속초에서 하루 - Sokcho, South Korea

During our Lunar New Year (which was about two weeks ago now, sorry it's been a while) I went to Seoul and I also went to Sokcho. Day trips are nice because these two cities are close to Inje and I also don't have to worry about finding any hotels or hostels. Korea has these things called jimjilbangs and they are very cheap. It's like a community room where people sleep. Like festival sleeping. The showers are always awkward because Korean men are always walking around naked. Gross. But they are cheap, so at least it's a place to sleep. I've only been to one in Seoul's Incheon International Airport. I know there are many in Sokcho, so since Sokcho is on the coast, I have a feeling I will go to the beach many times the summer and stay at jimjilbangs. It's not too bad.



I went with my teacher that works with me. One teacher left right as I came, and the other one left the last week in January, so it's just me and this one South African that will be together for the duration of my contract. She got here before me, but she will re-sign for another six months, so she will leave one month after me in November. So we decided to go to Sokcho for the day.



The city smells like fish. Like fresh fish. I'm not a big fan of fish just because Minnesota doesn't offer a lot of fish. I know there is fresh water fish and many lakes, but again, I never grew up eating that stuff. So I am always hesitant to eat it, but it tastes pretty good and fish is good for you.



We saw some sites and went to the spa. There is a huge lighthouse there that I believe was the first one in Korea, so it's pretty well-known. I hate to say it, but this city really reminded me of Duluth: a huge lighthouse, a view of a huge body of water (although this was the ocean and Duluth is just Lake Superior), and snow atop of rocks on the shore with the waves crashing against them. It felt like a piece of home. I think I will like going to Sokcho more than Seoul because it's closer and probably cheaper. The bus ticket was cheaper and lunch and other things were cheaper, so this will be a good city to escape to during the summer months.



We also went to Waterpia, which is a water park-slash-spa. When I think of hot springs and spas, I think of being outside in the winter with steam coming from the water and relaxing. That's not what it was like. It was a water park full of kids. Half was indoors and half was outdoors. It was really cool, but many kids and families there. And these 'hot springs' were just random hot tub-type things spread out about outside. They were relaxing, but not exactly what I pictured. It was great though.



We also paid 6,000 won to do Dr. Fish. That is when you stick your feel in this pool and little fish swim up and eat off all the dead skin. It sounds really gross, but it was awesome! It tickled like crazy at first, but after 20 minutes (that was the limit) your body tingled all over. That was relaxing. But, after thinking about it, everyone is just sitting in this pool with everyone's dead skin floating around. It's gross. Korea doesn't seem very sanitary. Not just that, but I find in a lot of bathroom, they never have soap or warm water...ew.

That was about it for this trip. I'm sure a few more months, you will see pictures from the beaches in Sokcho.