Korea: Day 3

 

Good morning! We woke up at 5:50am to this awesome view outside our balcony. Daebak! As I said in previous entry, this hotel is called Kensington Flora. It has recently been renovated in 2014 and the lobby looks even amazing. (I updated this post again on 2014)

I edited this pic till so tumblr. The stream added a touch of serenity to the view of agricultural fields and mountain. Feels so dreamy looking at this...miss the view so much

 A closer view of the stream. I can't believe it's real.

 Hubby can't stop taking sunrise pictures of this beautiful valley.

 It's 7:03am and we had to bring our luggage to the lobby. Found a nice patio with dirty windows at the other end of the hallway.

After we left our luggage at the lobby for our tourguide and reception to take care, we had breakfast at this long hall.

 Yes, you spotted kimchi again. This time with bean sprouts, stir fried ginger pork and other basic breakfast dish.

We sat far behind because there's a nice garden view.

 Hubby and his breakfast and awesome view.

After breakfast, we went upstairs to explore. There's a lounge beside this living area.

The roman deco before entering the restroom.

We set off on our tour bus at 8:15am. We saw lots of snow mountains on our journey.

Beautiful street filled with sakura.

An hour and 20 minutes later we arrived at Gangneung Station for a scenery ride. We will be on a 20 minutes ride to Jeongdongjin Station. Jeongdongjin is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the train station closest to the ocean and is located right on the beach. The train ride costs W10,000 to W15,000.

We walked outside the station and found a row of pretty cherry blossoms at the side of the carpark. This was the reason we went during spring!

 Don't you love spring?

 After about 15minutes, we get to board the scenic train.

 The journey took about 20minutes only and you get to enjoy the sea view right outside your window.

 We got off at Jeongdongjin Station.

 Colourful plastic windmills.

You will see some figures like this as you walk along the seaside.

 Some sculptures which I don't know what it symbolizes.

 There's a cruise on a hill! It's actually a hotel with the shape of a cruise. The name of the hotel is Sun Cruise Resort. Click the link and find out more.

 About 5 minutes of bus ride we came to Daephong Fish Market.

 You will love it if you are a fan of seafood. Just pick your seafood and they will cook for you. Unfortunately the restroom here need to scan with staff card.

 Lots of varieties and some have not seen before.

 We ordered some tempura prawns. Do try on the stuffed squid. If you are looking for just a light snack I suggest to share among 2 persons.

 Enjoying my snack by the seaside but had to run inside as there were too many seagulls here.

We were heading to the Mt. Seorak, the snow mountain and saw this navy ship on the way. It's actually a maritime museum.

 Can you see the snow mountain behind?

 You will see a lot of temple-like traditional houses when you pass the countryside. Some are like cottage houses. They are very cute.

 On our way for lunch we passed by many beautiful scenery like this.

And don't miss trying Korean rest stop snacks.

Somewhere in the middle of no where we arrived at this restaurant for lunch at 12:30pm. The wind was so scary and there was a small tornado outside at the dried field. We got so scared that we had to run quickly inside. I guess it happened due to hot wind from the seaside as it was quite warm just now then mixed with the cold wind from the mountain.

 We had BBQ pork with lots of side dishes.

Fruit stall outside of the restaurant selling big juicy strawberries.

We arrived at Mt. Seorak at 2pm. Entrance is free and no closing hours as camping is allowed. Check on camping and other rates here. You can also purchase cable car tickets at the ticket booth. No advance booking available because it depends on weather condition. A round trip is 9,000won. It takes 5 minutes to reach the top.

Very beautiful background, no words to describe this. Oh yes, there's also a rate if you want to film your drama here. 120,000won for four hours and 30,000won for additional hours. Have you watched any Korean dramas which has this shooting scene?

 The landmark of this place. 

 We did not go up to Ulsanbawi peak because the cable car could not operate due to harsh winds.

 There's a big Buddha as you walk inside the park.

This building is just beside the big Buddha but is it a temple? Nope, its a convenience store lol.

 The route is very simple and you can't get lost unless you wander into the woods.

 A nice stream full of white rocks.

 Interesting traditional arch.

Beautiful place to take photos.

 Snapped this with my cellphone before we bid goodbye to Mt. Seorak. I call this the masterpiece of my whole trip similar to the one I stumbled upon at Alishan, Taiwan.

 At 6pm we came upon another restaurant in the middle of a village for dinner.

 Pork stew with lots of veggie again but with different taste.

For the whole trip we kept refilling rice, veggie and whatever allowed to refill for every meal. Though last couple of days wanted to cut down on my portion, we still could not help but to tambah and tambah. Perhaps the food was too tasty here.

We arrived Oak Valley Golf and Ski Resort at 7pm. When I heard ski, I was like...Daebak! again. But too bad it's not winter. However this resort is super nice and classy. There were a few more apartments around the valley and this was Apartment C which was meant for those who choose skiing.

 The standard room was super huge.

 Here's the living and dining area.

Yours truly in long john.

The kitchen. Love the oak colour tone.

The bathroom was big and clean. There's also a balcony overlooking the golf course. We will be going to Nami Island (Winter Sonata island) tomorrow. Till then, goodnight!