Baeknyeong-do #1: Road Trippin' Around The Island

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So our original plan for this fluke four day weekend (Children's Day falling on the Monday and Buddha's Birthday falling on the Tuesday) was to go to Hong Kong. However flights were stupidly expensive, with crap times, so we had to come up with another plan. Yeri mentioned Baeknyeong-do ages ago to me, and I stored it away in my mind. With our Hong Kong planned scuppered, this seemed like a good opportunity, as we needed longer than a regular weekend to do it justice. However it was not smooth sailing, when Yeri got in tough with the travel agent, ferry tickets were already sold out for the Saturday, so we had to book for Sunday to Tuesday. The trip was cheap, due to the travel agent ballsing up we got our ferry tickets cheaper, and with two night in the hotel and a rental car the total cost for the trip, for all four of us, was half the price that one person's trip to Hog Kong would have been. God, I love a bargain!

So even after getting all sorted and booked things still didn't go smoothly. The sinking of the Sewol, a couple of weeks before our departure, didn't give us any confidence in the four to five hour boat journey that we would be taking. We were booked with a differernt ferry company, but some digging on the internet found that there had been a boat collision in the area a few weeks ago., sometimes I hate the fact that you can find out so much info on the internet nowadays. Then, on the Tuesday (I think) before our trip Kim Jong-eun decided to hold some live firing exercises in the area. So our trip was up in the air, should we go or not? Luckily, it all blew over very quickly and we decided to go ahead with our trip.

Our hotel was a two minute walk from the ferry terminal nice and handy. We got there just after eight and Yeri went and got our tickets and info from the agent. The ferry terminal was packed. It was sad looking up at the boards listing all the ships, their specifications, routes and prices. and seeing Sewol listed there. Those poor kids excitedly heading off on holiday, only to never make it. We got our ferry tickets and two of us had our names spelt incorrectly on our ferry tickets. A new procedure that they have introduced since the sinking of the Sewol is that people need to show ID when boarding the ferry. However, as with most things in Korea, this was only loosely enforced as the people checking our tickets briefly glanced at our ID cards and didn't notice the discrepancies between our names.

We headed to the ferry, and took some photos of it. Then headed inside to get our seats. we got sorted and then headed to the Dunkin' Donuts kiosk that the ferry has. We ordered up some coffees and donuts, since we hadn't had any breakfast. I only ate half my doughnut as I wasn't sure how rough the journey would be and how well my sea sickness drink would work. The dickhead sitting in our row spilt my coffee and didn't over to buy me a new one. Seriously, so I sat cursing him until he got off at a different island. We left Incheon at 8:50 am and we arrived at Baeknyeong-do at 1:00 pm. I slept for most of the journey, as ferries and boats are the only mode of transport that I can sleep on. The sea was quite rough, and there were some scary booming sounds at the waves hit our boat.

We disembarked the ship and were straight away greeted by the sights of men and boys in there military dress. There had been a couple on the boat, too. Due to it's close proximity to North Korea, only 17 kilometres away, there is a high military presence on the island. There are about 6,00 cilivilans and 5,000 military personnel living on the island. We are over two hundred kilometres from Incheon, but so close to the North. The island lies close to the Northern Limit Line, which is the disputed maritime demarcation line between the North and the South in the Yellow Sea. It acts as the defacto maritime boundary between the two Koreas. In the armistice the mainland reverted to North Korean control and the iland to the South, despite the fact they are so close to the North. Yeri was telling us that before the war the island was populated by North Koreans. Due to the island's proximity to the North, Kim Jong-eun has threatened to annihilate the island and everyone that lives on it. We watched the military boys march off in formation from the port, and then went to find our hire care.

We drove to our hotel, which wasn't too far from the port. It feels like we have stepped back in time on the island, it's so quaint and peaceful, like what I imagine Korea was like before its rapid idustrialisation and development. We drove for about tens minute and arrived at our hotel. The 'Paradise' Motel, well it was pretty basic, but would be fine for the two night we would be there. We ditched our stuff and headed off om our first mini road trip around the island. As we drove along, it was pretty surreal looking out of the car window at the beaches that were fenced up and topped off with barbed wire. These were the beaches that were facing the North and were protected against any possible invasion.

We drove to Kkeutseom Observatory, from there we had great views over the island. We could see down to the beach that we had drove past. The sea was filled with these large metal rods, that would prevent ships from getting close to the shore. We could also see out to the other beaches on the island, and in the distance, we could just make out North Korea in the haze. We spent a while in the car park taking photos, before heading into the actual observatory. There was some kind of military installation attached to the observatory. We headed up to the first flour and in the first room that we went to the walls were covered with paper birds that people had written their messages for reconciliation on. We all filled one out and attached it to the wire. We then headed to the observatory room. There was a huge map thingy of the different islands in the south and their proximity to North Korea. Whilst I think Ganghwa-do is closer to North Korea, than Baeknyeong-do, Baeknyeong-do is so isolated, four hours from Incheon, the nearest port. We spent a while looking out of the window. We couldn't really see North Korea because it was hazy, so we concentrate watching the soldiers watch the North. I'm sure that they knew that we were watching them and one popped out for a wander around and into the big camouflage tent.

After the observatory, we went for a drive around the island. We drove past the beaches that were all closed up, however one beach that we saw had the gate open, so we pulled up in the car and ventured in. There was a sign on the gate of the beach warning that there were mines, but there were other people on the beach, so it appeared safe. We didn't really venture very far, as it was cold and windy. The beach was called Eorisgol Beach. The other people on the beach seemed to be picking cockles from the rocks. After a short drive we turned up at the Lotus Village, it wasn't time for the lotuses to be in bloom, so we stopped off in the cafe to be fed and watered. We all ordered lotus tea, that was really nice, I'm surprised that it isn't more popular an widely available. This was the first time I've had it in all the time I've lived in Korea. We had some nokdujeon with it. Nokdujeon is mungbean pancake. It was okay, a little bland for me and I'm not the biggest fan of mung beans either, but it filled a hole in my belly, for a while.

We had a good drive around the island. It's so green and very rural. The greenness reminded me of home a bit, which is weird as Korea never really reminds me of England, apart from when it's grey and rainy, then it reminds me of home. Haha! We spotted a few marines jogging around the island, those lovely legs in shorts. Anyway, we arrived at Dumujin town, it's the second largest town on the island. Yep, it's tiny, think sleepy fishing village. We walked to the small harbour that is lined with seafood restaurants. We spent some time taking photos of the harbour, the boats, and the surrounding cliffs. We walked along the edge of the village and up a hill to reach the Dumujin rocks. The track was pretty easy, and there weren't too many people about. We spent a while there taking some photographs of the rocks and the coastline below us. We were contemplating going down to the shore, however it was freezing and blowing a gale, so we decided to wait until tomorrow, after we do the boat trip. As we were walking back to the village (a different way, to the way we came), a busload of tourists were walking towards us. We had timed that perfectly to escape all the crowds.

Back in the car we decided where we wanted to go to next. Time was ticking on, and it would soon be time for sunset. We saw a sign for the Cheonan Memorial and decided to visit that as it was close by. We pulled up in the car park and headed up the hill to the memorial. Yeri decided it was too cold for her, and stayed in the car. On 26th March 2010, the ROK (Republic of Korea) Navy ship, the Cheonan sank, killing 46 of the 104 personnel on board. Officially, the Cheonan was sunk by a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine. However North Korea denies that they were involved and there are some interesting conspiracy theories going around, too. It reminded me that I must watch the documentary Project Cheonan Ship, however I'm not sure if it will be easy to find with English subtitles. I can remember when the Cheonan sank, I had been living in Korea for about six months. Such a sad time, those poor people, who lost their lives. I think most were just young lads doing their military service.

We headed back to the motel via the atm, so we could pick up some cash. We didn't need much because Yeri had decided it would be easier if she paid for everything and then tell us the total at the end of the holiday. Same principle as a kitty and so much easier for all of us. We were all starving so we headed to the CU (convenience store) and bought a tonne of stuff. We spent a fortune on junk food and wine. We then drove back to the hotel and ran up to our room because it was freezing. The ondol had come on so the room was nice and toasty. We made a start on the snacks we had bought. We were all too cold and knackered to go out for dinner, so we ordered take out, fried chicken and pizza. We rang the fried chicken place, placed our order and asked them for the number for the pizza shop, bless the bloke on the phone was lovely and said he would ring the pizza shop and order our pizza for us. The pizza was lush, however the fried chicken was pretty mediocre. We drank our bottle of wine and watched some TV. I was knackered and unrolled my bedding around midnight and fell asleep.

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