A little Boat Trip

Well, since the lovely town of Sokcho sits on the now frigid East Sea, (Sea of Japan for those of you not influenced by Korean propaganda), there are a few boats that take tourists and locals up and down the coast for short sight seeing excursions. Because it is winter now and the fares for these little trips have been cut in half, due to the numbers of tourists dropping thanks to the cold weather, Ruthie, Ashley, Amy, Toby, and I decided to head out Saturday with a few bottles of soju (we had to keep warm somehow) on a little boat ride.
The day was a mixture of clouds and sun as we pulled away from the pier on the salt water lagoon called Chunchon-ho that sits in front of my house and we quickly made friends with the few other people on the boat, from the screaming women who seemed to have gotten ahold of some sort of bottled spirit of the lord, to the man who kept sharing his mushroom wine with us and saying how good America was.
The boat ride itself only took and hour or so but we got to see a view of Sokcho that we have not been able to see, due to the simple fact that none of us really has access to a boat. It was a really good time and after a few, okay many, bottles of soju and mushroom wine we finally wobbled off of the dock and headed out to eat, our appetites really enhanced from the cold sea air.
Pictures-
1. The merry crew getting ready to pull away from the dock
2. Heading out of the lagoon, the skyline of Sokcho, along with a few dozen squid boats.
3. A view from the stern, mountains, water, and alot of sea gulls following the trail of shrimp chips generously thrown over the side.
4. Heading in, the bridge to nowhere, (which is being extended to actually go somewhere!), and the Tabek Mountains.
5. Just a chance shot of a couple of local kids playing vids outside of a local stationary store.

the dmz

Last Saturday Paul, Aubrey, Ruthie, and I rented a Hyundai Sonata and drove to the far western part of Gangwon-do, about a three hour trip to check out the fall colours and sights of the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas.
After a quick stop at McDonald's in Chuncheon, none of us had had and egg mcmuffin for a year, and a couple slight detours we finally made it up to the border and the start of the security checkpoints.
After clearing the first checkpoint we made our way to where we could go into the main security area but were turned back by the soldiers who told us that we needed to obtain a permit first. We almost gave up and were driving around a little when I saw a sign for the town where said permit could be obtained and, when we realized it was pretty close, we headed over and were able to join that days last caravan heading north.
After checking in and having our passports checked and copied we joined a long line of cars and headed into the forbidden zone.
If there is one thing about the D.M.Z. that is truly amazing, other than the high security, the feeling of being watched, and the thought that all around you are thousands of tanks and artillery pieces, it is that everywhere you look you see all kinds of wildlife. Cranes, ducks, and geese filled the fields and the skies as they ate their fill of grain that they gleaned from the empty fields after the harvest.
The tour we were on passed through rice fields and small hills with many trees on its way to the first infiltration tunnel.
The D.P.R.K. has built many of these tunnels under the D.M.Z. to facilitate troop movement during and invasion. While four of them have been discovered there are supposed to be upwards of ten more that have not been.
After heading down some very steep stairs we finally reached the end of the tunnel, going down a long shaft with dripping water everywhere. While it was not really cool we were only 300 meters from North Korean soil.
After leaving the tunnel we went to an observatory to overlook the D.M.Z. Again, not much to see but soldiers and guns but across a line of trenches and barbed wire was the D.M.Z. and very close, so close you could almost touch it, was the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea
pictures
1. Very near the border, about seven miles from the D.P.R.K.
2. Getting ready to go through a checkpoint into the forbidden zone.
3. Deep in the tunnel a sign lets you know that the war is not over.
4. The entrance to the second infiltration tunnel.
5. That line of wire marks the southern boundary of the D.M.Z. and that little road is the only way in.

fall colours

On our Saturday drive we got to check out some amazing fall colours, these will most probably not be the last pictures of changing leaves that I will post.

driving at night

The first night that we had the car Ruthie and I headed out for a little night drive. It was kind of a special trip for us because we could get out and see things in Sokcho that we would be unable to find and look at closely without a car.
First we headed up into the mountains above Miseryong tunnel, the main road to Seoul to a little observation platform that overlooks our town. From up at about four thousand feet we could see the entire plain of Sokcho, the lights blinking in the distance and the sea a black quilt reaching out from the shore, where the lights ended, it was pretty cool.
From there we went down the mountain, a very twisty winding road, and headed over to Hwamsaa Temple, a place that I had been many times before but which takes on a new beauty during the night when no one is there.
After some quick pictures and a close look at the usually closed bell pavilion we decided to end our trip at a small building built on a low hill overlooking the sea.
1-3, These are pictures of the bell tower at Hwamsaa after I had figured out how to work my camera
4. The pavilion by the sea, the lights change colours from red, to blue, to black.

sorak festival

Well its festival time again and in between the m
Mushroom Festival and the Salmon Festival is sandwiched the Sorak Festival. I had been to this festival last year and won some North Korean soju shooting at targets in the shooting gallery and really wanted to duplicate my feat this year.
The festival started on Thursday and ran through Sunday but it was on Saturday that Ruthie, Paul, Aubrey, Rachel and I headed out to enjoy the festivities.
We started out strolling through all the concessions, doing the shooting gallery, and checking out the vast array of stupid shit for sale for a dollar before setting down to the nights cuisine, roast pork done on a spit, awesome!
After that we headed through the fire walkers, some sort of clowns, and screwed around watching the fortune teller before heading home through the bonzi trees. Well some of us headed home, Ruthie and I went out for cocktails but that is a whole differant story.
Pictures.....
1 and 2 some very cool banzi trees
3. I am getting pretty good with my new camera. Here is a picture of the fireworks that I took just by accident.
4. The view from my roof at night
5. Paul pontificating about the rather poor performance of the fireworks.

The Salmon Festival

I love the salmon festival, good times, fish, crazy girls, lots of drinks and good food, I mean what can possibly go wrong? Well, this year, unlike last year, it can get really fucking cold.
Saturday dawned windy, clear, and chill, perfect weather to wade into an ice cold river and catch large fish with your hands. Despite a minor setback or two the fisher people managed to get ready and registered for the four o'clock dunking and after that we had a few hours to head out and check out the festival.
First on the order of business, at least for me and Ruthie was to head over to a tent we spied earlier selling cold beer and big steaming bowls of mussels. After eating and drinking for a bit we headed out and saw a very amusing musical act doing some weird Korean version of classic Abba.
Finally, after kicking it around for a while it was time for the real event to start, the fishing.
With a bang on a pot, the crowd of people surged off of the gravel bank and headed out to the river, towards the rippling ribbons of water where the dorsal fins of scores of salmon cut through the windswept water.
It was over in a few minutes. I am proud to say that the first person to cross the bridge connecting the rocky starting point with the river bank was my girl with the biggest fish, and after her straggled Paul, Aubrey, and Toby, with everyones fish getting progressively smaller.
After we went to the tent to have their fish inked and pressed on to rice paper, a priceless memento, we headed back to Ruthies where I got to clean three very nice salmon. A great day.

Pictures-
1. If you are to lazy to catch a fish you can buy some pre dried
2. A little boy watching the fish
3. A happy crew with their catch.
4. Ruthies salmon getting ready to be pressed
5. Babi with the band

Lantau Island

One of the many places Greg and I went to Hong Kong was Lantau Island, a fairly large peice of land off of Kowloon. Truely great and a piece of Hong Kong that I did not know exist, a rural farm community.
When we were out on the island we had time to take the bus out to a little fishing village in the middle of nowhere.
After being on the bus for awhile, heading thourgh verdant mountains and meadows, with the sea almost always in site we came to the village of Won Tai, a very traditional village built on stilts over a tidal river.
The village was really cool with mixes of ancient chinese and colonial architecture. Unfourtantnly, soon after we got there darkness began to set in and the heavens opened so we did not get to rummage around the town to the extent that we wanted, but oh well, it was a good time and the ferry ride out and back was pretty cool even if they didnt serve us any beer.
1. The village of Won Tai built on stilts over the water
2. Dried shark anyone?
3. Another picutre of the houses on stilts. The tide here seems to come up pretty far.
4. Everywhere you go in Asia you can check out a little endangered species bbq. Here are some dried seahorses, no not the ones you get from the back of comic books, these are real.
5. The hand painted door at a very old temple that unfortuantly was closed by the time we got there.