South Korea

Sokcho is a great town, and the most fun place to visit in South Korea.. especially the best hike up a mountain I have ever had - in Seoraksan National Park.

Literally only a 15 minute ride out of town.. I had heard about this park many times before I came, and so glad I had the opportunity to experience it.  It is summer rain season, but knowing I was about to board a very long boring ferry to Russia, I thought it would be best to expel as much energy as I could.. Good choice Sherri Jo!!

Expel massive amounts of energy I did!!!  

They don't hand out maps here, but from the board I could tell I wanted to do the 12 km hike.. no worries, I can do that easy!  24 km round trip..  I'm climbing up and up and getting sweatier and sweatier..  It starts to become a worry when you don't have a map, not sure where you are going or where you might be along the path.

I have never seen graffiti like this before!

After a long while, a couple of Korean hikers, come along in the opposite directions.. I was so glad to see people (this is not usually the case for me!)

"An nyan has se yo"  (Hello..!)  The start carrying on in Korean, and I pipe up and say "Sorry, I speak English".. These guys were happy to practice English on me, and they ask if I'm going up or going down. I say "Up!"  They ask where, and I tell them.. Daescheongbong Peak.. 

They look at each other and they look at me and go "oohh, 8 hours".  I say now, it's only 12 km, and I was guessing I only had 8 km to go.. They explain it's very difficult, straight up.. 

I was concerned.. but Sherri Jo wanted a hike and she got one..  it turns out the more Koreans I pass, had actually spent the night out there.  Finally came across an American, and he said he also stayed the night in a shelter, and advised me I was taking a lot on in one day.. But  but it's only 12 kms!!  Oh well...by this time it was getting late, and I had only accomplished about 5 km.. I decided to at least make it to the shelter which was the 6.5 km point..   Up and back was a 6 hour journey all up, and pretty hard core on the up.. 

Must make comment.. that standard South Korean women's dress is always inclusive of a super size sun visor!!  They are really into sport clothes and sun visors, whether in city or country..  walking sticks as well - and doesn't particularly matter if it's night or day...  every country has it's own fashion style and I got a kick out of South Korean culture!

Ok - back to my own fashion culture which is a sweaty mess,  I go to the bottom and back to my bike.. a young man came out to greet me.. He asked the usual questions, but he insisted I come in for a coffee or tea..

I was tired and wanted to get back to the Hostel, as Walter was arriving from the UK today with his bike as we travel to Russia together.. I thought it would be rude of me to be out running around!

But this man was so nice I had to oblige.  Turns out they were having lunch - made by the monks from the temple!!  

Lucky me!  Very simple and delicious - a welcome treat with a fresh pot of Lotus Leaf tea.. from what I could work out with our limited ability to communicate with each other, lunch was little green balls that were Barley on the outside and ground chestnut on the inside.. yumm.  And homemade bread roll.

I feel just as grateful as this guy does, but it was easier for me to take a photo of him... once I did ask for a photo, this is what I got..

 

Beggars can't be choosers when you use sign language to ask for a photo!  ;-)

Sokcho South Korea

And on top of that.. a Welcoming Committee!!
(photo is not on actual arrival.. but wish I had got one.. Both these English ladies had on their Australia shirts - they have great taste!)

And after several days on my own, it was great to have someone to speak "English" with..

Anyway, these amazing adventurers (Sheonagh Ravensdale and Pat Thomson) contacted me by email yesterday in Samcheok.  I had sort of heard about them being in Korea and they about me, and through a contact in Japan, they got my email address.

And so glad they did!

I had first seen them months ago on my Horizon's Unlimited prep DVD's, clearly remember Sheonagh admitting on tape to sneaking in more pairs of underwear to her pack than she was meant to take... ! (If she can do it, I can do it!!)

Sorry, I'm waffling on... I must divert you back quickly to my time in Samcheok.. if I don't do it now, I will forget - and I don't want to cut a whole chunk out of my Korea blog. You would miss a lot with how small this country is.!

Korea is very mountainous, and I had some beautiful riding around this area in particular.

Stopped off a Asia's largest cave, Hwanseongul Cave.

Absolutely gorgeous and mammoth (reminding me of Mammoth Cave in Tennessee USA).. the Koreans sure know how to light it up!  It could pass for Hwanseongul Night Club!

And the quirky names included:

This is the Valley of Desire  

A rather odd experience in cave adventures, but I'm always up for trying something new!  I do have a rather cocky comment to make.. with the mass amount of Love Hotels in this country, not joking, they rival the amount of restaurants here.. AND with the mass amount of population in such a small space: 48,607,000.. and here is what Wikipedia says: South Koreans have had to learn to live peacefully with each other in small, crowded spaces, in which the competition for limited resources, including space itself, is intense. Continued population growth means that the shortage of space for living and working will grow more severe. 

My cocky comment is that I'm not surprised about the population problem!  The Hotels, the Valley of Desires, and this!

Where you go to proclaim your love for one another on the beach..

(I actually quite like this one.. well all of them really)... I'm just sayin'..

Now, back to Pat and Sheonagh.. once I got their email we worked out I was only about 100 km away in Samcheok, and they were staying at the same Hostel I reserved for on the 12th.. since they were leaving, I came here a day early.

Rode through pouring pouring rain the whole way.. but it was well worth it!  These 2 have traveled all over the world, and many times on motorcycle, and they had such great stories and advice to share.. I was soaking it up!  And off to dinner we went.. (yes, I ate the Korean food, and it was a delicious bbq meal!)

Next morning, it is time for them to pack up.

This is actually really great for me, because so far, even though I have had loads of great advice from many other bikers,  I have never actually been around any other motorbike world travelers currently living on the road.  And to watch and learn is huge for me!  Checking the tires, oil, packing up.. the whole bit I've been doing, but honestly just winging it..

We say our goodbyes and Sheonagh shares one last tip... "Make sure if you fall over, that you get a photo before you pick it up.. people love those photos!"

I am such a slow learner...!!!!!

Shortly after, Sheonagh gets on her bike, and falls right over!  I put my camera down and run over to help pick her up and she's shouting right out... "Get a photo!  Get a photo!"  Of coarse!  What was I thinking!

All good, a soft cushion of bushes to catch her.. and after that I won't forget again!  Such good teachers they are!!

And off they went..

Thank YOU!!  Hope to see you again!!