Korea, 28 Oct 2010, Day 2, Goseong Unification Observatory

On the way to the Goseong Unification Observatory, we took what was reputedly the most beautiful coastal drive in Korea, with stretches of crystal blue ocean.

To get to the Observatory, we had to pass through Tongilanbo Park, part of South Korea's security site. Tommy had earlier had our passports cleared and as we drove up to the barricade, we were stopped by cute looking soldiers (the movie star type with their dark shades). They probably looked real cool because they were not smiling (some men look silly when they smile). We wouldn't have minded if they took a little longer clearing our passes... :-)

We forgot the soldiers as soon as we got to the Observatory. The Observatory was built in 1983 by an army unit. The views were awesome.  That's part of North Korea.  You can see Mt. Geumgangsan in the background.

Mt. Geumgangsan is a beautiful mountain resort in North Korea.  Between 1998 and 2008, South Korean tourists were allowed to visit the resort.  The tours were suspended by South Korea after a South Korean tourist was shot and killed in July 2008 while walking along the beach of the resort.  The North Koreans claimed that she had defied orders by soldiers to stop.  South Korean demands for an on-the-spot survey were declined by the North Koreans. Since then, the South had refused to resume the tours despite threats from the North. 

There were veterans visiting the Observatory that day.  One kind veteran came by and told us the way to take to avoid the steps.  And that way took us to the northernmost church in South Korea!

We had to explore the chapel.  It was open, of course.  It was small, accommodating perhaps 100 worshippers, beautiful, and very homely. We should have taken pictures of the chapel, but it was the view of the pulpit that took our breath away.

With a view like this, who would be paying attention to the sermon?













Most parts of the Observatory were not accessible to wheelchairs, but there was a viewing gallery that was.  So was the souvenir-snack shop.  We took a quick snack for (late) lunch.  It was a very interesting snack (what's its name?)  made on the spot: a panfried pancake roll with dongfen and fermented spicy radish filling. The pancake skin tasted like it had been made from a mix of rice flour, glutinous rice flour and tapioca flour.  Yummy.

Off to our next destination!  But before that, a final look at the cute soldiers as we waved our goodbyes.

Korea, 29 October 2010, Day 2, Sinheungsa Temple

Sinheungsa, located in Seoraksan National Park, is a head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. It may have been constructed in 637 AD., or 653 AD., and had been burned and rebuilt twice.  It is believed to be the oldest Zen (Seon) temple in the world.

While waiting our turn for the cable car, we decided to take a stroll to the temple.

Someone got stuck between two wheelchairs and had to be hauled out after this picture was taken.:D

We've got company!

The One-Pillar Gate: entrance to Sinheungsa Temple.  This is where one is supposed to leave behind all worldly desires prior to entering the temple. One wonders why it is called the One-Pillar Gate when it has more than one pillar.

Tongil Daebul, the Great Unification Buddha, is a gilt-bronze Buddha statue, measuring 14.6m in height, and weighing 108 tons.  It sits atop a 4.3m high lotus pedestal with 16 engraved petals. The forehead of the statue is adorned with eight amber stones, surrounding a piece of jade. Contained within the hollow statue are three pieces of the Buddha's sari, some of his cremated remains, and the Tripitaka, the original Buddhist scriptures.

Tongil Daebul represents the wish of the Koreans for the reunification of the two Koreas.



Just beyond the statue, the Hyeonsugyo: a newly built bridge for crossing the ravine.



Beyond the Hyeonsugyo: a beautiful long stone wall which leads to the Gate of the four heavenly kings (Cheonwang) guarding the entrance to the temple.  Imagine centuries back, walking along the stone wall and, amidst such beautiful surroundings, engaging in a discourse with the monks on issues of life and eternity.

View from the Gate of the four heavenly kings: rock formation resembling that of the head of a bear ...err… not us...

here's an upsized view of the rock formation :)

Korea, 29 October 2010, Day 2, Mt Seorak

After our leisurely breakfast (which was to become a norm for this holiday), we left for the Mt. Seorak National Park. Also known as Seoraksan, it is the third highest mountain in South Korea. In November 1965, the Seorak Mountain district was designated as a Natural Monument preservation area; in December 1973 as a park preservation area; and in August 1982, as a Biosphere Preservation District by UNESCO.

Approaching Mt Seorak...

While the full autumn colors were not yet in bloom, it was already beautiful with the reds and yellows. Unfortunately, the streams were dry.

 

Now we know where tap water comes from, at least, in South Korea:

Us, outside the cable car station but with an hour's wait to go. Yes, it's wheelchair-friendly! 

That's a cable car, passing ours.

Us, at the cable car station at the top.



See the spectacular rock formations, forestry, and Sokcho town in the background.

Korea, 29 October 2010, Day 2, Maremons Hotel

Although Maremons Hotel is a four-star hotel (we discovered that Korea has a different hotel-rating system from what we know in Singapore), be prepared for no porter service. The various floors are served by lifts. If you stay at cheaper hotels, check on the lifts and accessibility issues before you book. Our room could accommodate two wheelchairs, and was acceptably clean, so that was very good. The bathroom is alright for one wheelchair, has separate shower area but not roll-in shower. Our bathroom was not stocked with fresh bottles of toiletries. There were strands of hair on a shampoo bottle. Thankfully, as always, we had brought our own toiletries.

We also discovered, when we returned the second evening, that they had not done any housekeeping to the rooms, although they provided fresh towels. As we were checking out the next day, we did not insist that they do the housekeeping.

Nevertheless, it was a nice stay. Our room afforded good views.

Sunrise at 6:38 a.m.

 

Maremons Hotel Sokcho is sited on an upslope, and afforded a great view of the port. Here's a view of Daepo Port from our room. Neubei Hotel (shaped like a ship) in the bottom left of the photo.

Korean BBQ picnic tables in the park behind the Maremons.

Korea, 28 Oct 2010, Day 1, Dinner in Sokcho

On getting back down the slope, we bought some seafood and green chilli fritters at 15 pieces for 5000 KRW.

At the Dongmyeonghang Live Fish Market, you can choose from the wide range of live seafood which you can then ask for them to be cooked at the restaurant located above the market.  There is a separate charge for the cooking.  We didn't eat there as we didn't want the wheels of our wheelchairs to be dirtied from the wet market floor.  However, the restaurant is actually accessible to wheelchairs as there is a ramp up to the second floor.

We originally decided to eat at one of the numerous other seafood restaurants that line the roads in the area, but ended in a regular Korean food restaurant instead. It was difficult to bear the thought that we were in the seaport of Sokcho with its abundant fresh live seafood, and we were not eating any of it!

We ordered a beef rib soup, which turned out to be the best amongst all the other places that we tried in Korea (and we did try many as our helper, who was travelling with us, did not have very adventurous culinary tastes). 

We also ordered a pollack soup.  On the way to Sokcho, we saw pollack (a fish) being sun-dried at many places and were told that pollack is one of the area's specialty.  It was a light and fairly plain soup.  Not untasty, but a little too mild tasting.  They actually didn't do it poorly.  We were served pollack soup on a few other occasions at other places and they all tasted about the same.

We also ordered a squid sundae, and some other stuff which were decent but nothing to rave over.

We ate our food with the fritters that we had bought earlier.  The restaurant did not stop us from bringing in outside food.

The restaurant was a homely little place, albeit under-patronised. The owner and the workers ate at another table and watched TV.

Location of restaurant

Having had dinner, we drove to the Maremons Hotel Sokcho, where we would be staying two nights.

What a day! Great start to a holiday!

Korea, 28 Oct 2010, Day 1, Sokcho Breakwater

As it was too early for dinner when we reached Sokcho, we took a walk at the Dongmyeonghang Port where the fish market was located.  Along it is a breakwater which runs far out into the sea.  There is a steep slope to get to the top of the breakwater to start the walk on the esplanade, so do maneuver the wheelchair with care.

There were many stalls selling seafood fritters at the base of the slope.  Unfortunately, it didn't strike us to buy some and munch along the way as we didn't think we would be walking all the way to the end of the breakwater.  But we did, and by then it was too far to walk back to buy the fritters.  :-(

Nonetheless, this proved to be one of the nicest walks we had ever taken in the sunset, whether along a jetty or breakwater. The changing hues in the sky were just beautiful. It was chilly, and the fragrance of the fresh salt seasprays wafted in with the low breezes, as in the background the lights of the fishing village signalled the advent of night.

The Sokcho North Breakwater Lighthouse at Dongmyeonghang Port

The end of the breakwater with Jodo Island in the background.

 

The 800m long breakwater.

The red Cheongho Daegyo (Cheongho Grand Bridge) as seen at dusk.

We made our way back just before 6 p.m. as darkness fell. 

Korea, 28 Oct 2010, Day 1, Ulsanbawi

As we approached Sokcho, the Ulsanbawi (comprising 6 peaks, with a 4km width each, forming a single piece of granite) on Mt Seorak came into view.

Korea, 28 Oct 2010, Day 1, Highway Rest Stops & Toilets

After leaving Imjingak, we headed for Sokcho, where we were spending 2 nights.  En route, we ate at a food court at one of the highway rest stops.  This was one of three highway rest stops that we ate at on our trip.  They serve standard fare Korean food at reasonable prices (3000 to 4000 KRW for a bowl of ramyeon).  We were quite pleasantly surprised by the food standards, having had to bear with those at the Malaysian highway rest stops.


All the rest stops had clean wheelchair-friendly toilets. The toilets usually have electronic bidets with heating for the seats -- that is, if you know how to use them. Instructions are only in Korean and the icons were difficult to decipher. We fiddled with them for quite some days in our hotel rooms and at the public toilets to no avail until we checked in at one hotel which had English instructions.


Even trying to flush these toilets proved to be a challenge. At our first stop, no matter what we did, we couldn't get it to flush. Finally, in exasperation, we thought we had to do the unthinkable -- cover the WC and leave the cubicle, and hopefully locate the cleaner. But, the moment we put down the cover ... it flushed! Voilà!!

We were also pleasantly surprised that, unlike Singaporeans, able-bodied Koreans do not use disabled toilets. Even the seniors do not use such toilets. They would rather queue at the common toilets.

Korea, 28 Oct 2010, Day 1, Imjingak Park

The Unification Pond in the shape of Korea with the 3-storey Imjingak Building in the background. Here’s a teaser since we didn’t manage to capture the full outline …

The Freedom Pond

That’s us on the stretch of the Freedom Bridge (a former railroad bridge which was used by repatriated POWs/soldiers returning from the north) open to the public. Overhead, flock after flock of migratory swan geese flew by in their trademark "V" formation.

That’s the viewing platform to see the railroad segment of the Freedom Bridge.

Here’s the Freedom Bridge (the railroad segment).

Korean aunties singing and dancing on the Freedom Bridge to a Korean song about unification.

A fence of prayer ribbons written with hopes of peace and unification, and messages to loved ones and others across the border... messages which will never be received.

The remnants of a train that was caught in the crossfire in the DMZ during the Korean War. (See the bullet holes?)  Thankfully, it was transporting just coal and a few crew members, and no lives were lost. It remained at the same spot for the next 50 years till it was retrieved.

Parts of the original railway track.

This is the plant that grew out through the train as it languished for the next 50 years. It was transplanted when the train was retrieved and in testimony to its resilience, continues to thrive (we don't see the leaves because this was taken in Autumn).

One of many rock structures in the park. This one is entitled “Gazing at the Homeland”.

Mangbaedan, the place where people who had fled from North Korea and settled in far east Russia visit and perform ancestral rites by bowing toward their hometown every New Year’s Day and Chuseok (15th day of the 8th lunar month). Every year many events for unification are held at Imjingak.

Rites being performed when we were there.

The Peace Bell Pavillion

An unblocked view available at

http://www.richardtmoore.com/gallery/5598692_RHPME/2/345579331_e3C3k#345579331_e3C3k

The Stones of Peace Wall – a collection of stones from many war locations around the world, but none from WWII Singapore :(
Hey, Singapore may not have mountains, but stones, we have ...

Korea, 28 Oct 2010, Day 1, Breakfast at Imjingak Park

9.30am: Piping hot food on a cold autumn morning caught our attention from afar. We tried one sea snail each. The type that you had to suck to get the flesh out -- the "chu-chu" snail or bali-dong in the chinese dialects. However, these were baby ones of only about 1 inch long. Although the tips were intact, the flesh nevertheless came out easily, and it tasted beautifully sweet in the mouth. But it would be too much work if we were to eat a whole serving as the snails were simply too small. We ordered some regular ramyeon and also some fish paste wrapped in beancurd skin and then fried brown. They were served in a bowl of piping hot clear soup, much like the Yong Tau Foo soup that we get in Singapore. The fish paste in beancurd skin is our equivalent of our fish paste ngo hiang except that it had a chewy and more bouncy texture which makes it surpass our local version.
We were kind of hungry, so no photos...

Korea, 28 Oct 2010, Day 1, The Road to Imjjingak

The road to Imjingak (Sector 6 of the De-Militarized Zone). Imjingak is popular with tourists because it is possible to visit the site without obtaining security clearance. The riverbanks at the shallow bends were dotted with hundreds of migratory birds.


The view from the car - Yeongjong Bridge (linking Incheon to mainland Korea)

The cables suspending the bridge

A view of the Great Incheon Bridge from Yeongjong Bridge

Guard Posts along the river bank facing North Korea

Barb wire fence line the entire boundary facing the North Korea bank.

Kijong-dong, a propaganda town on the North Korea bank seen as white flecks from a moving vehicle.
Close-up shots of Kijong-dong available from Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kij%C5%8Fng-dong

Kijong-dong features a number of brightly painted, poured-concrete multi-story buildings and apartments with electric lighting -- features represented an unheard of level of luxury for rural Koreans, north or south, in the 1950s. The town was oriented so that the bright blue roofs and white sides of the buildings would be the most distinguishing features when viewed from the border. However, scrutiny with modern telescopic lenses reveals that the buildings are mere concrete shells lacking window glass or even interior rooms, with the building lights turned on and off at set times and the empty sidewalks swept by a skeleton crew of caretakers in an effort to preserve the illusion of activity.