While there is a lot of activities to do in Seoul, Christina and I wanted to experience another part of Korean culture and landscape outside of what we see every day in the bustling city. A few weeks ago we researched some cities on the east coast with nice beaches and cheap accommodations, and we came across Gangneung. For the first two weeks after booking our hostel and preparing the bus schedule, I confess… I had no idea how to say/spell our destination city. Any time any one asked where we were headed I had to muddle around and explain the destination in a roundabout manner.
Our schedule required for us to catch the bus to the subway from our house in Sillim at around 5:30am in order to ride the 7:00am express bus to Gangneung. However… those of you that know me know that I am most certainly NOT a morning person. I almost never hear my own alarms ( I have to set about 10 in order to get up with one of them), and am most likely cranky and deathly silent for an hour or so after getting up. Let me just say that waking up at 4:30am was a struggle. In fact, I was actually late. Like usual in the mornings haha. Christina and I ended up reaching the subway at around 6:00am, and took the train in the wrong direction for a few stops before we realized our mistake. Thankfully at least one of our sleep-addled minds works in the morning (Christina's) and we eventually made it to the bus terminal, and bought our tickets for the 7:40 express bus to Gangneung!
I had no idea how mountainous Korea truly is before this trip! The mountains in Seoul are almost glorified hills, but as me moved further to the east, we wound our way through bustling valley towns, and drove through tunnels that took over five minutes to complete. I tried to nap on and off during the bus ride, but I was too excited to really fall asleep!
The bus we rode was extremely nice, in fact, all the buses I've ridden in Korea have been WAY nicer than almost anything I have ridden back home. Even the city buses in Korea are well maintained and clean.
The bus we rode was extremely nice, in fact, all the buses I've ridden in Korea have been WAY nicer than almost anything I have ridden back home. Even the city buses in Korea are well maintained and clean.
Sam had arranged for us to meet with a Korean biology student named Sarah (probably not the correct spelling), and we spent all of our first day with her, exploring the city! We saw so much more of Gangneung, and experienced new foods that Christina and I definitely wouldn't have come across with out her guidance! One of the first places that we visited was the homes of Shin Saim-dang (the face on the 50,000 won note), and her son Yi Yul-Gok who appears on the 5,000 won bill. Shin Saim-dang was a famous poet and artist, and her son a famous scholar and politician in the 16th century.
These "homes" were very similar to the palaces we saw in Seoul in terms of architecture, house layout etc. However, the homes we visited in Gangneung were surrounded by wide, open fields outside their walls. A start opposite from the skyscrapers and narrow streets that boarder the palace walls in Seoul. |
After a quick tour of the museums and homes, Sarah brought us to a delicious Korean restaurant on the outside of town. To get a picture of what "out of town means," the restaurant was completely surrounded by rice paddies….
I had very little expectation of seeing Gangneung outside of the beaches, and even less expectation of what a smaller Korean town would look like. All the experience I had had with Korea until this point mainly centered around crowded cities, smoggy air, and a considerable amount of english… There was zero english in Gangneung outside of the beach areas, and even then the english was very slim. Christina and I actually met some english teachers while we were walking along the beach. Of the two ladies that we talked to out of a group of around six people, one was from Colorado, and the other from South Africa. They talked about how hard it is to like in Gangneung and not know english - which I can fully agree with - and how visiting Seoul was a complete shock. They were surprised at the easy accessibility Seoul provides to english speakers. Before visiting Gangneung, I really had no idea how good Christina and I have it…
Another thing that is interesting to note, life in Gangneung was definitely slower than in Seoul. The public transportation system wasn't very efficient, so most people were leisurely riding their bikes (students especially), and enjoying the wide open parks and a large saltwater lake that sits on the edge of town, directly across from the beach.
Another thing that is interesting to note, life in Gangneung was definitely slower than in Seoul. The public transportation system wasn't very efficient, so most people were leisurely riding their bikes (students especially), and enjoying the wide open parks and a large saltwater lake that sits on the edge of town, directly across from the beach.
This lake was a lot larger than I think Sarah, Christina, or I budgeted time for. It took us a very long time to make it around, and we didn't walk completely around the entire lake. There were a lot of walkers, and people peddling rented family sized bikes. In particular, one boy was biking with his mother and he was yelling and falling his arms. Christina and I were watching him with concern and relative confusion while Sarah just laughed. Later she translated for us, and apparently the boy thought his mom was biking too fast and was yelling "Mom slow down! This is too fast," but the mom didn't want to slow down so she kept peddling at a breakneck pace… All in all, it was a very exciting walk around the lake!
We finally made it to the beach, after stopping for some traditional Korean tea, yummy! Although Christina hated it… haha. The beach was beautiful! The sound of the waves crashing against the shore, and fast spoken Korean filled the air. Along with minute particles of sand, and the sound of the ajjuma's in the panoramic yelling. Sarah said that they were a middle or high school rennin party. We watched for a while as they played relay games on the beach. One of the events involved walking in flippers on the sand. Clearly, none of these ladies knew how to do it properly (just walk backwards, heels first), they were stumbling and struggling back and forth. I was very temped to go and show them how it is done!
After dinner, Sarah helped us take a taxi back to our quest house… my second taxi ride ever! In fact, my first taxi ride was in Gangeung! Christina and I then decided to walk back along the beach! And lo and behold, as we were walking along the water I heard, "Katie." Which, in the U.S., is a pretty common occurrence, so I usually just ignore it. However, I decided to look, and there were the guys sitting one one of the benches on the beach! Christina and I had been wondering if they had been able to make it, but we hadn't had any contact with them since that week. After joining the guys, we watched as the sun went down and the beach came alive. During the day the beach was covered mostly with tents and a few korean families huddled in the shade. However, when the sun went down Korean couples came out of the woodwork! They were everywhere, and it seemed that everyone wanted to set off fireworks. The beach at the night was not nearly as enjoyable as during the day… There was a persistent cloud of smoke hanging in the air from the fireworks, and bright lights illuminated sections of the sand. Also, there were a few close firework accidents. Most of the fireworks are set off while holding them in your hands, although one particularly stupid kid decided to set one off by holding it in his mouth… but anyway, a few times fireworks were shot directly at people. One kid shot some fireworks at a couple sitting by the water, and ran away as fast as he could when they turned around in shock. I really would like to know how many firework related injuries the doctors treat in the hospitals in Gangneung…
As it got later the boys wanted to find a quiet spot to sleep on the beach, so we headed back towards one of the smaller and less busy sections of the beach closer to where Christina and I stayed. On the way we passed the lighted foot bridge! Most of Gangneung along the beach was lit up with bright, neon, fluorescent signs… Almost boarding on tacky, but this bridge was very pretty! It alternated between several colors, including a rainbow pattern!
Earlier that day, Christina and I decided to get up to watch the sun rise, se we headed back to our hostile for the night. The hostel was one big room made up of eight or so bunk beds. There was a small kitchen in the corner and a bathroom. On a whim, I decided to bring the sleep mask I kept from the plane ride along to Gangneung. Thank goodness I did! We couldn't figure out how to turn out the lights, so the sleep mask proved to be very helpful! It was now around 11:00pm and we had been up since about 4:30am. I was exhausted!
After the sunrise, we decided to go back to bed until breakfast at 8:00am. The breakfast was delicious (kimbap and some sort of tofu soup), but it took me at least 10 minutes to find the kitchen for the guesthouse… Of course Christina found it right away. But me and two other Korean girls staying at the guesthouse walked around the guesthouse complex, barging into random korean people's homes until we finally made it to the kitchen. In our defense, it really was hidden in the very back of a confusing courtyard… For the rest of the day Christina and I headed back to the beach to swim (we were one of maybe 5 people swimming on the entire beach), and sit for a while in the sun. We swam until about 11:00am, and headed back to clean up before the check out time of our guesthouse.
All in all I had a fantastic weekend in Gangneung! I really enjoyed meeting and getting to know Sarah! We bonded over Frozen haha, and it was cool to see the guys and hear about how their trip is going. Our experiences in Korea are definitely much different! One thing I noticed about Korean beaches, is that swimsuits or bikinis basically do not exist. People wore long pants, long shirts, and sun hats during their daily stroll. Even the guys always wore shirts. This beach culture its drastically different from the tanning, bikini clad beaches I am used to! I have to admit, I kind of appreciate the change! Although it felt strange wearing my swimsuit… I definitely want to visit Gangneung again before we leave! It really is a beautiful city full of tradition and rich in Korean culture… also, the beach is pretty nice ;)
Have a great week everyone! This weekend Christina and I will be embarking on adventures in Seoul so look forward to next week's posting!
Have a great week everyone! This weekend Christina and I will be embarking on adventures in Seoul so look forward to next week's posting!