Day 07 - Seoraksan to Nami Island

My typical morning usually hovers between dreams and waking for what feels like half an hour and finally I give in to consciousness. But it was exceptionally different these days, as I was at another place. At 7, I woke in a sudden. Realizing I suffered from backache due to the improper sleeping position last night. After cleaning up, it was still early, I decided to enjoy the morning breeze in this magnificent woods. Hardly I was at the point of wakefulness in the morning. But today was special. The air in the mountain was so fresh that it took away my drowsiness. I went back to the stream where we sat the day before, I wanted to see how it looked like in the day time.

At 8am, everyone gathered at our chalet to have breakfast. Prof cooked us Korean instant noodle. They tasted differently from our local noodle. But it was delicious. After the meal, we washed up and packed our stuff, ready for our next destination. We really had quite a lot to pack. Besides our own belongings, we had souvenirs from others as well. I felt like I had moved my home along with me. J)

Soon, we were in the car again. Prof drove us along the mountain area, to have a look at the surroundings. They were pretty much the same as what we saw the day before. But to us, it was always never tired to see. We wanted to see as much as possible. We continued our journey to Seorak mountain. This was the place I had been waiting for! Seoraksan, here we come..

Along the journey to Seorak mountain, there were many small villages, I was pretty amazed by how the villagers manage their gardens - with tidy meadows and plantations along the way. Vege lovers like me should live in this place! When we arrived at the foot of Seorak mountain, there were many visitors. There was even traffic congestion as people trying to find places to park their vehicles. Due to the traffic jam, our Seoraksan trip was shortened. Prof finally found a place to park his car. We went down to catch a glimpse of the surrounding. Many visitors were Korean. I believe Korean really do tour locally. Hardly seen any foreigners around, perhaps there were people like Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Hongkee? mostly Asian faces. But I sure did hear a lot of Mandarin and Cantonese speaking people. There was a huge Buddha statue. I’ve never seen such a big Buddha statue before. We took some photos together. Then headed to the cable car station. There was a long queue. Prof brought us the ticket and then we lined up, waiting to be brought up by the cable car.

We didn’t wait long for our turns. Of course, happy times are easier to pass. We stepped into the cable car. There was no seat, unlike the one in Genting Highland. Practically everyone was standing. This was made to fit in more people. I have acrophobia. But I would have to overcome it this time, I would risk the feeling of dizziness to stand by the window and have a greater view.
It was indeed very steep. But we got to see the mountain covered with fiery red leaves. Suddenly, prof mentioned that there was once, a bunch of people were caught in a cable car for 10 hours during their trip to Seoraksan. We prayed we will reach there safely.

The cable car dropped us at the opposite station. After that, we climbed up some flights of stairs and then finally reach the rocky part. I saw many ladies n gentlemen in their 50s or more were climbing with much enthusiasm. Apparently, they have been doing this quite often. This motivated me to do better. My stamina was not strong, together with the strong breeze, there were a few times I practically felt that I was about to fall off the mountain. Jimmy was not a climbing person too. From the day we went to Sineosan, we knew that he really needed some extra workouts. Hehe But finally we did able to climb up but not to the peak. We stopped at the mid level to take some photos. As can be seen from the pictures, the wind was so strong that I didn’t have any proper photo taken. But that’s okay. The experience we had are invaluable.

After awhile, Prof and Mr. Soh went up to the peak. Cathy and Siewchun continued to climb up too. This time I did not have the nerve to do so. First, due to my weight, I afraid I would be blown away by the strong wind. Second, I could feel my legs were wobbly if I were to be up there. Third, Jimmy was still down here with me. So I was not alone, this added another item to my list of excuse! -which caused me much regret till today. Aiyo…
They came down to meet us very soon. Cathy said, there was nothing up there except a Taegukgi (Flag of South Korea). We continued down hill and back to Prof’s car.

It was time for lunch! We filled our stomach at a small cozy restaurant by the road. The food tasted home cooked. What a nice place for lunch. After lunch, we embarked our journey to the ever popular place – Nami Isle – the place of romance in Winter Sonata. This time it was Mr. Soh’s turn to take the drive. I had a sit next to the window at the back seat, prepare to have a good sight seeing. I certainly was not going to sleep although I always do when I got in a car for a long journey.




These are the places in Gangwan-do province. Gangwan-do is surrounded by high-rise mountains. Apparently, this province is renowned for its agricultural produce. We also passed by Soyang River, which was one of the tributaries of the North Han River. And then as we entered Bangha-ri, we were very close to Nami Island. According to prof, Nami Island was named after a patriotic Hero – General Nami. It was half-moon shaped, and on it lays the grave of General Nami, who led a great victory against the rebels. However, he was accused of having plans to seize the king throne for himself. The island today provides a place for people to rest and away from the crowded civilization. Upon arriving, we took a ferry across Cheungpyung lake. The weather there was unbearably cold. I do not know why. It was even colder than we were in Odaesan that night. Nami Isle is famous for its beautiful chestnut and poplar trees lined by each side of the road. It is a perfect place for slow walks, romantic dating and the shooting place for the ever popular Korean series – Winter Sonata. I did not watch the series as i felt the love stories were too mushy. Hence, some may think that the place would not give much impact to me. But i can't deny that this place really caught my heart on the moment i stepped on Nami Isle.

One of the best things about Nami, and something that is immediately evident, is that there are no cars; and so the air is so crisply clear and fresh. With only a circumference of 6 kilometers, the island can be walked through in a matter of minutes. Hence, there is no need for cars. But i did see a pair of bicycle in the distance. The island, despite its isolated location, was crowded with people coming for vacation. We chatted along and took a lot of photos, not to forget the classic pathway in Winter Sonata.

Soon, the sky was getting darker and darker. We rushed back to the ferry and had our dinner at a restaurant nearby. It was by the lake, so we sat next to the window in order to have a nice view of the lake at night.

After the dinner, we would be heading back to Incheon where prof Kim lives. Prof drove this
time and the route back to the highway was very very dark. It was a winding and narrow road
and the atmosphere was eerie. So I told some ghost stories in my office. we also discussed some
other matters such as religion etc.

Two hours later, we arrived at his condo. Mr. Soh is staying nearby too. We bid farewell and gave him a bottle of honey which we brought from Malaysia. We were very grateful of his guided tour. Prof parked his car at the basement. There was a man shouting at us. I did not understand what he was talking. But I was sure that he was scolding something. Prof said something to him and asked us to ignore him, obviously that guy was nuts.

We arrived at his house which is the highest at that block. He likes to stay at the highest level
as to be able to see the nice view and the feeling of being at the top. An elegant lady with a warm smile welcome us at the door. She is Mrs. Kim.

There are four rooms in Kim's house. We were assigned to the rooms of their children since they
were away from home. We had our shower and gather at the living room. It is time to give away the souvenirs we brought from Malaysia. Since it was mooncake festival, hence mooncake was the best souvenir we could give. Prof Kim and Mrs. Kim entertained us with a few korean songs which they played with guitar. It was marvellous. We were even thrilled when they sang a chinese song.




Around 11, we all went to bed. After long hours of journey, we really need some quality time to rest.

Day 06 - Heading up North

The alarm rang at 4.30am, I got up from the warm cozy bed and headed to the washroom. Cleaned up and got ready for our next journey to Suwon. At 5.30am, we met up Tae woon and shin at Bio Tech village entrance. Shin had a solemn expression on his face, probably because of the arguments with his girl friend the night before. Tae woon’s car was big enough to fit all our luggages, fortunately. And there was still enough space to fit Shin.:))

The early morning streets of Gimhae were not quiet at all. There were many vehicles on the road, I supposed Koreans are active workers with high productivity. When we arrived at Gupo station, we were still early. Taewoon bought us some Gim bap as breakfast, how nice of him. My head was throbbing with pain and felt dizzy, I sat on the bench and observed the news on tv, displaying the temperature of cities all over Korea. Gimhae was not very cold. I didn’t feel the chill that morning, but I wasn’t feeling comfortable. Weird. Soon, it was time to leave, we bid goodbye, to one another, and thanked them repeatedly for their warm hospitality, which we will never forget. I guess we left with heavy footsteps, felt reluctant to leave this small, but peaceful town with warm hearted people. At 6.28 sharp, Mugunghwa train arrived, we hurriedly got our backpacks and trotted in. In a few minutes after settled down, we fell asleep. I was half conscious all the way, due to my severe headache, I didn’t take much breakfast. Soon before we reached suwon, I felt much better after going to the washroom a few times and a lot of sleep. :p
The train stopped in front of Suwon station at 11.11am sharp. I was very impressed with the punctuality of Korean public transportation.

At the arrival hall, Prof Kim welcomed us with a big grin. We followed him to the place where he parked his car. We were practically running our way there. As we reached, he introduced us to his friend, Mr. Soh who would be guiding us to Seoraksan. Mr. Soh served in the military for 3 years around the area of Seoraksan, that was why he was very familiar with the route there. We squeezed all our luggage at the boot and the back seat. Poor Siewchun, he got to cramp himself together with the luggage at the back.

We left Suwon immediately. Using Yeodong Expressway to Seoraksan. Around 12.30pm, we stopped at a rest house for lunch. The sky was gloomy, and the wind was strong. We dashed into shops and ordered our food. I had Bibimbap for lunch. It was more expensive than what we ate in Busan. Anyway, it still tasted good. After lunch, Prof Kim and Jimmy went to carry a box of food, there were fruits inside. We ate some Korean pears. They ate once in Hansu’s house, which I did not take that time as I was having shower.

Then, We continued our journey. It was drizzling outside, and everyone fell asleep. I could not sleep as there was no supporter behind my head. To neutralize my boredom, I looked out the windows and admired the scenery that we do not have back home. Our next destination was Odaesan National Park. It was a surprise visit, as we were not told before hand. And outside, spreading all the way up the mountainside, were the colours we had come to see.

We were duly appreciative. "Wonderful!" "We're here just at the right time ..." "The colours are so beautiful!", “I would like to stay here!” etc. etc. And it was indeed a very pleasant scene – trees clothed in fire.

Prof Kim pulled over by the road, and we got down to take some shots of the unspeakable charming scenery. Gangwando province has many recreational opportunities such as camping, mountain climbing, jungle tracking, boating, canoeing, sight seeing and much more. After experiencing the Korean everyday lifestyle in Busan, now it was time for us to be close to the nature.

We continued uphill to a temple. There were many lanterns in the temple. According to Prof Kim, they wrote their wishes on the lantern and it will come true. He translated some wishes written on the lantern. Many were sent in by students, praying for good results in examination. After that, we went to another temple down hill. There were many temples in Korea, as these holy places were free from government taxes. After temple visiting, we had a stroll at the forest. It was when we could have a closer view and felt ourselves surrounded by the autumn air.

Approximately 5pm, we left Odaesan National Park.. again back to Yeodong Expressway, we traveled across quarter of Inje, and also the 38th division line. After the world war two, the 38th division line served as the demarcation line that divided the nation into two where the north part was occupied by the Soviet forces and the south governing power belonged to Japan until the establishment of the American military government. Many people were sacrificed during the outbreak of the Korean War, as we had seen in Taekgukgi.

On the way, we stopped by at a mart and Mr Soh bought Soju. We saw many young people with uniforms along the street. They were students, I was surprised they hang out late in the afternoon. According to Prof Kim, they were having extra classes at private institute, which we called, tuition.

We continued our journey as the sky getting darker. Soon, we reached the mountain area. The vehicle sped along the winding road up the hill. No street lights, no other passerby. It felt as if we were in a haunted movie. Finally, we saw a few small huts in the distant and pulled over. Prof got out and spoke to the man in the hut, and we also got down to stretch our legs. Few minutes later, he got the keys and gestured us to get back to the car, and drove us to the chalet. There was a row of wooden chalets up there. In the night, we could see nothing except the small light on the front porch of the corridor between the huts. It was a thrilling experience. We did not know which house the key belong to. So we searched from the left. There were two isolated huts at the corner. Prof and Mr Soh went closer to the door, and they said it was the wrong house. Finally, we found the chalet that we checked in. It was the left one in the middle row. Hurriedly, we got our luggage into the hut and unpack our stuff. Cathy and I shared a hut, Jimmy and Siewchun another, Prof and Mr. Soh another.

Obviously, we were starving after a long journey. Prof Kim and jimmy went out to carry all the food that he brought all the way from Incheon. We explore the small little house and found that there were some cooking equipments. Great, we were going to prepare a korean dinner. Cathy and I washed all the plates and woks in the cabinet as they certainly had been unused for quite some time. Then we began cutting cucumber, and roast the pork. Prof Kim brought a sauce called samjang. It was supposed be eaten with raw cucumber. This was a wonderful combination! Jimmy and prof kim cooked some pork as well, just like samgeopsa.

Soon, Mr. Soh joined us for dinner. It was a fabulous dinner probably because we were so hungry. We had rice, seaweed, cucumber with samjang and samgeopsa (pork). Then we also had some fruits. After the satisfying dinner, they all went back to their chalets to clean up. Needless to say, the girls will end up cleaning the mess! Haha... So we washed the dishes and boil some water. Prof said, we shall meet outside at 8pm! Hurriedly, we had a quick shower and met them at the front yard.

I saw everyone was there except Mr. Soh, Prof said he wanted some rest. It was quite tiring anyway.. Prof brought us to a small stream nearby. The place was surely dark. But there was a street light somewhere. The stream was beneath the bridge, it was quite rocky but prof went down. We were hesitant for awhile as it was totally rocky and slippery down there. Soon, I saw jimmy went down, so we tailed behind him. Prof said this was for our unforgettable memory. Then he folded his pants and dipped his feet into the piercing cold stream. We were terrified, unable to imagine how cold the water would be. I was already in my sweatshirt, feeling colder than we were in Busan. Dipping my legs into the water was indeed an unforgettable memory. The coldness hit me. But soon I was numb and felt warmer as the coldness in my feet was more intense than the chill in my body, so were the rest. We had some talking. Jimmy said he would be applying to study master in Korea. Prof told us some story as well. Anyway, we had a great time.

The night ended as we walked back to our chalets… hiding under the thick warm blankets, what a comfy place to rest our feet.