Driving to Jirisan (Mt. Jiri)
Posted by Wesley on
Last weekend, our family decided to go out for a drive in the vicinity of Jirisan (Mount Jiri) as a summer vacation trip. As usual the trip was to be quick (one day without a sleepover) but efficient.
Dad is at the wheels. He's still quite able to make a long-distance drive, but I hope he doesn't overdo it. 15 years ago he was able to drive all the way from Quebec (Canada) to Florida (USA), a three-day trip (one-way) with 10 hours of driving each day, so our family could visit Disney World. He did do a round trip.
On Our Way
Dad is at the wheels. He's still quite able to make a long-distance drive, but I hope he doesn't overdo it. 15 years ago he was able to drive all the way from Quebec (Canada) to Florida (USA), a three-day trip (one-way) with 10 hours of driving each day, so our family could visit Disney World. He did do a round trip.
Gyeongsan Service Area
Because we started out early, we didn't have any breakfast. So after about an hour of driving, we stopped at Gyeongsan Service Area on Gyeongbu Expressway near Daegu.
Cafeteria
The cafeteria was well-stocked.
Breakfast
After picking our dishes, we sat down to eat.
Apartments
Back on the road, we entered the Guma (DaeGU-MAsan) Expressway. Here's one of the several apartment complexes visible from the road.
Green Threads
Also, a truck containing yarns of green threads passed by us. Daegu has a large textile industry.
Maxan
Here's Maxan's manufacturing plant. There's little doubt that the very mainboard I used for my wearable computing project was created here.
Hwawon Tollgate
Exiting the vicinity of Daegu, we entered a tollgate, which eventually led to the infamous '88-Olympic Expressway. Why is it infamous?
2-Lane
Because even though it's supposed to be an 'expressway', and thus a paid road, it's only a 2-lane, and has a speed limit of 80km/h (50mph). This is worse than lots of national roads (gukdo).
Expansion
At least it's getting expanded partially. It doesn't seem to be a high priority, however.
Geochang Service Area
We stopped over at Geochang Service Area for a coffee break.
Rose of Charon
There were a lot of rose of charon (Mugunghwa), the national flower of Korea, in full bloom.
The Mountain
Back on the road, we could see our destination, Jirisan, far ahead.
Bushes
Some interesting bushes came and went along the way.
Jirisan Tollgate
Finally, we reached Jirisan Tollgate. We were finally coming close.
Toll Ticket
Dad handed in the toll ticket which was used to automatically calculate the toll we had to pay.
The trip continues.