Seoraksan Trip

This weekend, Gianni and I joined a group of 10 other people on a trip to Seoraksan National Park with Waygook Travel. Seoraksan is a mountain in the northeast corner or South Korea. It is actually on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites that are under consideration right now. Our friends Jonathan, Lily, Sian, and Marie were in our group, but everyone else was new to us. We had an excellent time getting to know these people throughout the weekend. They were lovely :)

The tour started when the bus picked up us by Dongdaegu station at 5:30am!!! It was actually about 20 minutes late for the pickup, which was scheduled at 5:10am, so we were up at 4am. We had to take a taxi to the station because the trains weren't operating yet. It was way too early to be alive, but apparently not for our tour leader (and the owner of the travel company) and his friends. They were all drinking already and encouraging us to drink! It was completely ridiculous. We got them to leave the music off and let us sleep for a few hours, but as soon as we made the stop in Pohang to pick people up, he made an announcement saying, "now that the sun is up, we are going to play music. Come and buy drinks at the front of the bus." It was absurd! It was still only maybe 7:30am! We didn't stop to see anything special along the way, but we took frequent stops for bathrooms and convenience store food, but, primarily, for the tour leader and his friends to have their smokes. It was a little frustrating, honestly. Also, we didn't get real food all day! The place we ended up stopping for food was the smallest rest stop ever, and we attempted to get things to tide us over that weren't cookies and chips. We ended up with "pizza hotdog," which was basically a pizza hot pocket and not at all satisfying. As we approached Seoraksan, the tour guide decided it would be really funny to sing a made-up, tuneless song about the mountain into the microphone on the bus. He and his friends thought it was hilarious, but all the paying guests thought it was totally awkward and stupid.

After a really long drive, we made it to Seoraksan (san means mountain is Korean, by the way). It was beautiful! Absolutely marvelous. The national park had all the amazing fall foliage. We walked around a bit, drank out of a well at the temple in the park, and took the cable cars up to the top of the mountain. The cable car ride was even steeper than at Palgongsan, but this time they were the cars that fit about 50 people, so it was a bit cramped. Luckily, we got a spot by the window, so I could take some nice pictures. The views were amazing. Seoraksan was cool because the mountain was all jagged and very high up. We walked down a trail by the cable car station, and ended up at a look out point at the top. We took some pictures there, and then literally mountain climbed to the top of a massive bolder. From there, you get an even better view. It was really scary getting up there though. There are people who help you out and watch to make sure you're ok, and there are some ropes to help you get down, but otherwise you're on your own. No gear or anything. I seriously felt like I was going to die, and I'm not scared of heights or anything. Getting up there was really steep and scary though. We made it up, and Gianni and I got some pictures together. At the top of the bolder, there was a man selling medals for $10 for getting up there. He would carve your name into them. I laughed to myself because they would totally do the same thing at home, except at home they wouldn't be personalized, and they would cost at least that much, if not more. Getting down, we had to shuffle on our butts the whole time. At the base of the mountain, we got some makoli, which the area is known for. It was corn flavored, which was pretty interesting...



After spending a few hours at the mountain, we drove 20 minutes to our accommodations. It was a beach-front hotel. The 12 people in our group shared one room with two bathrooms (although the lights in one of the bathrooms didn't work). How do we fit 12 in a room you ask? Well, it was our first Korean style sleeping experience. We all had sleeping mats, which we laid out in different places on the floor of one large room. It was actually really nice, like a slumber party.

After getting settled, we had a BBQ! It was delicious food. We got both steak and lamb and some potato salad. Unfortunately, we had to eat inside because it was raining, and it took FOREVER for the food to be finished. We were already famished from the day of not being taken to a real place to eat, and I was kind of fed up. Also, the tour leader asked the males on the tour (and the paying guests!) to help unpack the food from the bus. He asked nicely, and this wouldn't have been a problem, if he hadn't also asked us to do EVERYTHING ELSE! First, we all had to collect wood from Seoraksan for our bonfire later because they only had enough for cooking with. Later on, he also asked Sian and MJ to help cook, and he made everyone else carry the bonfire wood (which, again, we collected!) to a place on the beach for a fire. When the first place we put the wood down wasn't good enough for him, he made us carry it to where he wanted to go. He wasn't even carrying a stick or helping in any way! We also got a free cocktail included in our package, and that was strong enough, thankfully. It seems like the only thing these people do really well is drink and make drinks. The rest of the night, we hung out on the beach, playing with fireworks (we got some more roman candles and a heart-shaped sparkler), and drinking with our friends for a bit before we hit the hay.

In the morning, we found out that the tour leader actually got into a fight with two of the people in our group, and it almost came to blows! He actually threatened them and made derogatory comments about their being British (he was South African, so were all his friends, but they all had Korea wives and girlfriends it seemed). We also realized that our friend, Lily, was really sick all night! At first, she thought she had the flu, but now she's thinking food poisoning. None of us got sick, but she had to leave the trip early because she couldn't even keep fluids down.When we woke up with the rest of us, she went to a pharmacy, and, luckily, the man was really nice. He got her some medicine and helped her and her husband get a bus home because she was feeling so bad. It was really too bad because we like hanging out with them, but I think she's feeling better now. None of the tour guides were around at the time, which is annoying, because she and Jonathan had no help in figuring out what to do. Another example of just how terrible this tour was.

Cool dragon carving at the temple

Giant stone Goddess statue

We got up fairly early in the morning to visit Naksansa Temple, which was about a 15 minute walk from the hotel. Despite the fact that this was a planned event, none of the tour guides were around in the morning when we were scheduled to leave. They had been drinking for over 12 hours, so we figured as much, but it was completely unprofessional. If there is a scheduled event, someone should be there to take you on it. Anyway, we asked the hotel manager who pointed us in the right direction. I'm glad we went because Naksansa Temple was really beautiful. It was a built on a mountain, so there were beautiful views of the ocean. We got our first experience seeing the ocean in Korea this weekend, which was nice. The temple has a massive stone statue of the Goddess Haesugwaneumsang in a clearing on top of the mountain. There were beautiful colored lanterns decorating the temple as well. I really enjoyed it. We walked back to the hotel for our breakfast. Again, the food was really good. I had tons of eggs and toast. It was yummy! 1 of the guides was making breakfast, which was good of her, and her husband made an appearance and seemed in better spirits in the morning without the alcohol in him. He was much nicer and more helpful, refunding the money for Lily and Jonathan's ATV trip since they had to leave because Lily was sick.

Gianni driving cautiously

We got back on the bus and drove to a spot where we were going to ride ATVs. It was really fun, and we had both never done it before. It was on a track, and some courses were more challenging than others. We got to do it for a half hour, and it was awesome. I took my camera on part of it, and I tucked it in my coat when I was driving. I think I got some good pictures.

Sian and MJ singing on the bus

Present for Ben

After ATVs, we drove all the way home and were back in Daegu in time for dinner. During the last half hour or so of the drive, they decided to make the bus into a noraebang (노래방)! I had heard of this, but I haven't experienced it in Korea before. Apparently, work retreats are very popular, and they typically rent a "party bus" with karaoke (or norae) capabilities. Again, the tour guides were a bit nicer, apologizing to the guys in our group who they got in a fight with the night before and giving them free drinks. I don't think the guys thought that it made a difference, but at least they tried and were actually sort of nice the second day. I also want to mention that I found Ben the most amazing present during this trip. For some reason, they sell poop with faces on it. You can whack it like a mallet, and it laughs! Hopefully, he'll find it hilarious!

So we made it back to Daegu on time. Some of the members of our group were worried about making it because they had trains to catch back to other cities, and I was really surprised we actually did make it on time because, again, there were frequent smoke breaks. As we got off the bus and got our things, the tour manager and his wife (who I didn't have a huge problem with, but some people in our group did) decided to wear their professional hats, hoping that people would forget the rest of what happened. They hugged people and thanked everyone for coming. As if we want to hug people who have done a horrible job the entire time!

For dinner, Gianni and I went out to eat at a Japanese place by our house. We had udon noodles and onigiri, which translates into rice ball in English. I am addicted to tuna triangle kimbap and onigiri. It's delicious for some reason, and all it is is canned tuna! I can't explain it.

So to sum up this weekend: Seroaksan, Naksansa, and ATVing were all excellent. So, the events on the tour were amazing, and I'm really glad we got to do these things. But let's be real; all the tour guides had to do was plan to go there and take us there. The food was also really good, but I only give half the credit to the tour guides because I saw their friends helping with most of the cooking and even some of the paying guests helped, like us. There was a huge lack of professionalism on the part of the tour guides, who are also the owners of the tour company. True, they did turn it around a bit for the second day, but some of the things that occurred were, in my opinion, inexcusable, and it was too little too late. I understand that there are some tour companies that cater to more of a partying crowd, but I had no indication of this from this tour company before boarding the bus. If I had, I would have chosen another company. The tour guides really needed to gauge their audience right from the very start and be able to see what kind of a group we would be. That's half their job! They should have known we weren't a partying group and toned it down. They were not able to do this, so the mood wasn't something I wanted to be a part of. I will never be booking with Waygook Travel again. I can do a much better job planning on my own. That being said, if you're looking for a party tour, then this is the tour for you.