Swimming in the Mountains - A Rainy Trip to Seoraksan

After a long spate of negotiations we were finally granted an outing away from Seoul and we immediately set our minds to make the most of it. Time was short and we had to quickly churn out something for the group. Busan, Jeju, Seraksan, Ulasn, Gongju, the names kept appearing in our list and finally we zeroed onto both a place and a travel agent who would take care of everything. After all we wanted a holiday!!

Sokcho is a beach town on the eastern coast of Korea and is mainly renowned for fishing and tourism. The landscape, the sea, the mountains reminded me of Goa in India. Nearby was the Seoraksan Mountains, which is a declared national park, and it also has an imposing Buddha statue there.

The weather forecast was not good, but we knew that and we had no other choice or options. So as a group we decided that rain or thunder, we will ensure that we extract the maximum enjoyment. So on a cool Saturday morning - overcast skies, brimming expectations- we boarded the bus. For your information we were also stocked adequately with Stuffed Paranthas (Type of Indian Pancake made from wheat dough and stuffed with choice vegetables), Juices and spirits (?).

Sue was our guide for the trip and she was very hopeful that we would enjoy the trip. It would take about 5-6 hours to reach we were warned but that warning was of no importance to us. As far as we were concerned the holiday had started as soon as we boarded the bus! Another important fact to note that is that here when they say the journey time they would really include the city internal travel too, unlike us where we would only talk about highway travel perhaps.

In about 45 minutes or so we touched the expressway and it started raining. Devendra exclaimed that he always loved driving in the rain and truly we were all enjoying the downpour outside while inside the group just about warming up. There are two occasions when people feel like singing; the first is when you are in the bath and the other when you are traveling in a group. We were no exceptions and when we ventured on that track Sue let us know that the bus was installed with a karaoke system. So mike in hand, one by one, we started singing songs. For some this was a good pastime, but for some it turned out to be a valiant effort. Maybe the listeners were just putting on an effort to tolerate this torture. Finally of course it was time to shut the Karaoke system and we all graduated to Hindi Film songs. The singing prowess of people like Manoj, Bindu and Pragyya was out in the forefront while we others learnt that we should practice a bit more with the accompaniment of the sound of showers inside a washroom!!! There were others who in the name of singing (sic) were actually reciting prose!!!

All in all, time was flowing and we stopped at a Highway stop away naturally!! The rains had stopped for a while and we relaxed our body muscles a bit and before comfort we were off again. Traffic on the road was dense and the speed was high too. We did not worry about that and anyway who cared. The landscape all around was becoming greener and buildings started to disappear and what you had was unadulterated nature all around. Small hills, clouds playing hide and seek, off and on downpours, songs, snacks, and a jubilant group – it was perfect.

The road was smooth and the bus was zipping and we carried on singing till we finally had a sight of the sea and then we knew that the journey was coming to an end and shortly we would be checking into a hotel. The site of the hotel was bang on a hillock overseeing the beach. The hotel’s major selling point was its location and thankfully we got rooms allocated from where we could see the sea. But then before one could relax we had to board the bus for driving to the restaurant where apparently a decent lunch was waiting for us. After about 20 minutes we reached the destined place and I could make out that the crowd had mixed feelings about the place. It was the suspense that was killing and soon enough what arrived on the table was soft bean curd (tofu) along with Korean style accompaniments. Some of us enjoyed the food while some perhaps could not digest the dished out stuff. The left over paranthas were there perhaps to cover up their need. I guess all countries and communities have these food problems in alien lands, while a few of us just mesh into the system quickly.

In a humid climate people anyway need to visit rest rooms frequently while some Indians perhaps cannot do without releasing themselves or that matter ensuring the deed for their children as long as they find a wall somewhere or the other. Anyway, we perhaps tolerated all this as the dictum of Jesus goes– forgive the sinner. Next visit was Mount Seoraksan and that was a good 30 minutes through hills and valleys and meandering streams by the side. We arrived there in perfect condition only to upset the rain gods and it started raining torrentially. Umbrellas were of no use and we had to invest in see through plastic rain coats. They were of various colours and I got hold of green one purely by chance. We wore them and now decidedly we were looking extremely funny in this attire. There was of course nothing to save the shoes and the lower part of the trousers and jeans and it was best not to pay attention to that. The cable car ride to the top of the mountain (sic) rather hill was about 4 minutes while in spite of the rain we managed a good look around. Clicking photographs of the outside would just produce inadequate results but all the same can you stop tourists from clicking what-have-you?

A few dynamic people went ahead in the rain climbing up he slippery stone-path and later came down to give us courage and off we went further up only to find that the view was similar if not worse because of the dense fog. Came back down to the cable station to grab a cold beer and that was good for me. The others were satisfied with some coffee and sliced roast potatoes.

The journey back in the cable car felt shorter and then Sue, our guide, made us walk aback all the way to the parking lot only to realize that we had forgotten to see the Giant Buddha. So we tread back to the park to find the gigantic Buddha sitting in this wilderness all ready to bless any visitor to be at peace, The rains as usual was not a factor and we were all, adults and children, living it up. A couple of photographs and it was time to say bye to The Enlightened One.

Sue was very energetic and she made sure that bus went down to the seaside near the fresh fish market and paraded all of us through the market. The shrimp fries were very tempting compelling myself and Devendra to pick up a few for the evening spirited agenda. The others were of course not impressed with the proceedings. They tolerated us and we boarded the bus back to the hotel for another round of freshening up.

The dinner was to be a Pizza Hut but before that I had an issue with my shoes. It was all wet and no way could carry on with that. So I decided to be barefooted (MF Hussain style) no matter the outcome. The mates got used to this freaky concept quickly and after some time stopped bothering me. The ordering at Pizza Hut took a while since it was truly different strokes for different folks. The permutations and combinations worked out, we enjoyed the servings. On our way back we had to stop because the parents had to buy milk.

We had agreed to meet once we were back in the hotel but since most of the people were tired, they crashed. A few souls like us had our nightcaps and that was the end of the day.

Next day morning, on purpose I woke up early and thankfully there was no rain. This meant that a visit to the beach was possible and we could complete that and be in time for breakfast. Anup and myself walked two furlongs to reach the beach down the hilly road. The sea was a bit rough but I tried my count of seven (the big wave is the seventh one) and was satisfied that the law of nature works in Korea too. The bubbles at our feet, the cool breeze, the morning freshness, it was a splendid decision on our part. It started drizzling again and we were on our way back with some homework to be done before hitting breakfast.

I had announced this homework yesterday night while coming back in the bus from Pizza Hut. All adults had to write two positive points about everybody else and submit the same to me. So I needed to make sure that I was ready with it since I started it!!

Breakfast was typically American with toast and scrambled eggs minus the bacon, cheese and sausage. Over a cup of coffee I started collecting all the scribbles from each individual as they trickled in for breakfast. It was 9.30 AM and we were ready to check out from the hotel. The sky was promising and our next stop was the Odusan Temple and that was about a two-hour drive from the hotel. So this was a golden opportunity for me to kick start the actions based on the homework. I had segregated all the feedback for each person in separate envelopes and then I announced my modus operandi. I would hand over the envelopes to respective persons and they would then survey the feedback received. Each would have to select three points. Two items that they cherished the most, while the third one would have to be an unexpected piece of feedback. This exercise took us a while and I felt that the group thoroughly enjoyed the same. Once this was done we were back to our old pastime; singing songs!!

The group was divided into two and we played Antakshari ( literally meaning “end alphabet”). One groups sings a song and the stops at a logical point in the song. The other group picks up the end character and starts any song that starts with it. This is an extremely popular group pastime in India and perhaps other places around the world.

The Odusan range was in the vicinity and when the bus stopped at the temple compound, the sun was up but as we disembarked, a few drops of rain fell from the sky. The rains had decided not to leave us alone!
It was green all around and we had to cross a stone bridge over a jungle brook before we tread on the road leading to the temple. It was an elaborate compound with a about 4-5 structures with two Buddha temples. The golden Buddha idols were marvelous, imposing and they automatically bestow a feeling of serenity and divinity. The architecture was typically Korean, the roof structure, paintings, use of wood, etc.

We all gathered to click a group photograph and our guide happily agreed to carry out the deed. We went around, paused here and there, and then it was time to board the bus. We were now on our way back to Seoul only to stop somewhere for lunch. As expected we encountered a food court on the highway and while a colleague and myself selected some Korean broth, the others stuck to Burgers and Fries. The weather had really cleaned up and the scenery on the way back was exquisite. We had yet another coffee break and then we decided to use the mike inside the bus for some casual banters. Bikram narrated his Temple stay experience while I described about the farmstay event I had participated in.

On reaching Seoul, we still had some time before dinner and therefore cajoled the travel company to take us to the Seoul TV tower from where you get a grand view of Seoul. I had been here earlier and the sunset was a treat. The added attraction was the Latin American Street Band playing all the renowned Spanish hits.

The end was a dinner at Chakra and we were now all hungry. The South Indian buffet spread was reasonable and they were all tasting cool. My rating for Chakraa went up to 4. The spread was elaborate. The Medu Vadas (fermented rice and lentil fried circular balls), Dosas (fermented rice and lentil fried pancake) along with some accompaniments. Lamb, Chicken and Vegetables curries and some Indian Bread and Fried Rice too. At the end of it we were all satisfied, satiated, tired and sleepy.

The two day sojourn had come to an end with promises of another one. When would that be of course is anybody’s guess!! Sphere: Related Content