Sokcho: The Hiker and the Old Man and the lack of a sea

I set 2 alarms and woke up before either of them.  I was ready to climb the Mountain.  I was just starting my breakfast when Yoda walked in with a look that was more negative than positive.  He was sick--with fever.  So I have to climb the mountain on my own, which means I can't do anything stupid or not pay attention to the Korean signs in hopes that the other person is.  No problem, right. 
I got my bus ticket but had no idea what gate number to go to.  All in Korean and I didn't see the name of my destination anywhere (because its not a main stop).  So I asked someone and they pointed me to gate 6.  I stood there for a while and nothing.  Then it was past the time the bus was supposed to leave at, so I went and asked someone else--they said gate 1 and that the bus already left.  Nice.  The next bus was in 30 minutes though, so I could just wait.   I met a guy, named Choi there who was waiting for a bus to Seoul .  He was trying to be real helpful but couldn't exactly explain how to tell from my ticket which gate number my bus would be at.  We exchanged phone numbers though--in case I ran into problems--which was super nice.  10 Minutes later a bus drive comes up to me and says "Osaek".  I follow him and I get on a bus, more confused than a parrot in zero gravity.  Choi began texting me quite frequently to make sure I was "OK".  I told him there were other hikers on the bus so I figured it was all right--and if not, I was just going to follow them anyway and hike where they are, because they were really decked out like hiking knights.

Turns out all was good.  The bus dropped me off at Osaek and I followed the signs (and hikers) to the trailhead.  There was a ranger at the trailhead who's job was to warn travelers of the dangers ahead.  It was all "listen all ye who enter", but in Korean.  The trail was only 5km in length, but it gained 1300 meters in elevation.  There were no flat parts--everything was steep.  I met an older gentleman on the trail who said he hikes this 5 times a year.  He was 73.  Paint me impressed.  I hiked with him for about an hour.   He shared food, wisdom, and stories of his adventures.  He was the Korean Odysseus.

I made the summit of the trail in about  2 hours and 45 minutes, which was pretty good (the guide books say 4 hours), but I was beat.  It was really cool up there.  Beautiful views--I think it was worth the exhaustion--yea, probably.

   It took me about the same time to get down the mountain as it did to get up--that's how tired I was.   I made a slow motion bee-line for the closest restaurant once I got down and asked for Bi Bim Bop.  I was promptly seated, but began to immediately wonder if I should have asked for 2 Bi Bim Bops.

 After getting back to Sokcho I checked in on the ailing Yoda.  It seems the force was not very strong within him this day.   I found Olive in the lobby of the Hostel so we went out for coffee.  Again--crappy coffee.  I've never thought I would be craving Starbucks so much.   I got hungry again and Olive suggested this chicken place that is kinda trendy, or popular, or something.  It was in market area of town.  Upon initial inspection it didn't look exactly sanitary--most of the equipment was outside in front of the shop, including pallets of vacuum packed chickens, but nothing smelled  wrong.  Although I am not exactly known for my olfactory prowess.  Regardless, we ordered one (i think they only have one option for food).  It was just like the dry fried Chicken from San Tung in San Francisco.  The fact that is wasn't seafood was enough for me to want it though.

Seoul: Now its a Watering Hole

The rain has been insane the last few days.  It was so bad they had to close some subway stations due to flooding.  I found this out when the subway train I was on, blew through the stop I wanted to get through, and I saw water cascading down the stairs to the exit, like that Universal Studios Earthquake ride.

Bulgogi Burritos. Genius!

I met up with a friend of Jia Jia's that was from SF and also visiting Seoul, Tom.  It's pretty cool how common it is to find 2nd or 3rd degree acquaintances while traveling in foreign cities.  Tom and I wanted to go up and explore the areas north of Ankuk, where there are some more touristy things like museums and palaces, but we got off the subway to a torrential downpour and wondered if maybe it would be brighter to find an indoor activity--so we went to the indoor mall at Yongsan (that massive electronics place; but it also has a real mall adjacent to it, with).  In the train station we were approached by some Evangelical Korean Christians.  I thought that was kind of ironic since Evengelical Christianity was brought here by westerners.

We had a final night on the town with John, an Irish guy who I've gotten to know quite well in my few days here at the hostel.  I taught our crew the telephone Pictionary game  (that I was taught by my friend Annie).  It was a hit.  We had an especially interesting round that ended with a Prehistoric procupine that worked for the fire department.  As we walked back home around 4AM, we decided we were hungry for Bi Bim Bop.  We started popping into every seemingly open restaurant we saw and said "Bi Bim Bop?" in as questionable a tone as possible.  We were shooed off by everyone.  No Bi Bim Bop was had, but it was kinda funny I bet, to watch a bunch of drunk white people stumbling around like that--Bi Bim Bop zombies we were.

Yesterday I took it kinda easy and planned my next location--Sokcho, a city on the eastern coast.  Unfortunately the hostel seems booked for the next few days, but Olive, the lady who runs the hostel here, was going to try and call them and sweet talk me a room.

Seoul: The Karma Boomerang

Still in Seoul for a few more days. Still kickin' ass.  The other day I was so happy to meet with a friend I hadn't seen for ages, Jon--I didn't even know he had come back to Korea to live, but was happy that my other friend (Eric Bovee) suggested we meet.  Jon took me to this crazy indoor mall/fun center in a newer part of the city.  We played arcade games and then I succumbed to the fast food advertisements on the wall and went to this fast food place called "Lotteria".  I had a burger that was half bulgogi, half shrimp tempura.  It was special. 

That night there was a bit of drama at the hostel.  This German guy got kicked out for "overusing the facilities".  I think it was karma getting back at him for posting craigslist ads to take pictures of models at coffee houses.

Yesterday I went to Yong-san where there is a massive mall renowned for electronics.  At first I wasn't impressed--it just looked like a Macys had decided to sell dvd players and tvs.  Then I discovered it was 10 Macy's stacked on top of each other.  I adventured the 8th floor looking for a cell phone (its been tough without one).  No-one spoke English, but the word "Prepay Phone" goes a long way.

So now that I finally have a phone, I called up some of my friends from my Redbana days.  I went out to dinner with Jenny and her fiance in Itawon last night.  Best Bi Bim Bop ever.

because I'm a foreigner, err alien, we did the ET thing

I was hoping this girl would move to the left so it would look like she was on the bike

I forgot what this is, but felt like I was lacking on exterior photos.