re somewhere in the middle of these big ol’ apartment complexes Hey, I think I see you. Hey, got a little waterfall in here too. Hey yo, hey yo. Alright, so, I just walked in, let me give you my first impressions of the place. I think it’s going to be pretty sweet. Min, thank you for letting me stay here. I’m guessing this is my room. Simple, yep, awesome, I love it. Wow, okay. Okay, big open living room, kitchen, he is a Warriors fan, it looks like. And not a bad view, so I’m up on the 14th floor. Oh man, I’m gonna enjoy it here. Thank you so much for letting me stay here. And I’m just gonna bring up all my stuff and take a shower, clean up, and just relax. And so I think this is gonna be the end of this video. And I’ll probably start like a Daegu food tour, hopefully. The Warmhowers host and I, maybe we can get out and he can show me around and we can go get some good food. But more to come from Korea. If you haven’t yet and you’re enjoying these videos, you can always subscribe, you know, that really does help the channel. Leave a comment, like, do all that jazz, you know? So, really does help. So this is, you can just get the table all dirty then, huh? my last guest. I brought him here so he remembers So this is Min, this is my Warmshowers host. And he just got off work and he took me straight to a Korean barbecue place and I’m super stoked. And also his buddy, J -ho, right? Yeah, J -ho. J -ho, all right. J -ho and Min and I’m excited, I’m excited. In a lot of ways, when I think of Korean food, the first thing that comes to mind is Korean barbecue. Of course, there’s bibimbap, things like that and soup, but when I think Korean food, I’m thinking this. What kind of meat is this? Pork. This is pork? Yeah. Okay. Okay, just random. Gotcha. Oh nice, thank you. Here we go. I learned that one on the ferry coming over here. I met a group of people and they were drinking on the ship too It’s pretty good. It’s pretty good. That’s the thing too, in Korea they just drop off a ton of small plates. Uh -huh. A lot of veggies, a lot of small things. All the pickles. So these are all the pickles you were talking about? Yeah. So tomato. Tomato, okay. I think one of this is radish, and this one is flour, all different kinds, amazing. This one is one of my favorite things in here. So you say you love this place because of all the pickles. Yeah, like, I mean, all the beef or pork, kind of same, like in all the restaurants, I mean, different quality but But this is what makes a difference? Gotcha. Gotcha, okay. That’s why I love it. Nice, alright. And the good thing about eating Korean food with Korean, they’re gonna show you how to do it. Pork. Okay. Pork. Garlic. Garlic. What kind of sauce is that? Samjang. Bean paste. Bean paste, okay. Whatever you want. Whatever kind of pickle. For me. That’s your favorite over there? Okay. Okay. And this one, too. Okay. The grilled veggies in here. Nice. This is the cake. Uh -huh. One bite. One bite, okay. Just like sushi, right? Yeah. All in one. Well? That’s how you do it, okay. It’s my turn. I gotta do that, too. Mmm. Bro. It’s okay. That is good. Man, they just keep bringing in, and it’s all freaking delicious. It’s so good. And these are all just vegetables, right? It’s not a pie tree. Mmm -hmm. A pie tree of roots. Does it sell this whole thing? Oh, just for display. This is a decoration, huh? Yeah. That was freakin’ amazing. First, first dinner here in Daegu. Okay. Or they look like sweet potato fries, too.

HELLO THERE from the Nakdong River in Southern South Korea. In this video, we discuss a little bit of Korean history as I make my way from my campsite to Daegu. I visit some monuments, discover a very interesting bakery, eat some Kyrgyzstan food, and then arrive at my Warmshowers host’s apartment in Daegu which I call home for 3 nights.

At the end of the video, we go eat some delicious Korean barbeque for the first time.

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00:00 When North Korea Almost Won
01:59 Incredible Story From The Korean War
05:02 Did Not Expect This!
09:18 Let’s Eat Some Kyrgyzstan Food!
13:18 On The Road Again!
14:14 Korean War Memorial
17:40 Welcome to Daegu!
19:55 Tour Of My Host’s Apartment
21:21 First Korean BBQ, So GOOD!
25:44 IN THE NEXT VIDEO!

29 Comments

  1. 자랑스런 당신은 미국인입니다 ㆍ❤❤ 한국인은 미국에대한 좋은 기억을 잊지않고 고맙게 생각합니다ㆍ미국인을 환영하고 응원합니다 ㆍ❤❤❤

  2. you studied a lot about Korean history. even some young people in korea dont know about these facts. so impressive i am sure you will have better result for these channel! good luck.!!

  3. 내고향 남지고 여긴용산리 낙동강이 네요~~^^ 강건너는 의령에 속하지요,안전하게 다니시길 바래요 ~~^

  4. 약간 우려스려운게 한국인 전부가 친절한건 아닙니다 너무 기대는 안했으면 하네요
    그래도 좋은 추억을 만들었으면 좋겠네요
    그리고 한국은 절대로 전쟁 때 도와준 미국을 잊지않습니다

  5. 서울에 가게 되면 광장시장은 절대 가지 마세요. 거긴 비싸고 정말 악명높은 곳이예요. 당신의 훌륭한 여행이 망쳐질 수 있어요. 진심으로 충고합니다. 광장시장은 가지 말아요. You shouldn't go to "Gwangjang Market" in Seoul, please. It's too expensive and unsanitary there. I'm serious.

  6. 미국 사람의 시점으로 우리 나라를 감상할 수 있다니 아주 신기합니다
    자전거랑 캠핑으로 전세계를 여행하는 건가요? 낭만적이네요

  7. there r many foreigners making live in korea, from russia area as u alreay heard n eas asia such as thailand, vietnam, nepal, india, etc.. especally chinesee r biggest population in korea, it's more than a millons now, if u stop by Ansan city where i live, u will see multi cultural street.

  8. saddest thing about after korean war, there r still people alive n seperated family which can't meet n call them each other, some lucky family got news from goverment works that member of families alive or death, there was serveral attempts to let them meet each other, but not any more, so sad..

  9. i recommend u popular food in Daegu as my hometown, try "Moong tae gi" which is raw beef sashimi, not tasty but a little expensive but worth to new food experience. n second one is " Mak chang" which is pork organs as popular drink side dishes

  10. 전 서울에서 부산 방향으로 자전거 라이딩을 했었는데,
    한국인인 저보다 더 우리나라를 즐겨주시는 것 같네요^^
    지금 어디까지 가셨는지는 모르겠지만..
    문경의 이화령을 조심하세요ㅋㅋㅋ
    당신의 안전 라이딩을 기원합니다!
    힘내세요!

  11. 대한민국은 결국엔 다시 하나가 될 것입니다. 그렇게 되면 자전거나 차를 타고 중국에도 러시아에도 갈 수 있을거에요~ 그때 또 와주세요~ ^^

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