Sokcho: A waterslide of confusion

I got up early and left Seoul today.  It was a bit sad to leave Bebop House, where I had been staying for the last week, but I know I can always come back when I return to Seoul. I said my goodbyes and hauled my crap to the subway station to catch a bus.

The bus was cheap, like 14,000 Won (about 13 bucks) and took about 3 hours to get to Sokcho.  I ended up making friends with a couple from Hong Kong who were sitting in front of me.  I found out they didn't speak Korean when the bus stopped at a rest stop.  The driver announced something in Korean (probably how long the bus would be there)--they turned around with as a confused look as me.  Then we discovered we were going to the same hostel.  Such a relief to find other people with the same destination as yourself.

We made it to the hostel and announced to the guy at the desk our reservations.  This is were it got a little scary--he didn't have my reservation, and the hostel was full! Apparently the phone call I made never happened, or he didn't understand me.  From now on I'm booking all my hostels over the internet.  The Hong Kong couple was really nice and offered their room--super nice. Luckily the hostel owner felt bad and helped me find a motel across the street.  It was a fine motel and close to the hostel, so I could easily come back over to see my new friends.

After checking in I met back up with the Hong Kong couple, Matthew and Lorraine, and went to this place called "Waterpedia", which was basically a hot spring water park.  This place had it all: a thrill ride called Maelstrom, hot spring pools, dry saunas, indoor pools, outdoor pools,  giant plastic seashell enclosed personal jacuzzis (wierd), and a food court.

After the water park we came back and went to an all you can eat bbq at your table place.  There was a British girl there (probably a local English teacher) who was able to give us some directions.  It was basically a meat cooler buffet.  They bring hot coals to your table and give you sheets of foil to use on top of the grate.  We were pretty bad at first (kept ripping the foil), so one of the ladies who worked there had to come do it for us.  Her sigh sounded like a clam shell squeaking through a megaphone.  I impressed the table next to us with my wasabi and hot pepper eating skills.  I think the piece of octopus sushi they gave me (that was wrapped in plastic as if it were a piece of candy) was payment for their entertainment.