Day 5 – Samcheok to Gyeongju

Saturday, 29th May 2011.

04.00 am – woke up for Subuh prayer, then sleep again till 05.00.  Actually planned to wake up later but my HTC did something funny.  Anyway.. since we are too early, have some some time to update.  What’s on today?  We’re heading to Haesindang Park.  Don’t ask, my cousin insist.  No inappropriate pictures coming up, but will post some good ones.  Missing my Hazeeq, missing spend time with him.  Anyway, after breakfast, repacking the bags and dress up, we are taking the bus at 8 am to the park.  Hope everything is OK today.

Sat, 29th May 2011.

 07.00 am – took bus no 24 to Hanseidang Park. The route taken by the bus was really exciting, along the sea ang passed small roads with korean villages. It is situated next to a beach and was dedicated to a legend of a virgin lady who drowned stranded on an island while waiting her fiance from the sea. The sight of the natural reserve was fascinating and the walk itself was enjoyable. We arrived there at 8.50 am with 8 am bus.

 

10.30 am – after a few hours there, took the same bus back to the motel. The bus journey took 50 mins. Went straight back for lunch n repacking. Then came out again to depart for Gyeongju with transit at Pohang (it’s weirdly faster 1.5 hours than taking an express bus straight to Gyeongju). The ticket to Pohang costs W20500.

I’m tired today coz didn’t sleep till 1am last nite, catching up with a friend via GTalk. Plus, around 2 am, a drunk man has been knocking all the doors and rang the bells along the corridor. Add to that, I woke up at 4am for subuh and woke up again for bath at 5 when i thought it was supposed to ne 6am in the morning. Anyway, the journey to Pohang is 3 hours, so I would use that wisely Ciao..

2.45 pm – eh.. Cepatlah pulak kami sampai. We expect to arrive at 3.30 actually. So we took some time to call the families. Talked to Hazeeq and he asked me to bring some chocolates home. Paid for a bus to Gyeongju for W3100 which runs every 10 mind. And early again here. The journey was supposed to be 1 hour, but we arrived at Gyeongju in 50 mins at 4.15pm. We took sometime to find Nahbi hostel. Paid W60000 for two ppl for two nights. The hostel is very basic, without locker. The good thing is there is Jung An market downstairs.

5.00 pm – after solat, we went down to the market. Bought a big packet of prawn for W5000 and got a free onion from an ajumma. Also 6 bananas for W3000. Went up back and cook our dinner.. Sweet n sour prawn with carrot. We also have cucumber, serunding n my mom’s anchovies. Just before we ate, there’s one lady came, sharing the room with us, named Du (can’t recall the exact name – Gyong Yong?). Eat together and surprisingly she ate using her fingers for the first time (she looks natural indeed). She finished it all and even top up some more .  Then we started to sell Malaysia abt how delicious our food are etc. Later that nite, another Korean joined us. We chatted alot abt our countries n share info etc. She came from Daegu, while Du is from Busan. Finally at 11pm is the lights off time.

Day 4 – Sokcho to Samcheok

Fri, 28 Mei 2011

5am – Dah bangun sbb Fajr at 5.16 am.  Ni kira dah masuk waktu kecemasan la nih.  Lol.  Anyway, after Subuh tido balik sbb takut penat lak nanti.  Woke up finally at 7.20 am.  After the bath etc, went up to find the lady in charge of the motel and asked to do the laundry.  I asked whether it will dry in time before we depart.  ”No dry – wash night – dry morning”.  OK, got it.  So, change plan.. no laundry today.  Went back and prepare the lunch.

Lunch today.. nasi putih, sambal ikan bilis goreng, timun dan sambal udang

11.00 am – out of the Morning Inn motel and went to the Express Bus Terminal, which serves only to Seoul & Incheon.  Tersilap tempat – we are supposed to go to Intercity Bus Terimanl.  So, got another bus to the right place.   When we arrived at the bus terminal, found out that there’s only one bus going to Samcheok, which was on 9.40 am.  So, we head to Gangneung & transit to Samcheok (Wani found the info thru internet beforehand).

13.45 – sampai di Gangneung dan terus ke kaunter tiket utk membeli tiket ke Samcheok. Terminal bus pun hanya satu je, so senang nk transit ke destinasi seterusnya. Beg berat, ok? Sempat ke toilet, tak payah bayar dan yg penting bawalah botol kosong ke mana2x pun.

The toilet.. not everyone can handle it ;D

Around 2, naik bus ke Samcheok. Kali ni, bus biasa je. Seat macam di Malaysia, tapi ruang kaki masih luas. Selain dari bus, boleh juga naik seaside train dari Gangneung ke Samcheok. Tapi perjalanan tu lama sket, n ada 3 trains je sehari. Basically dari Sokcho ke Samcheok cuma W11000 naik bas, tapi naik train ni dari Gangneung ke Samcheok dah W10000-15000 (separuh pjlnan). Based on that, we chose to use the bus.

Setakat ni yg rasa leceh sikit cuma mmg tak jumpa internet cafe utk update status. I thank Allah for the creation of Office Mobile. Senang nk save journal. Alhamdulillah part makan, mmg bawak bekal n balik ke bilik utk masak, lunch n solat everyday sebelum kuar balik. Today, sebab x sempat lunch di bilik, lunch energy bar je dlm bas. Part basuh baju belum berjaya lagi. Tapi part tanya arah jalan, eloklah kalau guna apa saja cara utk print atau amik gambar nama tempat tu dlm bahasa korea. Most of them mmg x leh baca rumi. Kalau x de, try sebut nama tempat tu dlm korean. InsyaAllah depa leh faham. Org depa mmg polite dan sgt cuba nk membantu. Cuma macam biasa la kat mana2x pun driver bus local (bukan inter city) garang je. Haha.. Lagi satu, byk review kata susah nk drive kat sini sbb sikap pemandu depa dan traffic jam. To me, if u’re Malaysian, u will have no problem blending in. Cuma cam kat europe, driver sebelah kiri(selalu je rasa cam kereta depa cam x de pemandu sbb dok pandang sebelah kanan). Selalu pegi mana2x org akan tanya dari mana sbb maybe pelik tgk org pakai tudung dan nampak muka asian laks tu . Anyway, the first few days tu rasa amazed tgk x de tong sampah but the places look so clean. Masuk hari ke 4 ni, rasa gelisah la pulak.. Poket penuh ngan sampah. Bila jumpa je toilet, harus kosongkan sampah dari poket n bags.

Finding info with sign language

04.00 pm – Finally arrived at Samcheok Intercity bus terminal.  After a session of sign language, we got some information that we couldn’t get to the next destination till tomorrow.  So we head to the  Tourist Info Center to find a nearby motel.  For 40K won, we got this nice motel with internet inside.  But i’ll tell you that it was hard at first coz all the GUIs were in Korean/Hangul.  Gosh.. luckily I’m travelling with an IT exec who spent a lot of time making it easier for me.  Gosh.. Wani said that South Korea got among the fastest internet in the world.  And I am so agree with that.  Lots of pics can be uploaded at once and it outdo you while you were trying to select the best pictures.  And the motel is also convenient and cosy.

The International Motel

05.00 pm – We went out to the city by foot.  Interesting market, bought a huge carrot and some chocolate for my craving

Samcheok market

We also found a supermarket (first time since we were here).  OK.. nothing fancy.  Thought of buying some yogurt for breakfast but has some doubt whether it’s suitable for vegetarian.  So we went back to find the word ‘vegetarian’ in Hangul.  Lol.  Finally we just sit in front of the monitor and blogging these…

An attempt to buy some yogurt

More in my FB ;D

Day 3 – Seoraksan

Fri, 27 May 2011.
9.30 am – We took a bus to Seorak National Park. Bought a rain coat for 6000 won coz it’s rainy. Just found out that my walking stick is broken, so bought a new one for 10k won. The entrance fee was 2500 won. I really enjoyed the walk – we took our own sweet time, stopping here and there to take some pictures, 1 hour to reach the waterfall, with 8 hikes and 5 bridges. Arriving at the fall, we had fun with the squirrel. On our way back, just realised that we can also borrow (or rent, not sure) the walking stick from the food stall inside the park.

The 2.4km walk to the Biryong Fall

12.45 pm – The walk down was a bit more tricky and in 1 hour, we arrived at the bottom. We ate some korean food which cost us 2500 won.. only suitable for asians I would say, it was so spicy even for me! Decided not to take the cable car because of the foggy weather – no point as the picture would not be so interesting. Instead, we head to the Sinheungsa temple which is also in the park. It was another 2 km flat walk and spent some time there just to absorbed all the stunning buildings and their interesting roof. Around 3.30 pm, we head back to the guest house.

The Sinheungsa Temple

04.30 pm- After lunch and all the stuff need doing, went out again to the Sokcho city centre. One thing that I’m glad about being here is we can get free drinking water from the hotel lobby for free. What we need to do is just to bring the water bottle. The journey from Seorak to Sokcho city centre is 30 minutes. We went to visit Sokcho Lighthouse Observatory. All the way from the bus stop, there were lines of restaurants with interesting sea creatures inside aquariums in front of it. Shocking.. another hiking to the top of the Lighthouse Observatory. But the view up there was worth it.

The crab

After spent some time up there, went down and tried udang goreng tepung. There was a slight misunderstanding there. Thought it was W500, but apparently it was W5K. Now.. that’s a lot of money to spend for udang goreng tepung yang tak de lah sedap sangat. But we just pay for it to keep the ‘harmonious’ scene (It was said that Korean really appreciate the harmony around the community etc).

06.45 pm – Took a bus to Daepodong (or Daepohang), thanks to a ‘anjumma’ (i.e makcik) which direct us to the right bus to take. Once there, there were lots of stalls selling seafood of all sorts. In fact, the udang goreng tepung were so much cheaper here. Anyway, earlier we ought to find a halal estaurant here, but we can’t find it despite an attempt from a family of Korean family with a ‘help’ from one angry neighbour. Finally, we decided to try a steam crab (W15K) and 6 prawns (W5K). There was this very nice Korean guy, Joseph and his sister who sitted next to ask. He has spent 8 years in the US previously to practise as a dentist and just came back recently. He bought us one big shell thingy and a small one. They were quite nice. From our conversation, he told us that graduate nurses earn about 2k USD and the rent will be around 200 USD per month, but with deposit to pay 5000 USD. Wow.. the cost of iving is quite low around here! Finally, at 9.15 pm, we head home in the freezing night. My conclusion for today, nothing can beat the delicious Malaysian food

The aftermath

Day 2 – Seoul to Seorak

Thursday, 26th May 2011.

12.15 am – We arrived at Pencil Guesthouse, Seoul. Called the owner from the house’s skype via net sbb pintu guesthouse tak kunci. I guess sbb area tu pun safe kot. The room is surprisingly cute but neat and clean. Was very disappointed when i found out that I have been carrying one wrong camera charger all this while from KL! Luckily Wani got hers. Phew..

Day 1 – Seoul

Rabu, 25 May 2011 (MY time).

12.25 pm – LCCT, jumpa Wani, cousin I.  One nervous start as I saw that she was carrying a trolley bag.  Err.. did I actually made a wrong move?  Nvmind.. don’t panic.  Lets try and see if I’m more comfortable with backpacking style (or not).  Well, it’s just a bag anyway.  We dropped the bags at the counter, bought lunch and head to the departure gate.

13.45 – boarding the flight and amazed with the research done by Wani.  Tersangatlah tersusunnya, and I am one very lucky person .  Our flight departed 10 mins later than scheduled because of the rain.

Structured plan

Very.. very tired.  Once I was seated, terasa gila kepenatan sepanjang minggu ni.  Pegi keje before or right after Subuh, balik lepas maghrib.  Gosh.. not even a life.  Anyway, am really excited about this trip.

10.15 – Kami tiba di Incheon, Seoul.  Disebabkan Wani dah buat semua planning dgn canteknya.. jadi guna je plan tu utk cari jalan ke hostel.  Of course.. gambar subway yang sgt bersih ..

The tram

One day before South Korea..

.. and I’m still at the office (8.38 pm Malaysia time).  This morning, attended a workshop on Problem-based Learning.  Then later this evening, handed some docs for undergraduate’s exam to the boss.  Tomorrow there will be one final job to serve just before departure.  My flight will be at 13.55, I’ll be attending a viva session for a Master student.  Expect to finish the viva by 10 am, then off to LCCT to catch the flight.  Tonite, just checked-in online and printed the boarding pass. Phew..

Just to insert this ticket details, for future reference.  Honestly, I’m not a very good person in remembering things.  That’s why I’m a person with all these notes and pen.

The initial cost - for 2 people

All set.. some friends were asking if I could update my FB status throughout the trip.  Gladly will share the journey with you guys.  Hope the net is much better than in Malaysia

Now, the journey is not about being the most traveled person.  But it is about appreciate being who we are and learn respecting others (and that applies to all of us, including the readers).  And of course, with that comes the cost as well.  Doa semoga semuanya berjalan lancar, insyaAllah..