Tsushima: Pinnacle for Cycling
By Mark Dake
Contributing writer
Tsushima Island is so far under the radar, many Koreans have only a fleeting awareness of it. Let's hope the status quo continues. If the secret gets out that this Japanese island is more beautiful and infinitely quieter than Jeju Island ― the favorite vacation getaway of Koreans ― they may start inundating Tsushima instead.
That wouldn't be good for outdoor enthusiasts like me and my Korean friend, Kim Heju, who spent five marvelous days in early August cycling Tsushima's low, steep mountains along empty roads winding through thick forests of tall, straight cedar trees, and by 915 kilometers of rugged coastline. In Asia, I've ridden my bike in China, Thailand, Inner Mongolia, Saipan and Korea. Tsushima is the pinnacle.
The island is 75 kilometers long, averages just 10 kilometers across and is closer to Korea ― 50 kilometers south of Busan ― than to the Japanese mainland, 150 kilometers off. In the sixth century, Tsushima became a province of Japan; during the 14th and 15th centuries, Japanese pirates used it as a base, and in 1950, S
Aug 20, 2009