Sokcho, South Korea
Trip Start
Nov 07, 2007
1
5
6
Trip End
Nov 23, 2007
Sokcho,
Korea Rep.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Sokcho on ihan mukava city, paljon kaveltavaa jos haluu naha jotain. Kaupunkiin kuuluu kaks laguunia niinkun paikalliset asian esittaa. Ne on kaupungin molemmissa paissa.
Eilen suunnattiin rannalle kylmasta saasta huolimatta, Sokcho-beach oli hieno ja on varmaan aika taynna kesalla. Syotiin meian aamupala siella vahan alle tunnin kavelyn jalkeen ja jatkettiin matkaa ekan laguunin ohi. Kaveltiin toiseen paahan kaupunkia kattomaan sita toista laguunia eli pikkusta jarvea. Siella oli porukkaa kanooteilla ja istuskeltiin auringossa niin pitkaan et alko tulla hamaraa.
Paivaretket on muodostunu parhaimmiks hetkiks kaupungeissa ja niin tan paivanenkin retki. Otettiin bussi taas kaupungin laidalle Seorak-sanin kansallispuistoon mis on vuoristot ja metsaa ja siella mentiin vahan kuntoilemaan eli vaeltamaan. Kaytiin ensin sellanen 1,5km (50min) matka ylos vuorta kattoo Piryeong-vesiputousta. Lehdet on jo melkeen tippunu puista ja siel oli hirveesti kivia, isoja ja pienia koko matkan. Joki on ihan kuiva myos joten siel oli vaan pienempia puroja ja lampia.
Veisputous-reissun jalkeen tehtiin uus 4kilometrin matka ylos ylos ylos jyrkkaa(!!!) vuorenrinnetta luolaan missa oli pari munkkia. Siis oikeita munkkeja. Se oli noin 700metrin korkeudessa ja koko matka oli kivista polkua paitsi lopussa mis oli jyrkat portaat sinne luolan sisalle. Tuuli ihan hirveesti ja kovaa mika teki siita viel jannempaa. Ja piti koko ajan vahtii mihin astuu.
Inside the cave
Tosiaan siel luolan sisalla istu pari munkkia niitten tavaroitten kanssa ja yks myyja joka myi jotain pienia snackseja ja juomaa ja tuliaisia tms. Ja se luola oli about 3x2metrii ja sen paassa oli pieni buddhistialttari. Tosi vaikuttava ja luolan suulta nait vaan viereisia vuoria ja metsia. Toinen munkki (no se oli kyl nainen mut pukeutunu kun munkit ja ajanut hiukset siiliks;nunna/munkki??) rummutti jotain puusoitinta ja laulo siella ja suitsukkeen tuoksu taytti ilman, muuten ihan hiljasta. Kaikkee ihmeellista sita nakee maailmalla.
Joka tapauksessa taa oli Korean paras juttu tahan mennessa, oltiin ihan yksmielisia siita. Voitti tippukiviluolankin hetkessa.
Paiva oli sairaan kylma, onneks pakattiin mukaan lamminta, ja kaikki meni paalle aamulla kun lahettiin tolle retkelle. Pipo ja hanskat ois ollu ihanat mut turvauduin huppuun ja sukkiin mitka sai toimia hanskoina..hahah.. Paljon porukkaa oli myos kansallispuistossa ja oli hauska naha muitakin turisteja valilla.
Ihan huippupaiva ja tast on hyva jatkaa!
Norppa
Last night in Sokcho and here I am sitting at the cyber cafe writing my blog like a hard-working student. Tomorrow the trip continues to Seoul. Sokcho is an allright place. Lot of walking to do if you wanna see sights. (sure you can take a bus too..) There are two lagoons in the town, at both ends. We did a bit of walking yesterday and went to Sokcho beach in the morning to have the breakfast and saw the other lagoon too. Then we continued to the other end through a red bridge.
Little ponds
There at the other lagoon we sat down on the shore and just lied there in the sun watching people canoeing. It was warm there as it wasnt windy and it was nice. We stayed there uuntil it got dark Rather dull day you could say but we did lot of walking though and enjoyed what we saw. As the daytrips are traditional for us already we found one in Sokcho too. This morning woke up early and took a bus to Seorak-san national park. We wanted to do some hiking and did see some awesome stuff! First we took a 1,5km trail upwards to see a Piryeong waterfall. It was beautiful, even though grey and barely no leaves on the trees anymore.
After the first trail we wanted to see a cave up in the 700meters where a buddhist monk lives they say. It was steep I tell you! It was like an hour in the gym with full power. And you had to watch your steps because it was all rocky. It was also very windy and you had to grap something when it blew roughly.
Up in the cave there really was two monks ( well the other one was dressed like a monk and had shaved her hair so what would you call her then??) They also had a vendor who had some snacks and drinks. In the very end of the cave there was a buddhist althar with candles. The whole cave was around 3x2meters. We sat down there for about 10minutes and listened to the lady monk to paly a wooden instrument and hum some song to it. It was enlightening really... the best experience in Korea. Even won the limestone cave. The views were so amazing and just the feeling of being there.
Like mentioned earlier, it was very windy and felt even coldercoz of that. We had stacked all the warm clothes we have here on us and still it was a bit cold. But the sun was shining, I had my hood and extra pair pf sock for my palms. haha.. There were lot of people in the national park and we really enjoyed the day! This was good end for travelling around Korea and tomorrow is Seoul's turn to show its best features.
Nightie night, Nora
