Road Trippin'

We finally had a day off on Monday (it's been a while and I've been secretly harbouring my resentment of friends at home who've had 3 bank holidays already and get an extra one this weekend for the Queen's jubilee). A few friends and I decided to head down to the beach. Gyeongpo is on Korea's top 10 things to see but isn't widely visited by foreigners. My friend Donna has a car and international driving license over here so she kindly offered to drive and make it a true road trip! We had plans on Saturday with the volunteering group so after another amazing dinner party at Donna's we got ourselves on the road Sunday morning and rolled out of Seoul. A crazy 48 hours ensued, and made for one of the best trips I've taken this year. 

Our epic 5 hour journey consisted of traffic, thunderstorms and a constantly misty windscreen. Arrival at our hostel only to discover it was no longer operating as a hotel and was now being renovated into a Church. A frantic and frustrated telephone call to asiarooms.com (based in England) to inform them that the hotel we booked through them had been closed since January. Them offering no real help whatsoever and extremely poor customer care. Finding another hostel down the road with a sea view room for the same price, and then having Karma grant us some excellent restaurant and tourist finds. Good friends, plenty of laughs and fond memories made!

 This post is just the photos from the first day of our trip. Others coming soon!

Finally seen some Korean rice fields!

Our first view of the sea after 5 hours in the car

Finally into our hostel room and straight onto blowing up the beach balls!

and then kicking them around the room

The view from our room

Train tracks to nowhere

A very calm sea that appears to merge seamlessly into the sky

It was freezing!!

A train carriage turned into a restaurant

The beach

Sunset

Posing without care for the car coming up behind them

 

Made a new friend

Cardboard cutouts protecting the beach?!

 

a nice restaurant, but just don't ask to move the table.

Jokers

 

Bubbling cauldron which I burnt my tongue on

Driving back to the hotel in the dark