Chuseok 2010: Family Vacation to Gangneung

At my last job, I was lucky to get a 5-day weekend for vacation every now and then.  The excuse was always that parents of middle schoolers don’t want their kids to stop studying for a full week.  Seeing as how most parents didn’t bring their kids in during those few extra days of the week anyway, I began to smell a rat.

 

Now that I’m working at a private primary school, my fortune has changed!  I got a full week off for Chuseok, the “Korean Thanksgiving”, the Harvest Festival, and one of the two most important holidays in South Korea.

 

We decided to use that time off to do some traveling, since our traveling in Korea thus far has been limited to pretty much one vacation.

 

We checked into the Naiad Pension & Motel, and for 30,000 won per night we got a private room with a full-sized bed and a private bathtub!  Seeing as how I haven’t taken a proper bath in a bathtub in over a year, I was ecstatic.

 

The weather was stormy when we arrived, and Gyeongpo Beach in Gangneung being much deeper than Songjeong Beach in Busan, the waves were much stronger.  Nonetheless, when the weather warmed up a little and the sun came out, we got to see some of the beautiful sapphire East Sea.

  

TheFry wanted to go “splash”!  He was very upset when i wouldn’t let him run out in the waves.

 

He settled for a walk with his trains on the boardwalk.

PapaFish tries to keep up with him.

 

Later on that day, the waves had died down only somewhat, but the weather had become quite warm and enjoyable.  As rain was in the forecast for the whole weekend, we thought this might be our only chance to let TheFry splash in the ocean, so we began our trek along the beach to find a suitable place. 

 

We came upon a section of the beach where the larger waves were broken up by some rocks near the shore.

There were still quite a few waves, but they were small in comparison.

TheFry longs to dive head-first into the lovely blue ocean.

PapaFish guards him from giving into the temptation. 

Chasing (and running from!) the waves was still fun, though.

TheFry spots me with the camera.

TheFry frolics along the sandy beach.

   

TheFry in his all-time favorite yoga pose. :b

 

On our way home for dinner, we passed a lighthouse.  A not-so-conspicuously-guarded tank was sitting at its side.

   

We also saw some bunkers along the road.

We stayed at a motel called the Naiad.   It cost us 30,000 won a night for a double-bed room with a TV, mini fridge, and (wait for it…) a BATHTUB!  Woo-HOO!  It was awesome to have a private bathtub for the first time in over a year.  If we ever go to Gangneung again, we will definitely be checking that place out.

Near our motel, however, were many, ahem, interesting other motels.  Most looked fairly clean and decent, and then there was the over-the-top Gyeongpo Tour Night Club.

Boasting its very own sexy Zeus.

 

Gyeongpo Beach is actually quite near another lovely body of water besides the East Sea – Gyeongpo Lake!

In this picture, you can see the ocean in the distant background.

They really do have flathead mullets in the lake!

 

On our second day at the East Sea, we decided to go for a walk to a famous pavilion called Gyeongpodae.  We passed some interesting archeological sights along the way.

A lovely little hanok, which used to be the guesthouse of a king.

Lighthouse at above hanok.

 

Sign marking Gyeongpodae

Gyeongpodae Entrance

 

Dragons on the ceiling.

Dragons at the entry way

PapaFish and TheFry look out over Gyeongpo Lake

What a little dude!

 

Cool drums on the gate posts of the exit from Gyeongpodae

The second day, though as warm as  the first, was also windy, and the water was much colder.  However, the waves were not as fierce and we enjoyed the sandy white beach and the dark sapphire ocean.

TheFry goes hunting for shells

 

He especially liked the seaweed and rubbish.  Time to go throw it back to the ocean, from whence it came!

 

We had such a good time!