Daytrip to Yangyang, Seoraksan, Sokcho 양양, 설 악산, 속초 Korea

My wife surprised me with an anniversary trip to the east coast! We arrived late Saturday in Yangyang for a quick grilled beef meal (간비살) near the bus station. The accommodation was Sol Beach Hotel & Resort, five minute’s taxi from there. It was a big complex, suited for family trips and lots of facilities: restaurants, saunas, pools, game rooms, singing rooms, etc. The room was nice, with a huge balcony and kind-of a sea view. A bit chilly for outside though. We played air hockey and I won! This is no small feat; my wife beats me at all pub games… After buying snacks and beer, we chilled in front of the telly.

Sunday morning we got a Dunkin Donuts breakfast, then wandered around Sol Beach (쏠비치). We spent our time just enjoying the waves. It wasn’t that cold considering it’s almost Christmas at the coast! We then heading inside the opulent, cathedral-like lobby area of the main hotel to decide what to do; we decided on going up the Seoraksan Cable Car.

A taxi there was 33,000 won! The cable car was 10,000 won each and an hot and a half wait to our slot-time for potato pancake (감자전) and some bibimbab (비빔밥), washed down with some local rice wine (동동주).

The ride up to the top was as a spectacular as ever. The shadier slopes had a dusting of snow. The path from the cable car station to the top was a little icy, but nothing at the top itself. The sun was on its way down so the light was looking lovely. We stayed about an hour there. This is a peak with shear drops off one side, so of course you approach these to get the best views! It’s a nerve wracking thing, but looking across the ravine is quite amazing.

We gor a taxi to Sokcho to get food before our bus back to Seoul. We spent a bit of time at the beach there (속초해수욕장), taking photos and getting our feet wet…oops.

We had steamed crab (홍게찜) near the bus station before setting off home. 35,000 per crab; good value and very tasty. We hardly spoke for 90 minutes, trying to get every succulent morsel out of its carcass. This was washed down with some Cheongha (청하), my go-to booze for seafood.