Fourth week in a row. That's right. Against all odds, I haven't slept in in a month. As usual, my alarm rang at 7, and, as usual, I got out of bed around 7.30.
Last night I was up until two, packing and checking bus schedules. The 'Central City' and 'Seoul' terminals are both in Gangnam (강남), but the website did not specify which subway stop they were at, whether it was Nambu (남부) or Express (고속) terminal. I decided to go with the Express terminal and try my luck, hoping it is the 'Seoul' terminal, which I needed. After getting ready and doing some last-minute packing, I left.
I arrived just before 10. Upon my arrival I saw that I was in fact at the Central City terminal. Instead of going to Nambu, though, I decided to see if somehow there is a bus to Sokcho (속초). I don't know if Central City and Seoul terminals are both in the Express terminal, but I found routes to Sokcho. I don't get it, but that's OK.
My guidebook listed Sokcho as a 3-hour transit. The website said 4. It took 5. The traffic was horrid; our rest stop in Yeoju (여주) took two hours to reach. I imagine it'll be like that Monday as well.
I arrived in Sokcho at 4 and immediately looked for a bus stop so I could board a bus for Seoraksan (설악산). I really had to pee, but the Bus Terminal restrooms were completely out of the question. The #7 and #7-1 buses go to Seoraksan, and en route pass through Seorak-dong (설악동), where I hoped to get a room. I wasn't sure how busy it would be with the long weekend, and I was a little concerned.
A bus stopped. I stood on the steps and asked the driver if he was going to Seorak-dong. He motioned me to get on, closed the door and started to drive. He asked me where I was going and when I repeated myself, he 아이씨'd and dropped me off at the next stop, driving off without another word.
I had a little more luck with the next driver. He at least told me to go to the other side of the street.
Third time's the charm. I asked, he smiled and nodded, and we left. On the bus I heard a little boy, maybe 10, speaking very loudly. When I turned to see, it wasn't a little boy, but an 아줌마. Hahaha
I got off in Seorak-dong, a place with a fair number of 민박s and 역원s. Even though they're cheap motels, the exteriors in this tourist town are much nicer than I've seen elsewhere; they're rustic and charming, built with wood or river rocks.
I walked into one nearby the bus stop and asked if they had an available room. She nodded in affirmation, and I asked if the bathroom's attached to the room (these, of course, are my two staple questions). She grinned and nodded again, then told me my Korean's good (this, of course, is the 역원 owner's staple response). A young man nearby asked me where I'm from (in English, actually pronouncing the 'f'!). I was rather surprised that somebody in a rural area -- to me, everywhere outside of Seoul is rural -- could speak English fairly well. I told him the US, then went up to my room to unpack.
It was five when I arrived at Seorak-dong and I wasn't ready to go to the park until around 5.30. My ritual in-transit itinerary planning had marked my first day with a trip to 금강굴 (Diamond Cave), but it's a two-hour hike one-way, and I was sure I wouldn't have enough time to return before it got dark. Even though I had my flashlight this time, I didn't want another twilight stroll. I opted to go with Sunday morning's path to the waterfalls, which is only an hour one-way.
I was disappointed. After the quiet, rustic peace of Duryunsan (두륜산), unadulterated by massive crowds, the touristy-ness of Seoraksan came as an unwelcome shock. There was a restaurant or tourist shop every 1/2km, it seemed. The Trail was also disappointing. It was more like a Sunday brunch walk in the park than a mountain trail.
But the scenery was beautiful. The trail led through a shallow gorge, and as it darkened it was empty enough that I didn't see too many people. Deeper pools were teal and blue, and shallow pools were crystal clear, revealing the gold and brown rocks at the bottom.
빌용 "Flying Dragon" WaterfallThe server brought a tray loaded with my 비빔밥 & 반찬. There was no "맛있게 두새요" but it was served with a simple unfeigned sweetness. As she was putting the 반찬 on the table i was rearranging it to make room for my food and in so doing spilled some water into the 반찬. She picked it up and drained the water onto her tray. I thought it was a very kind act.
The 비빔밥 was good, but the 반찬 wasn't as good as what I had in Cheollanamdo (천라남도). The leeks were a little salty and the 김치 tasted like cheese (I don't know how; it wasn't sour or anything, but it just reminded me of fresh mozzarella), but I ate with the ferocity of a sailor suffering from scurvy.
Here's where I reveal all. If you're eating, stop reading. When I travel, I tend to find myself...stopped up. I usually don't poo when I'm with other people, but even when I travel alone I have issues. This time, though, I was determined to stay on schedule, so I ate as many vegetables as I could.
The walk from Seoraksan to Seorak-dong takes a good forty minutes, even without the stop for food en route. When I arrived back in Seorak-dong C, my neighbourhood, I stopped by a CVS to pick up some snacks for Sunday's breakfast and hike. As I returned I saw the young man with whom I had spoken at the 역원. He asked me if I wanted some coffee and I accepted; I never refuse coffee.
He brought out a Coke; he had run out of coffee. We sat and started talking. His name is 대용, like Big Dragon. His parents own the 역원. They're from 서울; he lives in Seoul and works in Seongnam (in 야탑동, two subway stops from me), but comes out some weekends to help his parents out.
He invited me to go fishing with him. And I did something which no sane, intelligent woman (and a CJ major, no less) would ever do: I accepted. I figured it's a chance I would probably never get again. That, and I had my camping knife in my bag, and I figured I could take him if it came to blows (not so, I found out later; he's a black belt in 태권도).
We went to Haemaji (해마지), where a number of boats are docked. He showed me how to fish. You drop the line in, and drag along slowly, trying to keep it as close to the dock as possible.
I immediately caught one -- about as long as my middle finger. It went back in. He caught two decent-sized ones before I caught another. This was a step down; it was about ring-finger-sized. Dang. But I was still really excited (I haven't caught a fish since I was 8: a rainbow trout in the Rockies that turned into dinner) and got a picture. How sad; I'm beaming like a medalist with a fish I could have swallowed whole if I wanted to. But it'll go down in history as the 20-#er I caught bare-handed.
That one went back in. I actually took it off the hook and threw it in. We were about to leave when I had my crowning moment. It was about 5 inches -- no mean size for this kind of fish. Boo-ya!
We packed up to try our luck at Oeongji Harbor (의옹지항). No dice, but I was lucky enough to be approached by a drunk guy to show me how it's done. It's times like these when I play my 외국인 status to its full extent and butcheredly say, "한국말 없어." It usually scares them away, but sometimes it'll backfire and they'll try to practice their 인그리씨 on me. Fortunately, this was an instance where the 위국인 factor played in my favour.
We headed over to Dongmyeong (동명) to check out one of the sights there. It was closed, but we did make it out to 영금정, or Sunrise Pavilion. We were heading back to the car when we passed a snack cart. 대용 asked if I had tried 오징어순대 (squid sausage?). I hadn't.
It was delicious. Most of the 순대 at Seoul snack carts aren't spiced up properly, my coworkers had told me. This was. And instead of putting the filling in pork intestine, this Sokcho specialty puts it inside the mantle of a squid [I did just look up the anatomy of a squid to find out what the 'mantle' is called; they're actually more complex than I had expected. All I knew was head and tentacles].
대용 & 오징어순대We headed over to the Dongmyeong Fish Market, but it was closed. Fat cats scurried from mat to mat, feeding on leftovers, though. We returned to the car to head back to Seorakdong.
When we reached the less-crowded road leading straight to Seorak-dong, 대용 asked me if I wanted to drive. Of course! He pulled over and we switched seats. I drove pretty slow, despite the two cars tailing me, since I know my driver's license isn't applicable here (I cunningly failed to mention that part to him). He complimented me on my driving (I speed up on curves), but I think I scared him when I screeched in to park. I couldn't help it; it's my trademark move.
While we were out, his mother, in true Korean-mom style, called at least twice to tell him to come early. Hahahahahaha I guess all Korean moms feel it necessary, even though they know their kids will never listen.
Before we parted, he reminded me to come to breakfast so we could feast on the night's measly catch.
It was close to 1am, but I really needed to shower. Between the hike's sweat and the port water shaken on me by struggling fish, I felt filthy. I could hear the TV from the neighbouring room, so I wasn't too concerned about waking anybody up. Shower, TV, and sleep.
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