Gangwando + Andong Fall 2007

After visiting misty Seorak Park (near number 1 on the map), I headed to Gangneung (number 2), a beautiful coastal city a little south of Sokcho (which is an eyesore by the way). I wandered around town for a while before taking a quiet and inexpensive room. Later I met Ben, a Gangneung native I knew from Busan where he'd previously owned a bar. We went out for some scrumptious grilled duck. Grilling various meatsat the table is very common in Korea, but there is a lot of variation in the apparatus - sometimes coals, sometimes cast-iron grills, this time it was rotisserie in the table. Delish!

After dinner I managed to avoid death by alcohol (Ben loves doing shots) and woke up at a reasonable hour the next day. Decided to wander in the direction of the coast, had a fantastic mushroom stew for lunch and eventually made it to Gyeongpo Beach which was spectacular. Busanites like to boast about Haeundae beach, which is by far the most popular one in Korea, but most Westerners don't think much of it as it's very built up, lined with hotels, sushi restaurants and so on. Gyeongpo beach is just sand and ocean with a few restaurants and lots of tranquil pine trees. And what blue water! Almost next to the beach is Gyeongpo Lake - also beautiful. There's a path that runs all the way around it, and there's also bikes available for rental. I thought I'd walk around the lake, but soon realized it was in fact quite a big lake. So I had to hop off the path to get to the train station in time to catch my train. I was having trouble catching a taxi, and when one finally picked me up, the driver was at the end of his shift but he drove me to a busier area and flagged down another taxi for me at no charge. Gangneung photos start from here.

Onto the train bound for Andong (number 3 and I just noticed on their website 'The capital of mental culture of Korea') which was a spectacular four hour trip first along the coast and then weaving through some BIG mountains. It was actually the time of the Andong Mask Dance Festival and the hotel I stayed at was teeming with perfomers from India and other far away lands. For anyone in Korea at the time of this festival, I highly recommend it, there's some wonderful performances to be seen.

About 40 minutes outside of Andong is the Folk Village. It's still got traditional style houses and is an actual village in that actual people actually still live there. It is also a venue for the Mask Dance Festival, and seeing a traditional style Korean perfomance amidst the lofty pines on a warm autumn day is really grand. I really liked the Folk Village, so be forwarned there's a LOT of photos from there! Andong photos start from here.