Korean Holiday 2013 - Day Four

Raining, still. At least they've changed the song in the lobby. Two days straight of "Happiest Girl in the USA" would be grounds for justifiable homicide. First stop was Hwaamsa (Hwaam Temple). Nice little temple with Rice Rock overlooking it. Legend has it that when the crops failed the rock produced some rice for the people. Obviously didn't have mental asylums back then to lock people up. Lovely river and waterfalls around the temple and great rock decorations. Some soldiers came to pray.

Rain pouring off the roof

Temple and pagoda

Rice Rock covered by cloud

Rice Rock in the background

Fabulous decoration

Inside the temple at Hwaam

Now there is an enlightening-style table setting

River in the area

Rice Rock makes an appearance

The Boy likes to build the rock pagodas for good luck

I'm pretty sure the guy on the right is the boss

Rice Rock finally reveals itself

Gazebo holding the bell

 

  

 

Back into town to the harbour area, after driving around Yeongnangho Lake, to try ozinga (cuttlefish) tempura and 10 small prawns with a free sweet potato slice. The meal was delicious and cooked very quickly, customer numbers were low, and we were treated nicely. The Boy had a mild reaction to the food so I wonder if there was some form of nut in the cooking oil or filling. Had almost run out of cash, only just had enough for lunch, and there was an ATM available but it wouldn't take my overseas card. Spent some time searching for a bank and the only one in the area didn't do foreign exchange.

An unusual ATM

The shop where we had cuttlefish, prawns and sweet potato tempura

Halmoni (grandma) hard a work

Prawn tempura

Cuttlefish - spicy but decidedly delicious

Spent ages driving around town looking for a decent parking spot but all the areas near the bank required downtown were filled. The car park that we decided to use actually photographed your licence plates from four different angles as you entered and there was no need to obtain a parking ticket. Spent some time in the fish market. You can buy almost anything and it is very fresh. Had some dumplings and pajeon (pancake). The missus bought some sashimi mix and I wanted to get some dried squid - it had something sharp and ripped the skin off the roof of my missus' mouth. Not sure what it was.

Seafood is a staple in this region

Fresh seafood

Dumplings and pancakes being cooked

Entrance to the car park where they photograph the vehicle

Drove to Daepong, missed the turn, backtracked how the GPS told me (wrong way down a one way street) and we found a coffee house to park in. I had a lovely cocoa for W6,000, same cost as the coffee (bit rich for $6) but they did offer a free refill for the coffee, the music was relaxing and we were seated in a rather strange building with it raining outside. Not a bad way to while away the afternoon. Headed ack into town for North Korean-style mandoo.

This guy can take up two lanes if he really wants to - I'm not going to argue

The Coffee House

Upstairs

The Boy had McDonalds for dinner

Can't get your artery-clogging McDonalds fast enough - there's McDelivery for that

Nice artwork near E-Mart

The drive back to the hotel at night time was beautiful as they have the street light poles in multicoloured lights. The missus and I went for a walk later through the lights and to the entrance of Seoraksan National Park.

 

  

 

 

Korean Holiday 2013 - Day Three

Woke around 6:15 then slept until seven. Opened the curtains to a cloudy view of the mountains. Still raining.

Early morning view from the balcony

Drove into Sokcho for breakfast only to find nearly every shop was closed - even in Sokcho Food Town. Bought some umbrellas, W3,500 ea, bread and kimbap (sushi) for breakfast.

Headed down to Naksansa (Naksan Temple) for a look - great idea in the rain and couldn't have done it without the car. Parking was W3,000 but ended up we didn't have to pay as it was free with entry to the temple. Nice view of the sea from the hermitage that was founded by Uisang back in 656. Pricey souvenirs.

Pathway to Naksansa

Entrance to Naksansa

Typical building at Buddhist temple to house the bell and drum. Beautiful though.

The Bronze Bell, Treasure No. 479 was first cast in 1469 but recast in 2006 following a fire

Path of making a dream come true (that's what the sign said)

Overlooking the main hall

Painting on hall

Painting on hall

Inside the temple

Lotus pond

Looking out to the hermitage

Back towards the lookout

The beach doesn't feature strongly in the brochure

That's not what I use the restroom for

Mist and clouds still shrouding the mountains

This is one tall statue

The hermitage

It was a wet day alright

Stopped off for lunch in Naksan - cod and seafood pancake. Potato kimchi was delicious. Cod was OK, pancake was nice. Not bad for W30,000 but not special. Back to the hotel to dry out a bit.

Lunch - kimchi the focus of this shot

Dried fish is a specialty of this region

At 2 o'clock, having thought that the rain had stopped to we journey by foot to Seoraksan National Park, almost 2km up the road, for a walk in the rain, as it turned out. Beautiful countryside, especially with the mountains shrouded in cloud.

Still a lot of tourists, mainly from buses, in the area. The missus decided to have some coffee and me some cocoa from a vending machine. Talk about a ripoff. We were lucky to get 100m and a hint of cocoa. Walked back to the hotel and saw a from near the roadside near some flowers. Vines climb the trees rhythmically in this region.

The river coming down from the mountains

Panorama shot of the river

Lovely scenery

Vines rhythmically climbing the tree

Sorak Park Hotel - only just visible at about 4pm

Mountain across the road - view from the balcony

Booked for another night as we were yet to see anything much of the mountains which is the reason for visiting. Stopped in the lobby for a while to use the wifi.

I wandered down the road afterwards to take a photo of a condo called Norumok - no room, OK? Dropped in to the Seoraksan National Park Visitor Center five minutes before they closed. The lady was quite helpful but really struggled with English. Matched my struggle with Korean so we'll call that even. Grabbed a map for an area where we planned to do some hiking.

Drove into town to find some dinner. I like how you can park just about anywhere in Korea which made it quite easy. Parked right near a mandoo shop - North Korean style. I had kimchi mandoo soup. It was OK.

Did some shopping for breakfast - bread, milk and hit the jackpot - a supermarket where we could buy expensive fruit. One Korean pear cost W5,500 ($5.50) and a small, blackened cauliflower cost W7,000!

Great to have the GPS or we'd never make it out of town. Even better to have someone who understands it.