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Published: August 13th 2006
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Seoul
Arrived safe and sound in Seoul on Sunday night. We went out to find something for dinner which proved hazardous as Carol spent the next 24hrs very ill. Anyways, she ok now. I wandered around a little and went to the tourist office (about the only place anyone speaks english) and booked some places around the country to stay. Seoul doesn't feel like a city of 10 million. It is extremely safe, women and children wander down small alley ways at all hours. I was approached by a few middle school girls one afternoon, they wanted to interview me for their english homework. Can't imagine a teacher in Vancouver getting away with assigning a project that involves approaching strangers on the street.
Gangchon
We took the train north east to Ganchon, about 1.5hr, were we stayed for a night. Carol was just recovering from her food poisoning so we didn't do anything too exciting that night. This town is famous for renting scooters, mini bikes and bicycles. We watched them rent mini crotch rockets to a man and woman in high heels who had no idea what they were doing (helmets are not included in the rentals).
The women made it about 20m down the road and dumped it. She was fine and a few options later they settled on a scooter.
Next day we rented bicycles and went up to a park. Checked out a waterfall and almost lost the key to the bike lock. In Korea the people take every oportunity to stick their feet in the water. If there is a creek or river they are in it. Especially under an overpass were they even pitch tents or set up a table and chairs in the middle of the river. That night we went to a larger town 10min away for their famous Dakgalbi, chicken and cabbage in a sauce that is cooked in a big frying pan built into the table. The restaurant is in an alley that has dozens of restaurants all serving the same thing. This was also my first experience with soju (comes in a pop bottle but is rice wine 30%!a(MISSING)nd they drink it with meals). Some army guys at the table next to us wanted to introduce me to their tradition (getting wasted in uniform).
Journey to Sokcho
We headed for the beach in
Seoul City
From 34th floor of the Samsung Building sokcho. Took a bus to Chuncheon, boat across Soyang Dam, Bus to Yunggu, bus to Sokcho through the mountains. The road was rather steep and winding on the way through the pass. There is an express toll highway built but the bus won't pay and takes the long way. Amazing scenery through the mountains. We were going to stay in the National Park but the road to the hostel we had booked was washed out.
Sokcho
Spent one night in a hotel that looked like a fairyland castle 40000 KRW ($43 CDN). This was about average for accomodations in Korea, 25 000 to 40 000. Walked along the beach in Sokcho to see the sun rise. We were a little late cause we didn't know what time it came up at but it was a cool (temp) walk. It is very hard to find places to eat in Korea. There is virtually no english on the menu or signs and the owners definetly have little english skills. You have to kinda go by the pictures of the uncooked food. Sometimes it's just a picture of a cow in a meadow or a chicken in a pen.
Samcheok
Gangchon
View from our room Went to the largest limestone cave in Asia, didn't expect it to be so big inside. We caught the bus at 6:30am and arrived early for the hike up to the entrance before it got to hot. It is in the mid 30's all day and high 20's at night. Inside the cave there is a creek running through it and the temperature is 10-15C so that was nice. After the cave we hiked to the top of the mountain peak and took a couple pictures before traveling back into town.
Gyeongju
Gyeingju is a big tourist spot. It is the location of the Silla empire and there are lots of historical tombs, traditional dance, parks, and museums. we spent the day walking around and stayed at the most informative hostel yet. The host spoke great english and there was a girl from Toronto and a couple from New Mexico there. We went to see the traditional dance with them.
The next day we took the bullet train (avg speed 270 km/hr) back to Seoul. Traveling this way is not ideal and we are glad that we will have more time in the other countries that
Gangchon Waterfall
50ft waterfall at Gugokpokpo we will visit. We spent one night in 4 different towns and travelled to the next city every day. Very tiring and it doesn't allow you see very much.
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Julie
non-member comment
Hi
Hey Jarrol, fast paced start to the trip, miss you already. xo