For the Buddha's Birthday and Children's Day long weekend (May 3-6), Team JMS decided we were in need of a vacation. Like a vacation together. We originally tried to plan a trip to Japan, but in February all the planes and ferries were sold out. Yes, in FEBRUARY. Koreans don't get many long weekends and in fact, this is the longest holiday they have in 2014. FOUR DAYS. That's it. So everyone books their vacations early.
As an alternative, we decided to stick around and tour a place we've both wanted to go, the seaside town of Sokcho and the nearby national park, Seoraksan. Seorak is probably the most famous mountain to hike in Korea after Hallasan (see Jeju post).
We had four days, two spent hiking in the park and two spent in Sokcho or on the beach. The weather was incredible. The most perfect spring weather one could ask for. A friend of mine recommended a pension with an ocean view that she'd stayed at before so we booked it and what a view it was! So nice to wake up to the sunrise blasting in the window. It was a very relaxing and refreshing trip.
Day 1 - Walking on the Beach
Saturday was spent walking along the beach, relaxing, and eating food. We even stopped by the heart tree on the pier for some photo ops.
View from our balcony
Day 2 - Hiking up to Geumganggul Cave (Biseondae course)
Our first day in the national park was super busy. We went in the late morning and it was packed. I'm talking circus or amusement park packed. We managed to get through the crowds and hike past Biseondae rock and up to Geumganggul Cave. Lots of stairs were involved in getting to the small cave in the rock face, but it was a very nice view.
Excited to be in Seoraksan National Park!
A beautiful stream The cave! Yes, it's on the side of a mountain face.
Inside the cave, looking out.
Day 3 - Tandem Biking Around Sokcho
On Monday, we rented a tandem bicycle and rode around town. It was nice to have the freedom to create our own itinerary. Armed with a local map of tourist attractions and things to do, we headed out to the Jungang Market for our first experience of a real Korean market. JM even got his first 'ajumma elbow'. We had to pick up a box of Sokcho's most famous fried chicken, called Dakgangjeong, for which we waited in line about 40 minutes! It was crazy popular.
Making chicken
Insane line up waiting for chicken.
Finally! It arrived.
Next, we headed out to Yeongnangho Lake, a quiet lagoon just north of town with a lovely path around it. We stopped at an archery experience and learned how to shoot a bow and arrow, then stopped at Bombawi, a rock that apparently looks like a crouching tiger. Here we ate our fried chicken for lunch with a beautiful view of the mountains and lake.
Our view for lunch. Notice the mountains!
Shadow play!
After eating, we headed back to Sokcho and passed the Seokbong Ceramic Museum. Even though it was closing soon, they let us come in and see all the beautiful art.
Finally, we returned our bike and grabbed some local tofu soup, sundubu, for dinner. All in all it was a fantastic day.
Day 4 - Our last day was also our departure day, so we had to be efficient with our time. Waking up to the most beautiful sunrise, team JMS headed out to Seoraksan park early (like 6:30am early). We wanted to get a head start on the Ulsanbawi trail. This is one of the most famous hiking trails and it was sure to get busy. That early in the morning, however, we only saw a few other people. It was really nice to have moments in the nature alone. The weather was chilly and windy, so the waygooks in shorts looked a little out of place, but we managed. The view from the top was worth it. You felt like you were on top of the world! In true Korean fashion, we had 4G at the top and decided to Skype some family members.
Heundeulbawi - the oddly placed rock that no one can push over.
Our first real view of Ulsanbawi - yup, we went all the way to the top!
View from the top. It was a beautiful day - you could see all the way to the ocean!
After returning to our pension, we showered and hit the beach for an hour before our bus ride home. Sokcho was a beautiful town that we highly recommend. It was probably the most perfect weekend we've ever had in Korea.
This isn't even everywhere in Korea. In fact, this was the first time JM and I had seen this, but it was just plain strange. And dangerous!! (Frickin' dangerous - right Mom?) - This woman was literally pushing around a garbage pail full of water and baptizing the floor. Like showering it. She even asked people to move out of the way so that she could chuck water in their direction. It was so bizarre.
Of note, there was a man driving around on one of those zamboni floor buffers. But he was no where in sight when I was taking these pictures. The floor was very slippery.
It is very common in Korea to buy a product because it looks good in an advertisement or on the packaging, only to be thoroughly disappointed when you open it. I'm pretty sure there are laws against this in Canada, but not in Korea! You can promise just about anything, and then give something else and no one seems to complain. It's pretty annoying. We were looking forward to walnuts and flax seeds on these cookies. At least they taste good!!
As is very common when you are an expat living in Korea, a friend of ours recently finished her contract and decided to move on. What is always a sad happening offered JM and I the opportunity to gain some freedom. We purchased her scooter and have been touring around town on two wheels. It's great to have the freedom to go where we want, when we want! Also, with my sporadic work schedule, having transportation to get to and from home is awesome. Biking to work was a great workout, but teaching when you are sweaty is not ideal. I'm very happy to have my own scooter!
A large part of the Korean culture is love motels. Kids live with their parents well beyond their adolescent years [acceptable limit] and literally only move out of their parents house when they get married. At that point, their parents buy them an apartment and they live with their spouse. When they go to university and start dating, there is no place to go for privacy, hence the love motel scene. These motels are very discrete, often with hidden garages or fringes at the entrance so that you cannot see who is parking their car. The rooms are rented by the hour and are used almost exclusively for sex. That is, except by foreigners. The expat community capitalizes on these cheap, but clean and usually decent, motels for accommodation purposes. Since we travel to different cities almost every weekend during the ultimate frisbee season, we have frequented many motels. The Hotel 369 was our most pleasant experience. For 60,000 won (often love motels run from 30-70,000), we were able to score a lovely room in Busan just behind the Oncheonjang subway stop and close to Pusan National University. I wanted to share what a nice love motel looks like. This way if you go to one and ask to see the room, you can compare.
The Korean Love motel: it's your home away from home! For 3 hours, give or take.
Most hotels provide slippers
Clean bathroom, including tub with jets!
That's right, there is a TV on the ceiling!
Every thing was classy ... except the red pleather headboard and matching chairs!
Towels, robes, and a loofa were in a drawer
Free drinks in the mini fridge
Guests are given a "bathroom set" when they arrive that holds all the essentials in case you rushed to the motel
Including, but not limited to, toothbrushes, toothpaste, razor, bubble
bath, face wash,
collagen facial mask, condoms, lube, and other sex
things
