Chuseok, round 2, Part 2

So because we had a three day weekend, plans were to head out of Seoul. Originally I'd wanted to go down to Busan for a river lantern festival, but most festivals this year have been canceled due to an over-reactive government, and sadly the lantern festival was one of the victims. The other issue was traffic and travelling. I'd also thought about doing a quick Japan trip, but all flights to Japan were overly expensive, and all the flights to Jeju-do (Korea's version of Hawaii) had been booked months in advance. The traffic leaving Seoul the weekend of Chuseok is horrendous (I experienced it first hand last year when I drove to Pyongtaek with my co-teacher - what should have taken about 45 minutes actually took about 5.5 hours.) It's like Thanksgiving traffic on steroids. So - any travel using the road system was out, and all flights were gone. The KTX train was booked as well, which left us with the subway system and...boats! So, that's exactly what we did.

Thanks to the resourcefulness of some of James' friends, we found a lovely little island off the west coast of Incheon (Seoul's main airport). Originally we'd though about Moui-do or Yeongheung-do, but were somehow re-routed to Ijak-do (do - pronounced 'doh' - is Korean for island). Rather than being a problem, this turned out to be perfect.


Once we got to the Incheon area, we had to take a ferry to the island. There were only two ferries a day, one at 9am and one at 2pm. Because I live about a 2 hour subway ride from the ferry, I decided to take the 2pm ferry on Friday. James, Kathryn, Gary, and Juliet all caught the same one. There were about 8 other people that went as well, but they stayed in Incheon on Thursday night, and caught the first ferry out on Friday morning.

Gary, Juliet, Jack (the dog), James, and Kathryn in front of the Rainbow - our ferry to Ijak-do

The ferry ride was interesting in itself. I'd only been on a ferry once before with Steph, but it was more for sightseeing than for transportation. I'm not sure what the ferry is like when the seas get rough, but at one point while sitting on the main level, you would see only the sky, and then only the sea out the window - Kathryn was convinced we were going to pitch over. I actually had an interesting conversation with her about how I've become so nonchalant about so many things. I've heard people say numerous times that I nothing seems to upset me, and I've said to more than one person that I can't remember the last time I was offended. I don't worry that often, and very little seems to phase me, though I certainly get excited about traveling and seeing new places. I'm not sure if it's just the fact that I've been through experiences in my life at a young age that most people don't experience till they're older, or not at all (like divorce or moving to another country), or if it's just that I'm finally growing up.


Anyway, the views were amazing, and I realized that I felt much better when I was on the top deck. I think the combination of the rather brisk breeze and that I could see the entire landscape instead of an alternating sky/water window made for a happier stomach. I convinced the others that the upper deck was more gastronomically friendly, so we spent the last part of the ride on the top deck.


We expected the ride to last for about 2 hours, but it was closer to 2.5, and we were starting to get a bit anxious. The ferry stopped at three ports, and we wanted to make sure we got off in the right place. We made it off the boat just fine, and were told by Jess, who was already at the pension, that a Korean man in a minivan and a bluish-greenish hanbok would pick us up at the port. Well, we disembarked with about half the other people on board, and after about 7 minutes were the only remaining people within sight. Aside from the building near the ferry dock, there was nothing to indicate any other life, or even which direction to take the road in order to find civilization. We waited for about 10 minutes for something - anything to happen. Finally a black minivan drove up with a Korean inside, asking if we were friends of Jess' in broken English. So we loaded up the van and drove about 10 minutes up some really steep roads to a pension near a beach.

I can't read all of it, but the left side says "Stress NO!!"

We unloaded at the top of a hill, where we could barely see a beach down below. After sorting out the accommodations (the five of us were to share a 'big' room - which really only slept 3-4 of us comfortably), we headed down to the beach.




The only people there were friends of ours. There was another group of foreigners staying at our pension, but they were all up in the rooms. Aside from them and the people that ran the pension, we were the only ones in sight. The beach was beautiful, and we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming resting on the sand, playing soccer, and just generally enjoying the restfulness of it all.

One of the people brought his own tent so he wouldn't have to pay for the pension.

We wanted to see the sunset, so we hiked up, and then down the road we came in on, to get past the mountain that was blocking the view of the setting sun.

Sitting on the road with everyone, watching the sun set.

It was beautiful.

We found a lovely spot on the beach to watch the sunset, and camped out there for about 20 minutes and watched it sink down behind the water.

Following in the footsteps of others

There were only 4 other people on the beach besides us.

After getting back to the pension, we ordered dinner from the restaurant - which was more like a kitchen near the beach, and enjoyed the side dishes but practically gagged on the main dish, which had a nice sauce flavor but tasted like it was made from ground up cartilage and low-grade meat. After dinner and several drinks, we decided to join the other foreigners who had built a lovely bonfire on the beach.


The rest of the weekend was spent hanging around the beach; swimming, drinking, eating, relaxing, and just generally enjoying each others' company and the peaceful surroundings.

Eating pasta for lunch on Saturday

The tide coming in

Kathryn and Gary walking along the beach

Making squishy faces from a persimmon

At low tide on Sunday we could see some sort of fishing apparatus on the beach that had been previously covered up by the water, so I went out to get a better look at it.


I'm still not sure exactly what it did, but it was certainly interesting.





And then, sadly, it was time to head back home. So being slightly sunburned, and all covered in sand, we piled into the back of a truck and headed to the ferry dock to go back home.

Not sure how I managed it, but this picture makes me dizzy.

Don't worry, mom, we were perfectly safe in the back of an open truck with no seat belts.

We made it back to Incheon, and took the subway to Itaewon. Almost everyone I was with also had Monday off, but I had to work. So after a lovely dinner at a Thai restaurant (I think it's the first time I've ever said "wow" after tasting something and really meant it), I headed home.

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.