170311 to 19 Trip to Korea 2/3
Day 4: 170314 Tuesday – Sokcho
Denny picked us up at 8:00am to travel to the East Coast town of Sokcho.
At 9:05am, we stopped at a service station for breakfast.
Along the road, we saw ginseng farms.
At the mountain crossing, we saw falling snow!
We stopped on the road side for some fun in the snow, near Misiryeong.
Shortly later, we reached the Seoraksan National Park at 11:55. We hiked a short distance to Sinheungsa, an ancient temple.
The temple is very nice in the mountain, and the winter scene was harsh yet beautiful.
The scenery was breath-taking.
We left Seoraksan at 1:50pm and entered Sokcho at 2:10pm. We bought some dried cuttlefish and went for lunch at 88 Grilled Fish.
After lunch, we crossed the bay in a pull-barge, and walked the local village, market and beach.
We checked-into Sokcho& Guesthouse at 4:50pm. This hotel is a very nice backpackers’ hotel.
After we have settled down, Esther and David did their school homework at the common living area of the hotel.
At 7:10pm, YowCH and David went to the market to buy dinner.
Of course, we have makgeolli, which Esther and YowCH bought at a nearby GS25 store.
We slept at 11:45pm.
Day 5: 170311 Wednesday – Pyongchang
We were rather tired, and woke up a little late. So we rushed our breakfast (which we cooked at the hotel) and met Denny at 9:20am. We checked out and drove to Sokcho town.
This is the Sokcho Expo Tower.
By 10:50am, we reached Jumunjin, and fishing town. We visited the market to see the fresh catches.
At 11:30am, we left Jumunjin and drove onwards to Daewallyeong.
Preparations for the Pyongchang Winter Olympics 2018 is in progress.
We had lunch at a local restaurant at 12:25pm.
After lunch, we drove to Yongpyong Ski Resort, reaching at 1:15pm.
Denny helped us rent skis for Esther, David and Joseph and then taught them how to ski.
We borrowed a sled from another holiday maker, and Samuel got to slide about.
The three older children picked up basic skills and skied well on their own.
At 3:30pm, we took the cable car (gondola) up to Dragon Peak.
It was still cold up there.
Very nice scenery.
We had fun on the freshly fell snow.
We descended from Dragon Peak at 4:20pm and returned to Daegwallyeong to pick up some very nice fried chicken.
Then we had a long drive back to Seoul, with some traffic jam along the way due to road works.
We reached DDM Inn at 8:10pm and quickly went next door for oyster soup dinner.
Dinner ended at 9:20pm, and we returned to the hotel after buying some sweets and soju. We slept at 11:00pm.
Day 6: 170316 Thursday – Nami Island
We woke rather late at 7:30am, and Denny picked us up at 8:30am to go to Nami Island.
We stopped buy a service station at 10:00am for breakfast.
We reached the entrance to Nami Island at 10:45am to buy tickets and waited a short while for the ferry.
We landed on the island at 11:00am. It was rather empty.
This is the poem written by General Nami that caused him his death.
And this is the tomb of General Nami.
There was still some ice and snow.
This is the table where the ‘first kiss’ happened in Winter Sonata.
The expected happened, shoe repair for Joseph.
We snacked on Korean bao and lamb kebab.
The island was really very empty, being off-season and the lack of tour groups from China (China banned tour groups to Korea due to political reasons)
Here we are with the statue of the owner and founder of Nami Island.
We left Nami Island at 1:15pm.
We drove past Petite France but we did not go in.
We had a buffet lunch at a truckers’ stop along the way. Cheap and good.
After lunch, we continued the drive back to Seoul and went past the Olympic bridge.
We reached the War Museum at 4:45pm. This museum is very nice and educational.
Korean turtle ship.
The flag.
The outdoor exhibits were great!
Denny dropped us back at DDM Inn at 6:30pm. Esther did her homework while we rested. At 8:25, we had fired chicken dinner at Two Two.
We bought some fruits and soju.
After downloading photos, we slept at 11:00pm.
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