I hung out at Gyeongpo Beach, cycled around Gyeongpo Lake, had pizza and wine, got highball at the top of a hotel, and watched fireworks on the beach. I spent three days in Gangneung after hiking the Dinosaur Ridge (공룡능선) and Cheonbuldong Valley (천불동계곡). This was part of a 6-day trip to Sokcho and Gangneung.

Days 4 of a 6-day trip to Sokcho and Gangneung

After my morning in Sokcho and Seongindae, I drove to Cafe Log, a book cafe in the building of the Korean Textbook Association! It’s in a cool building next to a pine tree forest. There were lovely big windows looking onto the forest. I went for a stroll around the back and into the forest. There’s also Restaurant Log, which is on stilts and looks quite classy!

Back on the road, I tried to find a lottery store in a town, but no luck, so I drove on to Gangneung Gyeongpo Beach, where I’d be staying the next few nights. I’d booked a sea view room at Cube Hotel but it turned out Agoda had a booking glitch that meant I couldn’t have the room I booked… I was royally pissed… I went up to the room they’d assigned me. It was out back with a view of the carpark (not even high enough to see the lake). Normally I might just have take it but I had a very specific plan to sit on an open balcony and look out at the sea with coffee, beer and a book. I wandered a few hotels down and asked at the check-in desk of Mare Hotel about staying. I’d been before years ago with Romana so knew it was nice. Thankfully, they had a great room available. Unfortunately my hotel bill went from KRW 89,000 to 240,000! Bang went my carefully planned trip budget! However, I was that annoyed, I didn’t care about the extra money, and in hindsight, it was totally worth it. I checked out of Cube (much to the surprise of the guy there) and set up in Mare. A wonderful room! I started the refund process with Agoda on their app. It wasn’t too straight forward since I’d left the old room without taking a photo, but it was all sorted within a day or too (full refund, thank goodness).

I went for a wander up the beach then to the lakeside bicycle rental places to see their prices. Feeling hungry, I went to Tom‘s Bistro (it’s become a bit of a staple when in the area) for pizza and wine. I accidentally ordered white wine instead of red, so just had two whites instead. I rented a bicycle after for two hours then went round the lake. The weather was perfect for it and the sinking sun made everything look wonderful. Then I cycled to the beach road and went south a ways to Gangmun Beach and watched a busking couple for a few minutes. I made a note of some places to visit. I was slowly forming a plan to spend the next weekend here with Romana, that’s how nice it was!

After returning the bike, I went to Horizon Restaurant and Bar at the top Skybay Hotel for an Earl Grey highball. You can walk around the terrace at the top for some great night views of the sea, lake, and town. I also checked out the open air pool which is open till late.

On the way back to the hotel, I watched people’s mini fireworks displays and even a Roman candle battle on the beach. I read a little bit on my terrace with a beer then went to bed. A pretty fun day which could easily have been a lot less pleasant if I hadn’t managed to secure that room at Mare!

Places visited on the whole 6-day trip: