So this morning during breakfast time, I met an Australian that's taking a year off from work to travel and sight see. It so happened that we were going out to the same place that morning (Mt. Seoraksan), so we decided to travel together: and boy was that a good idea cause the mountain paths were quite treacherous with the amount of snow there was.
Weather on the other had was fantastic. I was traveling with just my hoodie on and I even found that unbearable. The climb up the mountain was quite a work out.The existing paths were just heaps of snow that was compacted by the travelers that passed before us. One wrong step off track and your leg would sink a good feet or two. However the nasty part of this, is that the beaten path was at the same height as the uncompacted snow so it was never a wise choice to make a new path. I managed to only get my socks a little wet on the way up, but on the way down it was a completely different story. At most times i was on all 4 to get up the mountain; this tells you how steep most of the paths were. Therefore on the way down, it was nearly impossible to get a grip on any land, so we ended up sliding down the mountain 50% of the time. And thats how i got my socks and shoes soaked.
O and i forgot to mention, on our way up, we met 2 americans that were from the same hostel. Hence we decided to all go out for dinner that night.
Pictures should be posted soon, you guys should be able to see them in a few days.
Tuesday 23 February 2010
Week 2, traveling to Sokcho
So with still 5 days left ahead of me and with nothing to do, (seeing that I pretty much finished exploring Seoul) I decided to head off to Gangwando to climb Seoraksan, the 3rd biggest mountain in korea. Obviously I have done a fair amount of research beforehand. So currently I am in Sokcho right now, the closest city that brings us to the mountain. This city is great during the summer for its nice beaches and its fantastic landscapes. Though going to beach during the wintertime is not the best idea, the hot springs provide a great alternative to sit back and relax. Unfortunately the hostel over here is not as great as the Mr. Sea’s. This place looks deserted.
Thursday 18 February 2010
7th Day
So this time I decided to write out a blog instead. This allows me to be more descriptive with the things ive seen and experienced.
1 week since I have arrived to korea.
So far i have befriend almost all the visitors that have entered the hostel. MR. SEA, who is the landlord/owner of the hostel has been a backpacker as well back in the days. However, His english isn't all that great being that he has never had a chance to leave Korea to study english. So most of the time I would be there to help out and strike conversations with the newcomers. People come and go very often, some worth remembering their names, while others you just acknowledge their presence. So many people with so many stories! It's truly hard to remember the corresponding reasons that brought each person here, but keeping track of to whom I've told my story to is even harder. Out of all the people i have met, there is only one here that stand's out like a clown in a jungle.
And that is the Israeli.
This person is very funny in a weird sens. He was born and raised in Israel, however he decided to leave for Japan just for the women there (He bluntly gave me that response). On his laptop and phone, he showed me all these cute pictures of him and Japanese girls he met. The reason why he is in Korea, is that he had to renew his visa to enter Japan (In like most of the cases of the new arrivals). Ever since he has arrived in Korea all he did was complain and longed for his return to Japan. He is the person I see the most often in this hostel, and the person I know that is staying the longest. We get together fine, just a couple of days ago we went out for an early walk to visit temples. He is currently sick right now; so tomorrow we are going to the hospital with him to get him checked out.
Other than that, I've done a couple of activities with MR. SEA as well. Like I said before on my previous video blog, on the second day I was already having drinks with Mr. Sea and his friends. Though I didn't understand what they were saying, I still felt that I was in a delightful environment.I also watched and learned how Mr. Sea prepares dinner. They have uber huge tubs of kimchi that they keep in the fridge!!!! Tubs of Sunchang Gochujang (hot pepper paste) as well! That night he was preparing Kimchi soup and bulgogi
In the kimchi soup, he puts kimchi, some minced meat (porc), onions and some powder, probably chicken or porc flavouring. So that looked rather simple to make. For the Bulgogi, I have no clue... either ways, its hard to find the right meat for it and especially at a cheap price. So this wouldn't be a plate I would be cooking for myself.
Finally today we went to the fishmarket, i'll upload a few pictures here later and probably blog about it. Either ways, it was a long corridor of vendors all selling the same few articles. There were mainly 4 different types of fish that nearly everyone sold. So in the end we bought some oysters, 2 fishes and some shrimps and ate them :D. There was actually a restaurant at the fish market that prepares the seafood that you freshly bought. The fishes that we bought were skinned alive as we payed and was put on a plate for us to eat as sushi in the restaurant. First time eating fish that fresh!!!! And it was amazing! Great texture and feel to the meat.
Well gonna have to cut it short now, its late and batt running super low
Keep you updated
1 week since I have arrived to korea.
So far i have befriend almost all the visitors that have entered the hostel. MR. SEA, who is the landlord/owner of the hostel has been a backpacker as well back in the days. However, His english isn't all that great being that he has never had a chance to leave Korea to study english. So most of the time I would be there to help out and strike conversations with the newcomers. People come and go very often, some worth remembering their names, while others you just acknowledge their presence. So many people with so many stories! It's truly hard to remember the corresponding reasons that brought each person here, but keeping track of to whom I've told my story to is even harder. Out of all the people i have met, there is only one here that stand's out like a clown in a jungle.
And that is the Israeli.
This person is very funny in a weird sens. He was born and raised in Israel, however he decided to leave for Japan just for the women there (He bluntly gave me that response). On his laptop and phone, he showed me all these cute pictures of him and Japanese girls he met. The reason why he is in Korea, is that he had to renew his visa to enter Japan (In like most of the cases of the new arrivals). Ever since he has arrived in Korea all he did was complain and longed for his return to Japan. He is the person I see the most often in this hostel, and the person I know that is staying the longest. We get together fine, just a couple of days ago we went out for an early walk to visit temples. He is currently sick right now; so tomorrow we are going to the hospital with him to get him checked out.
Other than that, I've done a couple of activities with MR. SEA as well. Like I said before on my previous video blog, on the second day I was already having drinks with Mr. Sea and his friends. Though I didn't understand what they were saying, I still felt that I was in a delightful environment.I also watched and learned how Mr. Sea prepares dinner. They have uber huge tubs of kimchi that they keep in the fridge!!!! Tubs of Sunchang Gochujang (hot pepper paste) as well! That night he was preparing Kimchi soup and bulgogi
In the kimchi soup, he puts kimchi, some minced meat (porc), onions and some powder, probably chicken or porc flavouring. So that looked rather simple to make. For the Bulgogi, I have no clue... either ways, its hard to find the right meat for it and especially at a cheap price. So this wouldn't be a plate I would be cooking for myself.
Finally today we went to the fishmarket, i'll upload a few pictures here later and probably blog about it. Either ways, it was a long corridor of vendors all selling the same few articles. There were mainly 4 different types of fish that nearly everyone sold. So in the end we bought some oysters, 2 fishes and some shrimps and ate them :D. There was actually a restaurant at the fish market that prepares the seafood that you freshly bought. The fishes that we bought were skinned alive as we payed and was put on a plate for us to eat as sushi in the restaurant. First time eating fish that fresh!!!! And it was amazing! Great texture and feel to the meat.
Well gonna have to cut it short now, its late and batt running super low
Keep you updated
Wednesday 17 February 2010
Monday 15 February 2010
Saturday 13 February 2010
Before Departure
ZOMGGGGG Its hard to create video blog...
Keep forgetting things to say, but here is first test...
Keep forgetting things to say, but here is first test...
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