thesouthkoreayears

[thesouthkoreayears]

Wednesday, June 24

Welcome home to us!

Quite honestly, this is a hard post to write. I have been feeling disappointed in myself. The feeling is waning but I wanted to write this before it’s gone completely. This trip felt exceptionally hard for us to execute and I’ve been trying to figure out why. I think my goal was to have a spontaneous, original, unfussy trip with little to no itinerary. As it turns out, this really does not work well for us.

Julian and I had a long chat on the drive home yesterday about why this trip felt as hard as It did and I think it really boils down to our personalities. We tend to be such painstaking planners and I thought that by throwing out the plan, an itinerary as it were, we would be able to relax more and just go with the flow. The actual result was that we did not rest or stop or really take a breather until the very end when we ended up staying two extra nights in Sokcho and experience having enough time to slow down. Usually when I plan, the rest and reset times are inserted into the journey as I do the research. But this time I really did not factor in a lot of downtime (or anything, like I said, I really did not make an itinerary) and it showed, immensely. The other taxing factor was that I was still planning while on the road. Still doing research, booking airbnbs, figuring out how much driving we would be doing the following day, etc. I was reminded why I like to plan the major parts of a trip ahead of time - so that I don’t have to do it on the road! 

Maybe this sounds obvious, I don’t know. But I’m trying to shake off the disappointment and think about the lessons we learned (this is mostly Julian’s encouraging voice in my head at this point). We learned that having a solid plan and sticking to it is OK, it’s good for us and the way we like to travel. We learned that it’s absolutely OK to embrace our love for the city and busyness and markets and places where allllll the people are. We were reminded that nature isn’t always our jam, and that it’s even harder now that we have kids in tow. We learned that sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason. I think most of all, we were reminded that our kids are insanely resilient and that through all the moments of frustration and irritation, the four of us didn’t turn on one other. It’s easy to place blame on each other, especially when the boys can’t keep up with our demands. I think I mostly internalized the blame and am trying to let it go now. 

We are spending the rest of this week trying to lay low and recover, especially since we leave for Jeju Island in about a week!

I took this photo tonight from a new vantage point - the 5th floor AK plaza parking lot.

[thesouthkoreayears]

Monday, June 22

Today was finally the relaxed vacation day we’d been waiting for. A lazy morning with cheap cereal from NoBrand. Wandering through the mural covered streets of the area we’re staying in. Being the first people to arrive at the beach. It was so quiet compared to the vibe this weekend and it matched our mood perfectly. We were able to get that picture by the stairs I wished for and we watched the sun (and the temperature) climb as the hours went by. They were preparing the beach to open it officially on July 1 and construction vehicles abounded. The boys were thrilled to watch machinery dig and dump and push massive amounts of sand down the beach towards the water. I’m not sure if they trucked in the sand or if it just blew too close to the road but they were literally dumping sand to make the water line further away. It was so interesting to watch. 

We set up the tent in record time and enjoyed our books once more while the boys ran up and down the beach together, giggling and laughing and holding hands. They were so wonderful to each other today and I felt especially thankful for their friendship while on this trip. They greatly enjoy the company of other children but are also so content to just be themselves, together. 

The last few days we’ve been here, we noticed a raw fish restaurant next to the beach that seemed insanely popular, with long lines extending outside at all hours of the day and night. We decided to head there early and we were seated at 11:30am (an early lunch time here) with no wait. The boys weren’t really interested in the food and Max actually ended up falling asleep at the table, all that sun and sand really wiped him out. Moses sleepily chanted “I’m so tired, I’m so tired” all the way to the car. We drove down the street to pick up coffee at a cute place called Old Wave to grab coffee to go…Moses fell asleep in the time it took for them to make Julian’s Americano :)

We took a leisurely drive up towards the enormous mountain range near Sokcho and the lush green scenery welcomed us in. Seoraksan National Park (설악산국립공원) is only 20 minutes from the beach and the change in terrain is truly amazing. It’s home to many types of wildlife, temples, hanoks and some of the coolest peaks I’ve ever seen. When we arrived, Moses was still asleep so Max and I walked around to explore the area a bit. We found lots and lots of cairns (little stacks of rocks) on every imaginable surface and we made a few of our own too. 

When Moses woke up around 2:30, we went into the cable car building to buy some tickets. We had to wait about an hour to board so we passed the time with delicious ice cream and chats with some friendly Koreans. It’s so interesting to hear about how many adult children of older Koreans are currently living and working in the US with no intention of coming back to Korea. It’s especially striking to hear about how their grandchildren (their English names!) and think about how my boys are on the other side of the world from their grandparents as well. The human experience really is so similar across countries and languages. 

We boarded the cable car and embarked on our four minute journey up the side of the mountain, what a sight! The sky was mostly clear (slightly hazy, but better than yesterday) and we loved seeing the ocean just beyond the bottom of the slope. Once at the top, the view was stunning. There was a walk path to start hiking up to the very top but we decided to sit and enjoy the view after Moses almost tumbled down the stairs about forty times. This poor kid just can’t catch a break. I think he’s bloodied his knees nearly every single day on this trip. We headed down the mountain about half and hour later and then took some time to explore the surrounding areas. We saw a magnificent statue, the largest seated bronze Buddha state in the world. The statue's name, Tongil Daebul, means 'Unification Buddha', and it was built to symbolize the Korean people's hope for the reunification of North and South Korea. The boys were unfazed and found themselves much more interested in finding a path to the small stream nearby. 

We walked around a little more and then decided to quench our thirst at Craft Roo+, a local extension of Craft Roo in Seoul. The hostess was so pleasant and kind to the boys. I love seeing the family atmosphere at breweries here in Korea compared to ones in the US. They all serve excellent food and the overall feeling is very welcoming and comfortable. Julian and I tried the sampler of six beers, most of which have won awards. My personal favorite was the Dongmyeong Port Pale Ale and Julian favored the Daepo Port Stout. The two IPAs were pretty fantastic too though. I’m crossing my fingers that I can get my hands on some of this beer locally in Pyeongtaek! 

After spending most of the afternoon at Craft Roo+, we made our way back to the airbnb and set the kids up with Totoro while all three of them chowed on leftover fried chicken from the market yesterday (I had the foresight to order a salad at the brewery). The evening felt calm and I set up the iPad and dinner seating outside so we could enjoy the cool weather. I bought some incense when we were in Ulleungdo so I stuck it in the cracks in the paved porch and tried (unsuccessfully) to keep the mosquitoes away. 

[thesouthkoreayears]

Sunday, June 21

We fit so much in today! We decided to stay in Sokcho for two nights…and then decided to stay here for three nights. We were feeling really burned out by the intensity of the trip, the kids were struggling and everyone was just in a bad mood in general. Also, Father’s Day weekend seemed like a good time to take it easy. I realized that the itinerary I set is just nowhere feasible to conquer and we just have to take more trips to see other parts of the country. We are flying to Jeju Island for 4th of July weekend and I don’t want to kill everyone’s drive to travel right before we go on another big trip. 

Anyways! We started the morning with some cereal and waffles (thanks Emart!) and Moses slept in until 8:30! And Max until 7:30! It was a great night. Everyone felt refreshed and it was so nice to get up and not have to pack up and check out of the airbnb. As soon as we were done eating we got the boys into their suits and headed to the beach! Our airbnb is a quick three minute walk from the shore and it was so nice to stroll over with just the essentials. Julian and I read for a little bit, it was cloudy but the wind was calm and the sky was clear. By 11am, we were both splashing in the water with the boys. Moses warmed up to the big waves quickly and loved chasing the “big bubbles” up and down the shoreline. Max was initially his reserved self but he too began enjoying the brisk chill of the water and the oozing sand under his toes. 

At noon, we promptly packed up (we are professionals at breaking down our tent now) and stopped by the beach photo op spot for a father’s day family photo. I didn’t get a photo from the side, but the stairs were floating over the sand like an illusion. Max insisted on posing with a dolphin statue as well, creating his own poses for the shot :) We walked to Noodles Tree for kalguksu to fill our tummies before the drive to the DMZ. 

We made it about 45 minutes up the coast until we hit a road block with two young Korean soldiers who asked us to turn around. Turns out despite my research indicating otherwise, the DMZ is currently closed because of COVID19. It was an unfortunate turn of events but at least the kids got a good nap out of it. It was interesting to see the beaches turn from tourist havens to heavily barricaded areas with fences stretching for miles along the along the shore. We also passed some large concrete blockades on each side of the road. They are positioned there so that if things go south, they can be pushed over, interlocking and creating a road block to prevent the North’s artillery vehicles from entering that way. I had never seen anything like that before (and I didn’t get a picture - sorry!) but Julian had and he sated my curiosity before I could google it. Thanks Julian!

With extra time on our hands, we decided to head to Moon Bear Brewing for some divine brews. It is Father’s Day, after all ;) Julian settled on Seoraksan Stout (named after the famous mountain here in Sokcho) and I got a small flight with the golden ale, witbier and IPA. We had tried a few of their beers before thanks to our local Emart carrying them but it was really neat to see their brewery in person. They only had those four different beers available but they were all delicious. Max also requested that we take some pictures of him doing “street style” in front of the flowery moon bear. One of his favorite book series is called Moon Bear and he was quite pleased with the matching designation. 

By 4:30 we were ready to go and Julian requested a stop at Jungang Market (속초 중앙시장) for some tasty dinner options. I don’t know where to begin with this market. It was amazing. We walked in circles and got beer slushies with honey on top, ice cream wrapped in marshmallow perfectly toasted with a dinosaur blowtorch, ice cream inside the mouth of a fish, fried chicken (of course), pineapple shrimp gambas, raspberries….the list goes on and on. We ate until we could not eat any more, and then we kept eating. There were at least half a dozen other thing I wanted to eat but I also did not want to be rolled home. I’m sure we’ll be back before we leave Sokcho. While searching for bathrooms, we ended up in the basement of the market building and found a massive fish market. We’ve been to one like it before in Busan but this one somehow had a different vibe to it. It felt less crowded and seemed more like a place to wander through at your own leisure. When you go to these markets, you can pick out whatever you want from the front of the shop and then you can take it back to your place OR you can give it to the wonderful people who work there and they will prepare/cook the seafood for you right there on the spot in their little restaurant area! It’s completely self contained and really such a neat idea. The kids loved looking around at the various sorts of sea life. One man actually lifted a giant crab right out of the tank and held it out to the boys. Max balked but Moses reached out for it! Quite an experience. 

Mo’s face perfectly summarizes our feelings about food

Around 6:45pm with fully bellies, we roamed out of the market and onto the main street. The air had cooled considerably so we wrapped the boys in their blankets (both *ahem* borrowed permanently from some unnamed airlines) and they were nice and cozy in the stroller together. I found a sidewalk sale rack with some 5,000 won clothing featuring Konglish (Korean + English) sayings that I could not pass up. Next time you see me, I’ll probably be wearing my “NICE, do your best, I believe in you” tank dress. It was the least tacky one I could find ;)

We made it back to our car and drove back to the beach parking lot, packed up the stroller and walked back to the airbnb to get ready for bed. The kids got changed and fell asleep almost immediately. It was almost eerie how quickly they fell asleep. Julian and I are amazed that all is peaceful and quiet and it’s only 9pm. Time to rest and prepare for another beach day tomorrow, we’re expecting a beautiful 80* day. 

[thesouthkoreayears]

Saturday, June 20

We ended Friday night in our second story Korean mother-in-law suite (no idea what this kind of Korean home is actually called but it’s what we would call it in the west). There is a big roof top area that people use as an eating area, for drying laundry and for preparing food (especially dried fish, kimchi and other foods that need to spend time in the sun or ferment). Julian got up with the boys and let me sleep in for a bit. We ate a mess of snacks and peanut butter and whatever food we had leftover from the week for breakfast. The boys sat and read their books while we showered and packed up the apartment, we were out the door by 9:30. I didn’t really have any intention or plan today, we knew we would be ending the night in Sokcho (속초) near the beach but no real definitive idea of what we should do. The weather ended up being quite warm compared to yesterday’s rain and gloom so we decided to make our way to the beach to soak up some sun before we got in the car. 

We drove back to the Gangneung Coffee Street (강릉커피거리) and found parking easily since it was only 10am. The beach was already getting crowded and it was crazy to see the difference in weather between yesterday and today. The boys brought their airplanes and beach toys and set off to their imaginary worlds immediately. I wandered through a few of the coffee shops by myself (Rosy and Santorini) to find some coffee to bring home and to grab something for Julian and I to drink. After I made my way back, we just sat in our beach tent and read while the kids played. Max broke the tail off his airplane (I swear I bought these same planes last year and they the entire summer) but he was not dismayed! Instead, he was thrilled that he now had an airplane AND a gun. Two is better than one, I guess.

We got back in the car around 12:30 to drive around and look somewhere to eat but the kids both fell asleep in the time we took to look for a place :( Julian decided to just drive to Sokcho and I snoozed as well while he drove up the coast into this famous mountainous area. I found a boribap (보리밥, barley rice with veggies) place for us to eat and we were sitting down to stuff our faces by 2pm. The boys seemed to be over eating fish and vegetables (especially Max) but we did our best to get them to eat what was served and the wonderful host topped us off with sikhye (식혜, a cold sweet rice drink) for dessert at the end of our meal. 

After our late lunch, we decided to go ahead and check into our airbnb. It’s a tiny place near the beach and it’s off a pedestrian only alley so finding parking and unpacking was difficult (luckily, Julian did both of those things). We got settled in quickly (we’ve become pros at unpacking and setting up after doing it every day for eight days in a row) and the boys ran around like maniacs which apparently is how they establish themselves in a new place. 

The entrance to our airbnb

Once we unpacked, it was all business. We had to run to a laundromat nearby to do a load (turns out we accumulate dirty clothes quickly) and go into Emart for only 30 minutes (our new record) to buy breakfast food, diapers (Mo’s uhhhh...output is a great deal more than I had thought), local beer and honey makgeolli (막걸리, our beloved rice wine) to get us through the weekend.

Afterwards, we mercilessly stuffed Mychews (from their website: Mychew's chewable texture feels like chewing gum in your mouth while melting deliciously away like candy!) into our mouths while we drove the three minutes back to the laundromat, all the while knowing our clothes would be gone upon arrival, whisked away by some laundry appropriating thief. Spoiler: they were still there, wet in the washer. This is Korea after all. 

We managed to make it to the beach parking lot, walk back to the Airbnb with our loaded stroller, turn on Kung-Fu Panda for the boys, hang up all the wet laundry on a rack I found out in a shed and heat up leftover pizza from Thursday night in a real skillet on a real stove. The boys were in bed by 9pm and Julian and I are currently listening to our peaceful piano playlist while trying to relax away the day. 

[thesouthkoreayears]

Friday, June 19

Woke up at the crack of dawn (sunrise is at 5:02am here) with Max and we spent some time trying to find a place to stay for the weekend. He lost interest pretty quickly. Moses slept in until 7:30 or so, I improvised a blackout curtain using a blanket and it miraculously stayed up all night. We are officially out of all the breakfast food I packed so at some point this weekend, we’ll make a run to Lotte Mart or HomePlus to find food to get us through the rest of the week. I started writing today’s post while Julian spent some time with the pollos in their cool room. Check out this pension!

Today we left Mangsang for Gangneung, only about 45 minutes up the coast. Gangneung is the area where coffee was first introduced to Korea and they have a thriving coffee culture here to prove it. We made a stop at HomePlus that was supposed to be quick but it ended up lasting the rest of the morning. I fell asleep on the drive (haven’t been sleeping well this entire trip) and the boys passed out too. Julian sat in the parking lot of HomePlus waiting for us to wake up so we could go inside. It was rainy and windy outside so we found cheap jackets for the kids (about five sizes too big, they look adorable) and then I promptly forgot to buy any food for tomorrow’s breakfast, which was our main reason for going there. Two jackets and two styrofoam airplanes later, we got back in the car to head to the Gangneung coffee/beach street known as 강릉커피거리. We found a place called Burger Works that had western style burgers and local craft beer from Budnamu, a brewery here in Gangneung. The kids ate well and we were back outside wandering around in the rain by 2pm. 

The beach was mostly deserted, though a few people were taking pictures of the huge waves hitting the coastline. We walked for a bit and then took refuge in a cafe called AM Bread & Coffee for a post lunch pick-me-up. I ordered an Espresso Con Panna (espresso with whip cream on top, also known as a café Vienna) and Julian settled for an iced hazelnut americano (I had ordered it hot) and we feasted on a blueberry croissant and a chocolate croissant. The kids were in heaven. I wish we could have walked the beach area a little bit more but the weather was downright nasty. It was a good afternoon to sit in a coffee shop and watch other people walk in the rain.

After AM coffee, we decided to take the boys to a kids cafe nearby for a few hours to get their energy out. We’ve had a stressful last few days and no one has really been able to relax fully. Julian and I read our books (Gardens Of The Moon and Homesick For Another World, respectively) while the boys ran and played and generally acted like children who have been at the mercy of our travel plans for the past week. They met a few friends and enjoyed the ice cream shop and the huge collections of themed toys from their favorite shows (Tayo and Octonauts). 

One of Julian’s friends had told us about the Budnamu Brewery a few days ago and we realized our airbnb was only six minutes away! The stars had aligned. I was happy to see that their menu provided an adequate vegetarian meal for me (no potato wedges, thanks!) and the boys annihilated the meatball platter they had. Their sour ale was delicious and Julian enjoyed the bourbon barrel black garlic ale immensely. We made it to the airbnb around 7:30 and the boys were asleep by 8:30 in their own room (praise Jesus for the airbnb owners who have doors on bedrooms). I’m off to read more of my book and try to relax after our low key evening. 

[thesouthkoreayears]

Thursday, June 18

Our Ulleungdo hotel didn’t have any window coverings (just a large sticker with flowers on the bottom half of the pane) so we were all up bright and early. Julian showered the boys because somehow they still have sand in their hair and we ate the rest of the muffins I had packed. Julian took Max for a walk to get coffee and I packed up the hotel room with Moses. Both of the boys have coughs (Mo especially) and I think their limited sleep is making it harder for them to recover. 

Later in the morning, we stopped to get tea and Julian and I had a long conversation (with many, many interruptions) about the pace of our trip. I think the kids aren’t handling it well and this trip I had envisioned is really just not possible with them. It’s a frustrating thing to realize but I’m revisiting the drawing board and trying to see what we can cut to make this a more relaxing type trip and less of a fast paced one. Coming to Ulleungdo was such a cool experience but it really was not conducive to having two small children along for the ride. Honestly it just felt like a huge waste of time and resources to me. I would love to come back someday on different, more enjoyable terms. 

We took the kids for a walk along the coastal trail near Dodong Port around 10am which lasted for all of 20 minutes. The path was not well protected (loose railings, wet pavement from the waves, large toddler-sized spaces in the rails, etc.) and we had our suitcase with us. Not really a great combination. The weather was windy and overcast which made the water seem even bluer and richer than the day before. We saw huge formations of dried lava and two small sea caves. The path covers a large area of the east side of the island and I can see why it’s a popular attraction. There were a lot of older people on the path just hiking along on their morning walk. 

When we were done walking around, we called our taxi driver friend from yesterday (he had given me his business card) and I asked him to pick us up and take us to Sadong Port so we could print our tickets for the 1pm ferry. In the building next to the terminal, there was a build-your-own boribap (like bibimbap but with barley rice instead of white rice) cafeteria. It was fantastic. More of the mountain vegetables and building it myself was great :) Max fell asleep on the chairs next to me and Moses passed out on Julian too. The kids were definitely feel their early wake up. At 12:30, we headed into the terminal, bought some Korean motion sickness medicine (since our dramamine did nothing on the way over) and boarded the ferry. 

The ride back was significantly better for Julian and I, I’m attributing it entirely to the Korean medicine. Moses slept on my lap for most of the ride and cried hysterically at intervals. It was SUPER fun. I think he was starting to feel some motion sickness and seemed miserable overall. 

We got back into port around 4pm and headed to our pension near Mangsang beach to check in for the night. I had found a cute cabin-esque place to stay near the coast. The room is the entirety of the third floor and is wood, floor to ceiling. It has all those quirky attic features with the sloped walls in certain parts of the room and a hilarious slope right next to the toilet. It’s one of the weirdest places I’ve ever stayed (and that’s really saying something). One of our favorite parts of the trip so far has been staying in new places and finding all kinds of different styles. We have been mostly using airbnb with a sprinkling of agoda.com (for pensions) and walking up to hotels to book for the night of (more common than you think). 

I recently (*this morning) discovered the Korean word for western food (양식) and typed it into my maps app to try to find a place for dinner that would suit everyone’s needs. Ended up finding a place with a beach view and decent prices and it was oh so good. We had bruschetta, wood fired pizza and fantastic white wine; they even served coffee and ice cream as a complimentary dessert at the end. The coffee didn’t do much for us, I think we were asleep before 9pm, but it was a delicious ending to a great meal. 

[thesouthkoreayears]

Wednesday, June 17

Woke up at 6am, got everything packed up and left the Pension by 7:28 (goal was 7:30). Went to a place that advertised coffee and donuts (it did NOT have donuts) and got two iced hazelnut americanos. Checked into the terminal at 7:50 for our tickets and we played outside in the shade until 8:30 when there was an announcement to board. 

Went inside, queued up with everyone and got on board in our row of four seats. Everyone one was settled in when we departed at 8:50am. The ferry was enclosed only and it went too fast to go outside on the top deck area. 

I won’t regale you with the tale but suffice it to say, I was very very ill. I knew the ferry would do a number on me (I’ve had bad motion sickness my entire life and it only seems to get worse with age) but holy hell. I was so sick. Writing this at 8pm, I still don’t feel 100% and I’m not looking forward to the ride back tomorrow. The kids did okay on the ride over, Moses slept for most of it and Max watched Kiki’s Delivery Service and snoozed on Julian at the end.

We arrived on Ulleungdo just before noon - what a sight! The sky is so clear and the water is so clean and the fresh air felt amazing, especially after being on the boat for three hours. The island is quite small (less than 11,000 inhabitants) so it felt untouched and very undeveloped. We hopped in a taxi and took an insanely winding and rural road 45 minutes north to Nari Basin (나리분지) for lunch. The ride was incredible - so many huge rocks sticking out of the water, lush greenery everywhere, endless skies. We ate at 산마을 “Mountain Village” bibimbap restaurant. The food blew my mind! Everything is grown there in the basin and they have the freshest side dishes I’ve ever eaten. The spread was incredible and we ate our hearts out. Afterwards we walked around the basin a little bit to see our surroundings. Nari Basin is a caldera, a large volcanic depression, caused by collapse or explosion. It’s the largest flat area on Ulleungdo Island, and it’s not very big! The land here is well drained and composed of fertile volcanic ash soil. Most of the people living in the basin earn a high income by producing medicinal plants. Max was excited and nervous about the fact that we were at the top of the old volcano and he had a lot of questions for me about it. Wildflowers bloomed all over the simple road and it was so quaint and quiet.

When we decided to head to Gwanuemdo (an adjacent, pedestrian-only island accessed by a small bridge) we were met with a few issues. First, it turned out the island was closed because it was too windy to walk across the bridge. Secondly, our taxi driver had left and there were no other taxis to get down from the basin! A few kind people on a tour bus helped us translate and the owner of the restaurant we ate at called the taxi driver (apparently she knew him personally) and had us come back to pick us up. We rested in the shade while we waited for him to return. Since the pedestrian island was closed, we decided to take Max to a cable car (since he was still saddened by the closure of the one from yesterday) and he was thrilled. Although it was 3pm, the cable car area was mostly empty and we were able to get right on board. It was only 8,000 won for all of us, round trip! From above, we could see the area of Dodong (the biggest “city” on the island) and on a clear day, you can see Dokdo Island too! Sadly, it wasn’t visible today (even though the air seemed clear) but we were more than happy to enjoy a 붕어 (fish shaped ice cream treat) from the top. 

We made it back down and decided to walk through Dodong to find a place to stay. The options online were very limited so I thought it would be in our best interest to wait and see what was available when we arrived. We walked around for a bit and found some cute shops with handmade items from juniper trees, handmade amigurumi (tiny crocheted animals) and flower shops galore. One shop owner welcomed us into her place and the kids loved looking at all the precious things she had for sale. Her husband was outside, carving vases out of the volcanic rock for succulents. It was such a cute place!

In time, we found a little hotel in the main part of town and settled in and dropped our suitcase off. Then we set off in search of dinner! Julian spotted a place with fresh vegetables and seafood and we ate our hearts out. They also had pumpkin makgeolli (a rice wine) which was absolutely delicious. They had little turtles in a big ceramic bowl and the boys loved seeing them swim around and stare at them.

By 7pm, we were stuffed. But not too stuffed to walk back to a pumpkin hotteok (pancake) place we had seen earlier in the evening when we were wandering around. We ordered two cream cheese pumpkin pancakes and one original and they were SO. DAMN. GOOD. Best hotteok I’ve ever had. A man came over from the restaurant next door and paid for our pancakes! He gave us such a warm welcome to the island and took a picture of all of us together. We climbed up on a ledge overlooking the street and watched the cars and buses and people go by while we enjoyed our hotteok. We were so wiped out by the day that we came back to the hotel and everyone was asleep by 8:30. It was quite a day.

[thesouthkoreayears]

Tuesday, June 16

This morning we welcomed a late start, Moses slept in until 7:15 so we all enjoyed laying in bed quietly waiting for him to wake up. Max is always an early riser (like his daddy) but he doesn’t really bother anyone, he just wants to snuggle and look at books. Julian went through the fridge and pulled out all the delicious breakfast things and plated them beautifully so we could enjoy them on the rooftop. The sun was intense, even at 7:30 and we had to pull the picnic table to the shade. The boys devoured the muffins while we listened to Nujabes. 

I gathered all our dirty clothes and threw them into the washing machine at the pension, dryers in Korea are few and far in between (we don’t have one in our home actually) so after the load was done, I spread everything out around the stroller and car and picnic tables to dry. We ride the ferry tomorrow and I wanted to have more clothing options because I think it will actually feel pretty chilly there! 

We carried all our belongings back down to the car (we stayed on the 3rd floor) and got the kids in their swimsuits to head down to Jangho beach. I stayed behind to finish up the laundry but the boys got to enjoy the entire morning in the sand. I came down to the beach and sat at a picnic table in the shade to write up the blog post from Monday; we were sleeping right next to the kids last night and I didn’t want to disturb anyone with my laptop screen light. That was a mistake! Writing down anecdotes from the day before is hard and I missed out on hanging out with the boys because I was trying to write and remember everything. I’m committed to writing the day of now! We’ll see how long this lasts ;) There wasn’t a soul at the beach when we arrived and it was dead silent except the waves. The beach was pristine and it was nice to see the older people in their yellow vests cleaning up the roads and areas surrounding the beach, this little town is very well cared for.

When I finished, we walked up and down the beach with the boys and waded out to some of the bigger rocks to take pictures. The water is so blue and clear, we could see little fishes and all manners of seaweed. Moses loved walking in the water and every time a wave would splash up on him, he would say “that’s super cool!” and giggle to himself. When I waded in deeper, it was icy cold and I said so. He said “I know Mommy, I know”. 

We wrapped up our beach time around 12:45pm, packed up our car with all the sun-dried clothing, wet swim suits, sandy shoes, and off we went. Julian had found a raw fish restaurant row on the water he wanted to check out and it was a big hit. They welcomed us in from the road and oohed and ahhed over the boys while we ordered (Godeungeo gui 고등어 구아) and raw fish bibimbap (Hoedeopbap 회덮밥). The spread they provided us with was incredible! The service was excellent too. I’m never 100% sure about eating in floor seating only places with the boys (they tend to get rowdy and want to wander around) but they did so well and they loved the fish.

We hit the road again at 1:45 to try to make it to the Jangho Cable Car but alas, they were closed. I’m guessing it’s because it’s the off season? Or perhaps COVID19. We’ll never know. Max was super disappointed, I promised him we would find something on this trip and I added two other cable cars onto my list in Sokcho (Seoraksan) and Mokpo. We did get to climb up the the third floor observation deck though which provided us with a perfect view of Jangho Bay. Made a quick stop to grab coffee at iin cafe (a cute place that rented picnic baskets with fake flowers for photoshoots) and I tried an Espresso Con Panna over ice - it was delicious!

By 2:30 the pollos were snoozing hard and we were driving up the coast to Donghae (동해). We stopped off the main road so I could jump out and look at a little ceramics shop which turned out to be a tea shop where they teach classes and hold tea ceremonies! I purchased a beautiful handmade bowl and some packets of tea. I might go back and buy myself a handmade tea set…it’s on my list of things to buy before we leave Korea! The ladies inside were wonderful, they offered me iced tea and talked at length about our road trip, their grandchildren (currently living in LA!) and the seaside. It was nice to pop in and check out the shop while the boys slept.

At 4pm everyone was awake and we got out to walk along the main strip. We walked though the Mukho fish market and the boys got to see crabs, lobsters, multitudes of fish and also a shark!? I’m not too keen on my marine animal identification abilities but Max agreed with me, so there’s that. We stopped by a GS25 (another convenience store chain) to grab some ice cream snacks and then checked into our pension early, around 5:30, so the boys could have their Tuesday movie night (Castle in the Sky, per Max’s request) and we could have a chance to plan the next upcoming days. I booked everything through Saturday night so the rest of this week should be a breeze! Dinner was leftover fried chicken and pizza and lots of movie snacks :)

The boys were snoozing by 8:30 (earliest they’ve fallen asleep so far on this trip) so I’m anticipating an early wake up. Looking forward to catching our ferry tomorrow at 8:50am!

Drove : some more miles?

Listened to some lo-fi music, perfect for coastal driving. 

[thesouthkoreayears]

Monday, June 15

Bottom photo: our entire journey from today, we drove south to north.

We woke up in our coastal Ulsan Airbnb, packed up quickly and walked down to the shore line right outside our door. By 8am, the boys were being sprinkled with sea water and the crabs and wharf roaches (yes, water cockroaches - I KNOW) scurried from our midst. Julian brought over Max’s new bug catcher and we scooped up the tide pool water to see all the tiny creatures living there. Both of them loved being by the water and were so sad to go. No matter how much I reassure them that the majority of this trip is about water and beach time, they are devastated when we have to leave. Moses keeps asking me “where is the road trip? what is the road trip?”...it’s a suuuuper fun question to answer over, and over, and over, and over again.

Around 8:45, we headed north - off to Pohang! The boys have slept less than normal so far and both of them were snoozing in the car by 9am. It was the only nap they took! We snaked our way slowly up the coast line, looking for somewhere to get coffee. Of course, everything we passed was closed. Around 10:30 we spotted Cafe Lucia! It was on the tiny beach of Guryongpo and we took a break from driving to play in the sand and drink coffee. The boys got to play with sand toys for the first time this summer and they were thrilled. Moses worked very hard to build pyramids (I guess the Egypt obsession Max is going through has rubbed off on him) and Max and I found rainbow shells along the beach. Then back in the car we went to finish our drive to Pohang!

We arrive in Homigot Sunrise Square (호미곶 해맞이광장) at 11:30am but we didn’t make it in for real to see the famous hand in the water until over an hour later. First it was a break to eat lunch out of the cooler - ham and cheese sandwiches, chips and hummus, babybel cheese and popcorn. When we finished lunch, we set out to the souvenir shop to search for some pins for our backpacks which were promptly found. Then Max had to poop. Then Moses had to poop. Then we had to walk back to the car for the stroller. On and on it went until we finally made it down the path. The hands were quite a sight to see. There wasn’t much else to do in the area but it was well worth the visit. The story behind the area was interesting to learn about too. The sunrise time in Homigot on January 1 is at 7:32 am, making it the earliest first sunrise of each year in Korea. Sangsaeng’s Hand, the two-part bronze sculpture shaped like a pair of hands, was constructed in December 1999. The left hand is on the land and the right hand is in the ocean. It was built to give the message that all people are living together by helping one another like “Sangsaeng” (“coexistence” in Korean). These two hands were built to memorialize reconciliation and coexistence to celebrate the new millennium.

We left Pohang around 1:15 to drive an hour to the Daewonsa temple (대원사), near Chilpo (칠포) beach. The temple is somewhat remote and was completely empty upon arrival. Not a soul was in sight and it was a bit eerie. I found the temple on Atlas Obscura and wanted to check it out because the entrance to the buddha shrine inside is over a bridged koi pond and through a dragon’s mouth! It’s the only one in Korea (and I think the world? Someone correct me) but we only spent a few minutes out of the car to see it because Max was creeped out. I think the emptiness of the place started to bother him and he did not like all the tiny golden buddha statues. We piled back in the car, stopped at CU (the iconic green and purple convenience store) to grab water and my favorite summer thirst quencher - Trevi lime sparkling water. We turned on Ponyo for the kids and Julian drove the last two hours up the coast. There were so many rocky cliffs and tiny pebble beaches scattered along the route, most of them barely inhabited. It seemed like there was quite a bit of construction though, so maybe in a few short years some of those remote areas will be overrun with more people like us ;)

We arrived at Jangho Beach (장호) at 5pm and immediately went to play in the water and pebbly sand. The kids got wet in their clothes and built more pyramids and generally just enjoyed the water. They are typically well behaved but especially on the beach - so happy that they have each other to play with. I walked over to the CU (they are everywhere) and grabbed two Kloud beers and Julian and I enjoyed them immensely. Max and I looked for more sea glass and wandered around, there were less than a dozen people on the entire beach.

When our bellies couldn’t wait another minute, we packed up, changed the boys out of their wet clothes and found a fried chicken place down the street to eat dinner around 7pm. I had a very interesting gorgonzola cheese pizza with raisins and walnuts (it was quite good!) and the boys all devoured the fried chicken. Moses hugged the owner/cook after dinner because he loved the food so much. 

We stayed at Samcheok Play Pension (much more wholesome than the name might suggest) and arrived around 8pm, just in time to watch the rooftop sunset. Max found a huge black beetle (it was very dead) as he explored the roof. We checked out his huge pinchers and then Julian promptly flicked it off the rooftop into the street below. Oh, and in case you’re wondering. A pension is a type of accommodation for travelers in Korea. Typically, it’s ondol sleeping arrangements (we used an air mattress because I can’t handle floor sleeping) and a kitchen and that’s just about it. They’re popular in Korea because you can fit a lot of family members into one sleeping area. Our pension only had four rooms and we were the only people staying there. 

Listened to: Tame Impala, Little Dragon, Stef’s discover weekly playlist (it’s always better than ours)

Miles driven - still no idea. I’m writing them down on a scrap of paper in the car and I’m going to eventually do the math and update all the posts :)

[thesouthkoreayears]

Sunday, June 14

Our first full day away from home. We awoke early at the Hanok (I forgot what life is like without blackout curtains) and set up breakfast outside on the small porch overlooking a stream. I spent the last few days before we left home making food to pack in a cooler so we could eat breakfast wherever we are staying. Most eateries in Korea don’t open until 11am or later, even those serving “brunch” (aka croissants and breakfast pastries), and when there are two hungry boys in your bed at 6am, you better have food on hand. We enjoyed apple crumble, banana muffins and hard boiled eggs while it misted rain around us. 

Due to the early wake up, we were able to check out by 8:15am. Moses had a photoshoot at a studio in Gijang not far from the Hanok but it didn’t start until 10, so we picked up coffee (we didn’t pack any - yikes) and walked along a stream in the rain to pass the time. 

Mo’s shoot took about four and half hours and he was a trooper considering it was over lunch time AND nap time. We left around 2:30pm and drove 45 minutes northeast to Ulsan while he snoozed away.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in Nam-gu, an area of Ulsan known for its whaling history. Visiting the Jangsaengpo Whale Museum (장생포 고래박물관) was quite interesting, even for its small size. It featured whale fetuses, two enormous whale skeletons, and the earliest petroglyphs in Korea which include numerous whales. Afterwards, we walked to the Jangsaengpo Whale Culture Village (장생포 고래문화마을) and took a monorail ride around the area. The village was neat, they recreated the old Ulsan sea port area and even included a life size reproduction of several men carving up a whale carcass. Quite a sight. Moses absolutely loved the monorail, I would say it was his highlight of the day by far. He got to sit in the front seat of the car and he was convinced he was driving that thing. 

By 5:30pm, one of us was getting hangry (ok, it was me) and we looped back around to a restaurant we had seen earlier. “Rilla Tonkatsu” (for gorilla, apparently) fed us too much food - naengmyeon (thin buckwheat noodles in ice, a popular summer meal) for Julian, tteokbokki (spicy stir-fried rice cakes) for myself, and the beloved tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet) for the boys. The set menu came with lemonade which was a surprise. I think that might have been my first time ever being served lemonade in Korea. It was listed as “today’s juice” on the menu.

Spent a quick 20 minutes driving to our airbnb for the night, it’s right on the coast in Ulsan and it was lovely to stand on the porch and hear the waves lapping at the shore. After plenty of yelling/wrangling/running/crying/etc, the boys slipped into dream land on their shared Ondol bed. Julian was able to enjoy a bath in the tub overlooking the bay and I’ve been here, writing this all down :) I also booked the next few days of travel so we have a more concrete plan to follow for the next 72 hours or so. I haven’t driven at all this trip so far so I’m looking forward to our drive along the coast tomorrow. 

[thesouthkoreayears]

Saturday, June 13

Today is the day! We wanted to be out of the house by 9am and we were in the car pulling out of the garage at 9:03am. I think I finally know alllllmost exactly how long it takes to leave the house. Julian loaded up the car and Tetris-ed it to perfection. I preemptively turned off all the fans and AC while we were trying to get out the door and the house was insanely hot and humid, it was nearly 90* today. The kids ate the muffins and apple crumble that wouldn’t fit into our cooler so that we could leave the fridge pristine. 

Max started the drive with his insanely large children’s encyclopedia book (he wants to read everything about Egypt and dinosaurs) and Moses was content playing with his “construction site” aka crane truck. 

Our first stop this morning was the Red Clay Road (황톳길) in Daejeon, about an hour and a half away. We arrived around 10:45am and after packing lunches in the trunk, we set off to see the red road! As you entered the trail, there were shoe storage racks where you could leave your shoes and walk barefoot through the clay. Only in Korea would you see a sight like this without any lockers or private storage. The kids absolutely flipped about the clay, and not in a good way. What a scene. Both of them were crying and hated getting their feet dirty. We had to go back to the foot cleaning station, wash their feet, put their shoes back on and continue our walk on separate paths (us in the mud, them on the asphalt next to the clay path). They were quite upset about the idea of getting dirty…clearly they have become city kids these last two years! Max kept asking me why there were so many bugs. I told him that we are spending the next two weeks in nature - the bug’s world! The walk was completely shaded by trees and it felt about 20 degrees cooler. At the end, we used the cleaning station to rinse our lower extremities and scrub our shoes. The icy water felt so refreshing and the boys enjoyed helping us wash our feet. 

We left the trail around 12:30pm and made a quick pit stop at Cafe Iteul for two iced americanos, we had started without coffee this morning and realized that was a grave mistake ;) After that, we got back on the road for another hour and a half to the Willow Tree Forest (성밖숲). Spent a quick 30 minutes looking at 500 year old pussy willows, stretching our legs and blowing bubbles.

Back to the car we went to grab dinner in Seongju at a nearby rest stop. Seongju is famous for 참외 (pronounced chamwae), the yellow Korean melon. It’s quite similar to honeydew or cantaloupe. We left the rest stop at 4:15pm after an early dinner of spicy pork and tonkatsu. And rice. So much rice. 

After dinner, we had to take a slight detour to Yangsan find a Woori Bank ATM. We will be taking a ferry next week and I had to figure out a way to send money to our booking service. Here in Korea, it’s common to send money via direct bank transfer through an ATM (instead of Paypal and the like). I found the ATM, inserted my card, entered the recipient’s bank and account number and sent the money on its merry way. I’ve never done it before (although it’s often an option when purchasing something) so it was exciting to “level up” my living in Korea skills (as Julian says). 

We ended the day in the Gijang area around 6:45pm; I found a simple Hanok in the woods to stay in for the night. We’ve never stayed in a traditional Korean house before and it did not disappoint. It’s truly charming and so quietly tucked away. A perfect place to enjoy our first night away from home. The boys are in an Ondol style room (sleeping mats on the floor) and we snagged the bed ;) they were wound up when we arrived and finally dozed off at about 9pm. That’s it for tonight! I spent most of the drive today booking the next few days out and scheduling our ferry ride - we have a very exciting week coming up!

Miles driven: (not sure? I’ll check tomorrow morning)

Music listened to: Father John Misty, Wilco, Mew

[thesouthkoreayears]

Top photo: Our general course over the peninsula, starting at the black star. 

Bottom photo: pin drops from everywhere we want to go (including a large black star over our start point).

We depart for our two week long road trip through South Korea next week! Our path is a little different than the one we originally set out to take (due to some extenuating circumstances) so we are starting in the southeast near Ulsan! I’ll be posting an updated map daily with the locations we visited along with photos. We haven’t booked any accommodations or activities (on purpose!) because we are trying to be as flexible as possible. Starting in Ulsan, we’ll drive north towards Pohang, see some UNESCO sites and then head up to Gangneung. From there, we’ll take a three hour ferry ride to Ulleung-do and stay at least one night on the island. There is possibility that we could become stranded in Ulleung-do for a few days because of bad weather. We’re going to keep an eye on things and hopefully not get caught in any major storms! The top of my to-buy list currently says “dramamine” in all caps. After we return from Ulleung-do, we plan on spending a few days in the northeast beach towns near Sokcho and also going to the DMZ. Depending on how many days we spend in the northeast, we may blast through central Korea (it would be easy for us to revisit that area over a long weekend in the future, more so than other areas in South Korea). We’ll spend the last week in the southwest, hitting a lot of the little islands, green tea fields, Mokpo, a few cable cars and monorails...the list goes on and on! We may try to work our way back up north slowly but if we’re restricted on time, we’ll cut the things closest to home from our list for now. 

This trip is far outside the norm for us, we typically have a day by day itinerary in place weeks before we actually leave. But this time I’m trying to embrace a new kind of flexibility in travel that we’ve never done before! We plan on staying in a smattering of airbnbs and motels (oh yes, those love motels) along with a resort on Ulleung-do. I’ve stocked up on polaroid film and plan on making a small scrapbook of photos each day. Shout out to Daiso and Artbox and Books Libro for supplying me with the best possible selection of stickers and paper paraphernalia.

This week we are focusing on packing and prepping the house to leave. I’m going to be consulting my magical family packing spreadsheet that I have refined over the last few years (we’ve never used it for a road trip!) and it’s nice to know that we won’t have any weight restrictions to worry about. I also have a few snacks and meals I’m going to prepare so we have food to eat on the go and breakfast options so we don’t end up at Paris Baguette every morning. I’m hoping to be able to do laundry on the road too so that we don’t have to pack 14 days worth of clothing. We’re finishing up the last of our actual location planning! Julian has been finding local food from each province and major city so that we can try new dishes. Being near the coast means lots of seafood but I’m hoping to find some great vegetable based meals too. This road trip has been on my heart for many months and I’m happy that the coronavirus situation is under control enough that we can get back out and enjoy this country we call home.