I'm having much more luck this week with my computer! Hopefully this holds out! Here are some more beach pictures from last week, enjoy!
Sokcho:
This weekend was both a huge and minimal disaster. We had originally planned to spend the weekend at Seorakson National Park, camping along the river. However, we drastically underestimated the amount of planning and work that it would take to organize a camping trip in the park. We did ask our lab assistants to check out the park’s website to determine if we needed a reservation for camping, but all the website showed was that the auto-camping was full, so we decided to assume that regular camping would most likely not require a reservation (like most camping in Korea), and head out to the Eastern coast. The bus ride to Sokcho was hellish. There is really no other word to describe the trip… The two and a half hour trip took about 5 and a half hours due to traffic. We left at 8:50am and arrived in Sokcho at exactly 2:16pm. It was the bus ride that never ended. I must say that 5+ hours is farrrrrr too long to spend sitting on a bus – the tassel bus – see attached picture. Upon arrival, and stumbling off the bus with shaky, trembling, stiff legs, we headed to a near-by restaurant to grab lunch. I ordered my favorite dumpling and rice soup! After our bellies were full, we decided that it was time to head up the mountain. There was a bus that headed that direction every hour or so, but seeing as we missed the most recent bus, we took a taxi to the park. Also, side note. The taxi driver actually pulled his phone out while driving us and swerved around on the road… Lol. This is where things went awry. Carting around our tent and large backpack (I carried the bag most of the weekend, and it was gigantic. My back hurts now) we paid our admission into the park and walked for a spell. We passed the giant Buddha statue, and walked a ways through the woods until I realized that we most likely couldn’t spend the night in the park, and had to make our way to the campground further down the mountain. We stopped at the information center to ask the best way to the campground, and found out that the campsite required a reservation and was full for the weekend. In hindsight this is hardly surprising considering it is peak season for camping and traveling in Korea. Now faced with no place to stay near the mountain, and too poor to make many taxi trips from the town to the park, we decided to abandon our weekend camping and took a one-way taxi to the beach. This taxi ride was insane. The man driving our taxi drove extremely fast, which I really enjoyed actually. He swerved in and out of traffic, attempting to cut in front of lines of cars at turn lanes, he was hindered by the police once which prompted a flow of Korean swear words, but managed to cut off nearly twenty or so waiting cars at the next intersection. I am not sure that I have ever had more fun in a cab ride in my life! I also really appreciated the fact that he only stopped at red lights if cars were passing through the intersection, no waiting at empty intersections for this guy!
This weekend was both a huge and minimal disaster. We had originally planned to spend the weekend at Seorakson National Park, camping along the river. However, we drastically underestimated the amount of planning and work that it would take to organize a camping trip in the park. We did ask our lab assistants to check out the park’s website to determine if we needed a reservation for camping, but all the website showed was that the auto-camping was full, so we decided to assume that regular camping would most likely not require a reservation (like most camping in Korea), and head out to the Eastern coast. The bus ride to Sokcho was hellish. There is really no other word to describe the trip… The two and a half hour trip took about 5 and a half hours due to traffic. We left at 8:50am and arrived in Sokcho at exactly 2:16pm. It was the bus ride that never ended. I must say that 5+ hours is farrrrrr too long to spend sitting on a bus – the tassel bus – see attached picture. Upon arrival, and stumbling off the bus with shaky, trembling, stiff legs, we headed to a near-by restaurant to grab lunch. I ordered my favorite dumpling and rice soup! After our bellies were full, we decided that it was time to head up the mountain. There was a bus that headed that direction every hour or so, but seeing as we missed the most recent bus, we took a taxi to the park. Also, side note. The taxi driver actually pulled his phone out while driving us and swerved around on the road… Lol. This is where things went awry. Carting around our tent and large backpack (I carried the bag most of the weekend, and it was gigantic. My back hurts now) we paid our admission into the park and walked for a spell. We passed the giant Buddha statue, and walked a ways through the woods until I realized that we most likely couldn’t spend the night in the park, and had to make our way to the campground further down the mountain. We stopped at the information center to ask the best way to the campground, and found out that the campsite required a reservation and was full for the weekend. In hindsight this is hardly surprising considering it is peak season for camping and traveling in Korea. Now faced with no place to stay near the mountain, and too poor to make many taxi trips from the town to the park, we decided to abandon our weekend camping and took a one-way taxi to the beach. This taxi ride was insane. The man driving our taxi drove extremely fast, which I really enjoyed actually. He swerved in and out of traffic, attempting to cut in front of lines of cars at turn lanes, he was hindered by the police once which prompted a flow of Korean swear words, but managed to cut off nearly twenty or so waiting cars at the next intersection. I am not sure that I have ever had more fun in a cab ride in my life! I also really appreciated the fact that he only stopped at red lights if cars were passing through the intersection, no waiting at empty intersections for this guy!
Now, I had been to a beach in peak season (last weekend at Boreyong), but I had never seen a beach as crowded as this one. The entire sand plot was covered in umbrellas and Korean’s huddling under them to escape the sun. The water was partitioned off with ropes and floaties, and filled with inertubes and inflatable boats. After spending much of the day walking around carting that giant backpack around the mountain and later along the beach trying to find a campsite that had vacancies (we eventually found a site right on the beach for about 8,000 won), after we set up our tent and I ditched the backpack, we headed straight to the ocean. After a day of constant sweat it was nice to rinse off in the cool water. The beach in Sokcho was much calmer and more sheltered than the beach at Gangeung, even though Sokcho is only a few miles or so north, I was very surprised at the differences between the cities. Gangneung had a much larger beach, and seemed more open, the walkways were larger and more orientated to tourism. I have to say that although the sand was nicer in Sokcho, I liked the atmosphere in Gangneung better. Anyway, getting back on track… After swimming in the ocean until our hands and feet were completely covered in wrinkles, we headed back to the campsite to attempt to start a campfire.
I had never seen any Korean make any sort of campfire, they all bring portable stoves and grills to make meat and whatnot. Honestly, I was a little worried to whether a campfire was allowed, but Christina persisted, and we gathered wood and attempted to start a small fire in order to grill some of the vegetables we brought along. The response of the neighboring camping Koreans to our attempts to build a fire was amazing! After watching us struggle for a few minutes with our small lighter, the father of a family with adult children next to us came over with his blowtorch and sprayed our fire with flames for several minutes until the slightly damp wood we gathered off the ground finally caught fire. He not only helped us start our campfire, but he also grilled us meat (I ate all of it obviously), and his wife brought us watermelon on several occasions! In return, Christina and I made them some roasted vegetables the old fashion, American camping way. Wrapped in tin foil and held over the fire in a steel grate. I have no idea if they ate them, but we felt like we had to return their kindness somehow! They weren't the only Korean family to help us out that night! The group on the other side of our tent (about three grown men) watched us make our fire, then helped bring wood and pine cones to burn when the flames got low. Another family, a father and son, came over to critique our campfire making skills, telling us something along the line of how we needed to burn bigger wood. The only wood we had was small sticks and pine ones. The father didn't know English, but the son told us that “small trees not good” and came back a few minutes later with nicely chopped logs of wood. We were told on several occasions that our camping was very good, and Korean children liked to run by and see the campfire.
Fire now blazing, and kept up by hords of friendly campers, we made s'mores on digestive cookies with marshmallows with licorice inside… The chocolate was cheap and melted, and each bite of “s'more” promised a weird addition of tangerine or peach from the fillings of the marshmallows. However, camping is not complete without marshmallows and we were satisfied with our strange Korean version! We roasted vegetables, and I ate all the meat that the Korean man kept bringing over! Lets just say that it was a loooooooot of meat. Delicious of course! He even provided sauce to dip the meat into! After our fire burned down and our potatoes were cooked on the hot embers, we extinguished it and went back to check out the beach nightlife and listen to some music. The beach was crowded and covered in a haze from all the fireworks, so we walked further down the coast on a cement levy. It was much quieter away from the main swimming area, and although Christina’s flipflop broke, it was a nice relaxing walk. We had had a long day of stress from confusion about where we were going to sleep that night, to spending many extra unplanned hours on the bus, so we headed in early to bed. I slept surprisingly well despite the heat, and was only awoken around 4 in the morning when it started to drizzle. I was a bit worried about the waterproofing of the tent, even with our tarp, and stayed awake until the water started leaking in. We packed up and moved out pretty soon after that, and were able to catch the 7:00am bus back to Seoul! We arrived home by 11am, and unknowingly I fell asleep for about 6 or so hours. Waking up around 7:00pm very confused, and absolutely convinced that it was Monday mooning. After realizing that this wasn't the case, and a quick dinner was able to fall asleep again almost immediately. All in all, the weekend that could have been a huge disaster turned out to be quite fun! I did spend more money that I had wanted on taxi rides, but that really can't be helped!
I had never seen any Korean make any sort of campfire, they all bring portable stoves and grills to make meat and whatnot. Honestly, I was a little worried to whether a campfire was allowed, but Christina persisted, and we gathered wood and attempted to start a small fire in order to grill some of the vegetables we brought along. The response of the neighboring camping Koreans to our attempts to build a fire was amazing! After watching us struggle for a few minutes with our small lighter, the father of a family with adult children next to us came over with his blowtorch and sprayed our fire with flames for several minutes until the slightly damp wood we gathered off the ground finally caught fire. He not only helped us start our campfire, but he also grilled us meat (I ate all of it obviously), and his wife brought us watermelon on several occasions! In return, Christina and I made them some roasted vegetables the old fashion, American camping way. Wrapped in tin foil and held over the fire in a steel grate. I have no idea if they ate them, but we felt like we had to return their kindness somehow! They weren't the only Korean family to help us out that night! The group on the other side of our tent (about three grown men) watched us make our fire, then helped bring wood and pine cones to burn when the flames got low. Another family, a father and son, came over to critique our campfire making skills, telling us something along the line of how we needed to burn bigger wood. The only wood we had was small sticks and pine ones. The father didn't know English, but the son told us that “small trees not good” and came back a few minutes later with nicely chopped logs of wood. We were told on several occasions that our camping was very good, and Korean children liked to run by and see the campfire.
Fire now blazing, and kept up by hords of friendly campers, we made s'mores on digestive cookies with marshmallows with licorice inside… The chocolate was cheap and melted, and each bite of “s'more” promised a weird addition of tangerine or peach from the fillings of the marshmallows. However, camping is not complete without marshmallows and we were satisfied with our strange Korean version! We roasted vegetables, and I ate all the meat that the Korean man kept bringing over! Lets just say that it was a loooooooot of meat. Delicious of course! He even provided sauce to dip the meat into! After our fire burned down and our potatoes were cooked on the hot embers, we extinguished it and went back to check out the beach nightlife and listen to some music. The beach was crowded and covered in a haze from all the fireworks, so we walked further down the coast on a cement levy. It was much quieter away from the main swimming area, and although Christina’s flipflop broke, it was a nice relaxing walk. We had had a long day of stress from confusion about where we were going to sleep that night, to spending many extra unplanned hours on the bus, so we headed in early to bed. I slept surprisingly well despite the heat, and was only awoken around 4 in the morning when it started to drizzle. I was a bit worried about the waterproofing of the tent, even with our tarp, and stayed awake until the water started leaking in. We packed up and moved out pretty soon after that, and were able to catch the 7:00am bus back to Seoul! We arrived home by 11am, and unknowingly I fell asleep for about 6 or so hours. Waking up around 7:00pm very confused, and absolutely convinced that it was Monday mooning. After realizing that this wasn't the case, and a quick dinner was able to fall asleep again almost immediately. All in all, the weekend that could have been a huge disaster turned out to be quite fun! I did spend more money that I had wanted on taxi rides, but that really can't be helped!
Travel in Korea:
Traveling across Korea is almost laughingly easy. Between buses, trains, and the subway system it is hardly necessary to own a car. There are several express bus terminals interspersed throughout Seoul, the largest of these is called "Central City Station" and is located in Gangnam just off the dark-blue rail line. There are several bus lines that leave from this station, the largest is the Honamseon line which services the west coast of Korea - we took this line to visit Boryeong - and other lines which take you to various other places in Korea, east coast, and southern parts etc. Tickets for the bus trips are often between 10,000 to 20,000 won, relatively reasonable considering the 3+ hour journey that I have traveled via express bus thus far.
Another good option is by train, especially if you are traveling down the west coast. Most trains leave from Yongsang Station, located in Seoul, and can take you numerous places on the Korean peninsula. Although most trains (unless you take the high speed train to say, Busan) will make many stops, dropping and picking up passengers along the way. After our never-ending bus ride to Sokcho however, I may actually prefer trains... Although they make stops, there is no traffic to deal with on the tracks. It costs similar amounts to take a train or a bus, unless you buy a "standing" ticket, in which you are not assigned a seat, and remain in the isle the whole time. This ticket is about 10,000 won cheaper, and I was forced to buy a standing ticket on our way back from Boreyong due to all the seats in the train being sold out until 9:30 that night... I would not like to repeat the experience. Standing for three hours is never enjoyable, and standing in a moving train that makes frequent stops is even less enjoyable.
One note that I would like to add for any potential travelers in Korea is to have a plan. Know where you are going, what stop to get off on if you are on the train (also estimated arrival time), general instructions in Korean or screenshots of places you would like to visit in order to communicate with Taxi drivers. I would also recommend making reservations at popular campsites and guesthouses beforehand. Reservations are not usually required or campsites, but it sucks when you arrive and the site is full. Guesthouses 100% require a reservation and this can usually be done cheaply through agoda.com, but it is also helpful if you have a Korean friend who can navigate the Korean websites.
My personal experience traveling across Korea has been very pleasant overall. I haven't had any catastrophic misdirection fails which resulted in me being driven to the opposite side of the country unknowingly, and there are always Koreans who are willing to help you out! On the way back from Boreyong, when all the seats were sold out on the bus back to Gangnam station, a helpful Korean women directed us to the train station and suggested that we take a train home. Also, last weekend, when Christina and I were trying to find a campsite to pitch our tent, we talked to a young worker at a full campsite who gathered his best English-speaking friend and pointed us to an available site.
Traveling across Korea is almost laughingly easy. Between buses, trains, and the subway system it is hardly necessary to own a car. There are several express bus terminals interspersed throughout Seoul, the largest of these is called "Central City Station" and is located in Gangnam just off the dark-blue rail line. There are several bus lines that leave from this station, the largest is the Honamseon line which services the west coast of Korea - we took this line to visit Boryeong - and other lines which take you to various other places in Korea, east coast, and southern parts etc. Tickets for the bus trips are often between 10,000 to 20,000 won, relatively reasonable considering the 3+ hour journey that I have traveled via express bus thus far.
Another good option is by train, especially if you are traveling down the west coast. Most trains leave from Yongsang Station, located in Seoul, and can take you numerous places on the Korean peninsula. Although most trains (unless you take the high speed train to say, Busan) will make many stops, dropping and picking up passengers along the way. After our never-ending bus ride to Sokcho however, I may actually prefer trains... Although they make stops, there is no traffic to deal with on the tracks. It costs similar amounts to take a train or a bus, unless you buy a "standing" ticket, in which you are not assigned a seat, and remain in the isle the whole time. This ticket is about 10,000 won cheaper, and I was forced to buy a standing ticket on our way back from Boreyong due to all the seats in the train being sold out until 9:30 that night... I would not like to repeat the experience. Standing for three hours is never enjoyable, and standing in a moving train that makes frequent stops is even less enjoyable.
One note that I would like to add for any potential travelers in Korea is to have a plan. Know where you are going, what stop to get off on if you are on the train (also estimated arrival time), general instructions in Korean or screenshots of places you would like to visit in order to communicate with Taxi drivers. I would also recommend making reservations at popular campsites and guesthouses beforehand. Reservations are not usually required or campsites, but it sucks when you arrive and the site is full. Guesthouses 100% require a reservation and this can usually be done cheaply through agoda.com, but it is also helpful if you have a Korean friend who can navigate the Korean websites.
My personal experience traveling across Korea has been very pleasant overall. I haven't had any catastrophic misdirection fails which resulted in me being driven to the opposite side of the country unknowingly, and there are always Koreans who are willing to help you out! On the way back from Boreyong, when all the seats were sold out on the bus back to Gangnam station, a helpful Korean women directed us to the train station and suggested that we take a train home. Also, last weekend, when Christina and I were trying to find a campsite to pitch our tent, we talked to a young worker at a full campsite who gathered his best English-speaking friend and pointed us to an available site.
Research:
This week's research is cut a little short by our trip to Jeju on Friday. We completed a ton of boxes last week, and this week are only going to do 12 boxes, that is about 48 water strider jumps to film and analyze, subtracting the water striders who do not survive the week of course. Last week Christina and I had (what is hopefully) our last water strider collecting adventure. We were able to collect a lot of the small species in the abandoned pool, however... last week I also discovered that there are particularly lethal and interested bee's living at the muddy water's edge. My last experience with a bee sting is still burned pretty horribly into my memory, and the slightest brush with a bee can launch me into a moderately alarming panic attack complete with me running in the opposite direction of the flying terror. I am actually relatively proud of myself for calmly handling each situation when a bee rests on my leg for a brief second, but the fear of being stung has definitely undermined my frankly amazing efficiency at catching water striders. Thankfully I have not been stung (knock on wood), and fingers crossed it doesn’t happen!
Last Friday was also our research assistants last "official" day. Hang-Ah left to visit her home in the southern part of Korea, apparently this is the hottest part of Korea and is nicknamed something involving Africa or Egypt, but Chae-Hee stayed on, and we gained another helper to fill Hang-Ah's absence. We are pretty backed up on data to digitize, so their help is much appreciated!
After our trip to Jeju for the weekend and part of next week, we will probably have to film a few more jumps, but the experiment is winding down just in time! Hopefully the dongles arrive so we can download the MaxTRAQ software before we leave Korea and can continue our work in the states!
That’s it for the blog this week! Happy reading!
This week's research is cut a little short by our trip to Jeju on Friday. We completed a ton of boxes last week, and this week are only going to do 12 boxes, that is about 48 water strider jumps to film and analyze, subtracting the water striders who do not survive the week of course. Last week Christina and I had (what is hopefully) our last water strider collecting adventure. We were able to collect a lot of the small species in the abandoned pool, however... last week I also discovered that there are particularly lethal and interested bee's living at the muddy water's edge. My last experience with a bee sting is still burned pretty horribly into my memory, and the slightest brush with a bee can launch me into a moderately alarming panic attack complete with me running in the opposite direction of the flying terror. I am actually relatively proud of myself for calmly handling each situation when a bee rests on my leg for a brief second, but the fear of being stung has definitely undermined my frankly amazing efficiency at catching water striders. Thankfully I have not been stung (knock on wood), and fingers crossed it doesn’t happen!
Last Friday was also our research assistants last "official" day. Hang-Ah left to visit her home in the southern part of Korea, apparently this is the hottest part of Korea and is nicknamed something involving Africa or Egypt, but Chae-Hee stayed on, and we gained another helper to fill Hang-Ah's absence. We are pretty backed up on data to digitize, so their help is much appreciated!
After our trip to Jeju for the weekend and part of next week, we will probably have to film a few more jumps, but the experiment is winding down just in time! Hopefully the dongles arrive so we can download the MaxTRAQ software before we leave Korea and can continue our work in the states!
That’s it for the blog this week! Happy reading!