10/20 – Sokcho and trekking tour

Up and at ‘em early today as our tour meets at 8:15 for an 8:30 departure. We hit the gym as usual, and as we are walking the treadmill we notice that we are not moving very fast and are very far from the shore. Hmmmm….we are supposed to arrive at 8 and there is no way that is happening at this speed. Hmmmmm….we bet the port is closed. In his noon announcement yesterday, the Captain did say there were swells in the harbor that should be reducing this morning – but we are betting the swells are still too strong for us to go in. And right at 7:30, that’s exactly what the Captain tells us. The port is closed, but they expect the swells to lessen enough by 10, so we should be able to dock then. Okie dokie! Back to the gym we go. Might as well – our tour is now scheduled at 10 – so we’ve got plenty of time.

Arriving at the theater early, we get our bus stickers and proceed to sit next to the exit so we can make a fast escape once they call our numbers. Thank God we were early! The place turns into a madhouse – 2 of the tours have been canceled because there is not enough time to conduct them, but there are 4 still on the books and everyone arrives at the same time. Ay yi yi! In the end, we guess it all works out. We do our normal skedaddle the minute we are called (we waited only because there is immigration inspection today and we didn’t know if that would be a problem) – turns out it isn’t, just long lines that move pretty quickly – and we are out and at our bus figuring we will be the first. Nope, someone else had the same idea and has been there for 20 minutes already! Ok – now we know the drill!

And there we sit. The bus continues to fill up, as do all the others, and still we sit. Sigh. The other 2 trekking buses leave, well, every other bus leaves, and still we sit. Finally 2 people show up and get on – with another bus sticker! This is why we HATE ship tours. I mean really – our time is already compressed and we have to wait for people who can’t show up on time – not to mention who aren’t even supposed to be on our bus!!!

Finally we are off, our guide a sweet guy who gives us the basic information about Sokcho, sort of glances over the DMZ issue (btw, the DMZ tour was cancelled and we got a letter in our stateroom telling us that HAL recommends we do not visit the DMZ on our own due to the issues there), and tells us a little about the national park and the trail system we will be hiking today. He also sings to us. Sweet.

The drive to the park takes about an hour – because it is Sunday and busy, and also because there is a huge festival in the port area – the 2024 K-Traditional Market fair which looks like it would be neat, but we’ll not have time since we are compressed – that causes big traffic jams. We drive through some gorgeous scenery – craggy mountain cliffs, almost like karsts, and finally arrive at Osaek National Park where we will start our trekking.

Oh my word!!! The people! It is Sunday, so it is busy, and we mean teaming with people. We think the entire population of Sokcho is here! Crazy. Our guide keeps telling us that if we get tired or don’t want to continue on, just wait at the shrine or go back to the entrance where we got off the bus – and we can see why! And “trekking” is a bit of a stretch. We are dropped off in a little shopping area with snack and souvenir shops, then walked through to the toilet and then onto the “trekking” trail, which is mostly a narrow boardwalk, although there are sections that are dirt (well mud from all the rain) and sections that have huge boulders as stepping stones. Meanwhile, you are navigating around hundreds upon hundreds of people! Craziness.

Our ultimate goal is the Yongsopokpo Falls, 2.9 km away. Yeah, right. We only have an hour – and in these crowds? No matter how fast we run – and trust me, most of these people out here are running! – we’re not going to make it. We are hiking the Heullimgol Trail, which begins by crossing a scary suspension bridge. Scary only because there are so many people on it, the thing is bouncing around like crazy. But once across and on solid ground, things get much better.

The scenery is beautiful, with autumn colors just beginning to show – and the fabulous river rushing along side the path. Our guide has run up ahead – he left us at the toilet and said he’d see us on the trail, then took off with those who didn’t need the bathroom stop! Pretty trusting that we’d all find our way (even if it is only one way to go – this is a ship excursion after all!) and he is waiting on another less shaky suspension bridge for photo ops.

Seriously – it is beautiful out here – and sort of funny with all the rushing people. Once you get into the swing of things, you start to really enjoy the sights. People are picnicking on the rocks, playing in the river, just generally enjoying the nature. We catch up with our Guide once again for more photos – he’s so cute – then we get to the Shrine which is cool, but crowded, an well, we’ve seen shrines all over – we’re here for the outdoors!

So, off we go, rushing our way down the path snapping shot after shot of gorgeous views along the river.

We made it within ½ km to the falls before deciding to turn around. We don’t want to be late and the next stretch up ahead is really narrow – in a cage like structure to protect you from falling rocks, and from falling yourself into the rocky stream – and really crowded. It’s pretty and beautiful, albeit cold, and we’re good with what we’ve managed so far. The views are still gorgeous and we did manage to make it to the Seonnyeotang Pool which is said to be the place where the Seonnyeos (Taoist Fairies) could come to bathe on moonlit nights. One night, heavenly officials hid the wings of 2 of the most beautiful fairies, and without their wings they couldn’t return to heaven and were transformed into the water falls that we didn’t quite reach on our trek today.

Back in the little “village” at the end of the trail, we wander past stalls selling the biggest mushrooms we have ever laid eyes upon! And all sorts of different varieties and shapes and sizes. Obviously the mushroom capital or something – we’ve no clue and definitely no one speaks English here!

We stopped at a little grocery type store and picked up some snacks for the bus – we’re not going to have time for lunch and tonight is Morimoto again – which means we are not eating when we return to the ship at 3:30pm! So we snack our way back into the city with Original crab crackers – they look like crabs! And are actually pretty decent for a salty snack/lunch.

Then it is onto the Market – which we never figured we’d have time to visit – but remember the “running” part of this blog! We get 20 minutes here, which is fun, because now we are all running through huge crowds trying to see as much as we can in our short time here. It’s all food here – and we’d have been in heaven had we not been on tour and just came here. Dried squid. Dried fish. Tons of fried shrimp in all varieties! And Korean Chicken! People are lined up 10 to 20 deep to buy the chicken! They pack it in these boxes and we see tons of people walking around with them. Oh, I so want that chicken! If it weren’t for Morimoto tonight…..

Back at the meeting point, everyone survives and makes it back – at least we think they do! The guide sort of counts and then we’re off – running back to bus – where he treats us to that sweet bread we have seen people carrying around. It is the best – like this great sweet dessert bread with vegetables? Or something in it? Hard to describe, but really good.

We’re ready to go when, oops, we’re missing people! The guide has the bus driver head back to the meeting area while he runs there, collects the couple who missed us, and we are on our way back to the ship – arriving late, for sure because of the traffic, but then again so did every other tour. No worries – we’re with the ship – they’ll wait.

Safely ensconced back on the ship on our balcony, we watch our sailaway as S. Korea recedes from our view. A very fun day – even on an excursion!

And then we top it off with Morimoto – once again excellent. I get the sushi & sashimi appetizer this time – so good. Of course we share the gyoza appetizer, while Ed has the ramen soup. I opt for the Bimbop again – it is too good – but tonight with a different fish. Still excellent, just different. Ed goes for the Lobster pad thai. Oh la la. And we share the steamed veggies with whatever that cream-cheese stuff is on the top. Who knows?