Samcheok Weekend

Early morning subway thoughts: Early morning subway. Silence crossing the river. The train wobbles over the tracks. Screeching and shearing, metal on metal. Faint outlines of buildings peer out from the blanket of fog. Sun breaking on the horizon. Bright orange and yellow reflecting off the water crinkled like bed sheets.

The more I think about leaving Korea, the less stressed out I am. Money sill bothers me a bit, but I think I'll be ok as long as I start being more careful. Korea still amazes me and this weekend is living proof. Samcheok was more of a tropical paradise than I'd ever expect to find in Korea. My perception of Korea has changed drastically in the year my idea to teach here was conceived. Korea is a land of rolling hills and extremely friendly people and while I can't imagine leaving in four months, I also know that just like me, Korea will continue to persevere. This country is amazingly beautiful and all together breathtaking. This weekend I saw rugged, rocky coastlines. Blue waves out of fairy tales beating ceaselessly against coarse sandy beaches. I found a new appreciation for nature by hiking my way up a mountain, in the rain, to a gigantic cave that is literally millions of years old. It was so pristine and beautiful that I thought it was fake. Rocks forming right before me and rocks that have been around since the dinosaurs walked the Earth. Korea has been the stage of lots of firsts for me. My first cave, my first hookah bar, my first kimchi and my first time away from home longer than four months. Here I am, 23 years old living and surviving in a country where I don't speak the language and don't have a firm grasp on the customs, but I'm here learning and doing things I never imagined I would do. I am still in awe of the things I have been able to do, the people I have met and the experiences I have had. I am truly blessed.

Sometimes Korea reminds me of home. Times when I see a motel in the middle of nowhere with it's neon "Motel" sign written in English. Korea is more modern than I expected and English is almost widespread. Riding on a bus at night always makes me tear up because I know that I am en route to yet another amazing experience. Then I start to think about family, friends, life. I usually find more inspiration for writing when I'm on the go.

This weekend was amazing. We left Seoul at 7:10am on Saturday and headed to Samcheok. Once in Samcheok we decided to find a minbak (guesthouse) on the beach because it was a beautifully warm day and the beach was spectacular. After settling in and spending some time on the beach we headed to Haeshindang (commonly known as Penis Park). When we got to Haeshindang we were super hungry so we got ramen for lunch and the lady at the little store gave us some delicious kimchi and made our instant ramen for us. This park has many phallic statues that honor a woman who used to live in the fishing village. It was quite interesting to say the least. The park itself is situated on the top of a mountain that overlooks the sea, the view is breathtaking. It is worth a trip for the view if nothing else. After the park we headed back to Samcheok for dinner at Buona Pizza. It was quite delicious and followed by desert at Baskin Robbins. Later in the evening we sat on the beach with a few bottles of soju and talked for awhile. It was a great night. In the morning we asked our minbak owner to take us to Hwanseon Cave, on the other end of Samcheok. We called one of our Korean friends in Seoul to help us achieve this after the two of them talked we paid the man (who we lovingly called 'father' because he was amazing!) 30,000W to drive us. It was much farther than we expected, but he took us anyway. He even wore a suit (typical Korean man ^.^)!!! We spent a good 3 hours at the cave. We had a 1.2km climb up some pretty steep mountains, but it was a worthwhile hike when we reached the top. The cave was great and the view of the mountains, with the fog and rain, was spectacular. We had a really great time. We ended up taking a taxi back to Samcheok and eating at Buona Pizza once again then headed back to Seoul.
If you are in Seoul, buses leave Dong Seoul Bus Terminal every 40 minutes or so. It takes 3.5 hours to reach Samcheok from Seoul. Once in Samcheok, take the #24 bus to Haeshindang (you can't miss it...most people will probably get off here). This same bus will take you back into Samcheok as well. We stayed on Younghwa Beach in a minbak to the left of the bus stop...will update the information. The stop is 3 or 4 from Haeshindang.