Gangwon-do trip Day 1 & 2

Because of Buddha's birthday being Saturday May 2nd, and Children's Day being Tuesday May 5th (note: Children's Day is a national holiday and there is no school. The same cannot be said of Teacher's Day, which is Friday, May18th), Julie decided to give us Monday the 4th off. This gave me a four day weekend, and a perfect excuse to go on a little expedition.

I had originally planned to go with Adventure Korea for a tea festival and hiking since most of my friends weren't going to be in the country. Then James canceled his plan to go to China, and since we know we travel well together, we decided to explore Gangwon-do - the province to the east of Seoul that borders the East Sea.




Since James had Friday off and I didn't, he went to Andong on Friday, and we met up in Sokcho early Saturday afternoon.

The tourist information booth and bus terminal at Sokcho. I love climbing ivy.

After finding a place to stay for the night, we headed to Hwangsongdul Cave.

Waist-high field of flowers on the way to the cave entrance.

Fairy Falls, also on the way to the cave.

A mountain peak on the pleasant but steep climb to the cave

The cave entrance, with a bat themed ticket counter. We didn't see any bats this time.

The cave itself was, well, cavernous. The guidebook mentioned that it was the largest limestone cave in Asia, and that some places were cathedral sized 'rooms'. James and I had a rather long discussion on whether or not it was actually cathedral-sized or not. Seeing as how I've never been to Europe and seen a 'real' cathedral, I think he may have won. (He said it was a small cathedral at best.) Regardless, it was the exact opposite of the last cave I went to, which was small and slightly claustrophobic. There was also a large underground river running through it, so the sound of running water (which I love) was ever-present.

A view down to the walkway and underground river

Thank you Korea. I couldn't have lived my life happily before this.

It looks like an egg, don't you think?

Weird rock formations inside the cave

A rather out-of-place-looking wooden tepee thing outside the cave that had a waterfall that looked like the one from Kill Bill

We got back to Sokcho, and spent the evening wandering around the town. The next morning we decided that we would head to the Penis Park first since it was an hour away. The hotel let us check out but keep our bags in the office, and we went to go catch a bus. Now, for the sake of my possibly younger audience, I have not included any of the pictures of this rather eclectic, and slightly shocking park. I have, however, included pictures of the scenery of the area, as the views of the East Sea from the top of the park, as well as at the bottom of it, were amazingly beautiful.

From the top of the park looking out to the East Sea below

One of the statues overlooking the sea

I could have spent all day clamoring over those rocks.

I think this is wisteria that was hanging on a trellis at the top part of the park

This is one of my favorite pictures, even though it's slightly crooked.

The water was so beautiful. I shouldn't have been surprised at the number of kids we saw at the park.

The park only took about an hour, so we decided to head over to see the Unification Park, which had a North Korean submarine that had crash-landed off the coast of South Korea in 1996, as well as a US battleship that had been donated to South Korea.

Battle stations ready!

It was a big boat.

My fiercest attack face on a 40mm anti-aircraft gun.

James' face was better.

The inside of this was so small. I was bent over the whole time. I can't believe that 26 people were in here!

We went back to the hotel to grab our stuff, then we took a train to Jeongdongjin, which is famous for having a station right on the beach. It was the first time I've been in a real train (that wasn't a subway). I was rather excited.

The next cabin up on the train

A view from the train of the beach. Notice the barbed wire and the lights. It's to deter the North Koreans from trying to land.

The first train I ever rode at Jeongdongjin station. Korea has been full of firsts!

Why yes, that is a giant cruise ship sitting on a cliff in the background. How astute of you to notice.

Jeongdongjin station was amazing, as it was right on the beach (even closer that A1A is in Ormond). James gave me a hard time about this, but I was not happy with the set up of the station. You have to cross the tracks to get onto the train, or to get to the rest of the town from the station. Can you imagine having to cross train tracks in the States? Someone stupid would get run over by the train and sue the company. There's no railroad crossing signs, or stop signs or anything. I guess they assume that you should be smart enough to see and hear the train coming, and if you're not then you deserve to get run over.

I must take after my mother. Doesn't that just look dangerous to you?

After getting our hotel situated for the night (since Jeongdongjin is famous for sunrises, we decided to stay the night instead of moving on so we could see it), we began to wander around the beach and the town.

A stream emptying out into the sea

Empty soju bottles from the night before

There were tons of kids here. It looked like a great place to spend a family weekend.

A giant hourglass. Apparently a famous Korean tv drama called Hourglass was partially filmed here. I have no idea how often it turns.

The beach at twilight

I love the coastline in Korea - so beautiful!

One of the more touristy things in Jeongdongjin is the giant cruise ship that's comfortably nestled on the top of a cliff at the edge of town. James and I climed the steep entranceway to the ship, but it's 5,000 won to just get onto the grounds, not even get into the ship (which is a hotel/ resort), and we didn't feel like paying for a view, so we left.

Don't ask.

A boat yard that we clamored around until an ajushi yelled at us to leave.

James had never lit a firecracker, and since they're legal (!) and popular on the beaches, we each got one and lit them.