Day 17. Change in the weather. Sokcho. 20 April 2024.Change in the weather- forecast for 13 degrees and some rain.

Breakfast was a bit of a disappointment. Very little fresh fruit, nuts, muesli or granola. The saving grace was ‘fashion fruits’ AND croiffles.

Here’s the weather forecast.

We headed off at the now obligatory 9am for Seoraksan and ABBT. Another bloody BUDDHIST temple. But it was a bit different with the rain and misty conditions.

Firstly we saw a beautiful big bronze Buddha, Tongil Daebul, before reaching the Geungnakbojeon Hall of Sinheungsa Temple,

Geungnakbojeon is a Buddhist worship hall enshrining a statue of Amitabha, the Buddha of Western Paradise. It was first built in 1647 and was repaired in 1750 and 1821. The ages of things are a bit beyond comprehension. The tall foundation platform and stone stairs are carved with various designs such as peonies, lions, beast faces, and dragon heads, which is rarely found in other Buddhist temples. The doors at the front of the building are decorated with exquisite floral grid lattices.

The monks voice was quite good and I could imagine meditating to it.

Buddha’s birthday decorations were ever present. There were some cute ‘wishes’ in the little trees in front of temple.

Then we went up Mt Seoraksan in the mist and rain. A quick four minute trip in the cable car and then probably a half hour or so up the hill through the mist and spooky trees to what would usually be stunning views of the mountains.

I went a bit further than the others up the rocks to even more non views.

Then we headed down again and I focused on the trees and new growth etc.

Back to Sokcho for lunch and Alex says in the rain Koreans eat pancakes and drink Magkeoli. So it was Hamool Pajeon (Seafood pancakes) and a fried octopus dish (spicy hot) with the obligatory sides (smoky bean shoots, pickled radish, coleslaw with a mayo on it) with a seaweed soup, a small bowl of egg soufflé, and of course there was rice. The Hamool Pajeon was really good – it had vegies, crab, prawn and bound together with a tempura type mix. Really good. The octopus had a beautifully charred taste but also a fair chilli kick – lips are burning 10 minutes later – but good.

Went to the Joongang (means central) fish market via the boat on a rope.

Very busy and so much seafood alive and dead for sale. Also a lot selling foods from fried chicken to stuffed squid to rice bread.

There was one place with a queue stretching right around the corner and down a lane for the rice bread.

Also one of the fried chicken places had long queues. It’s such a weird thing that one place is so popular and others selling the same product are dead quiet.

We also wandered around the locals market, which was considerably quieter, but with much the same fish etc and a few more general clothing and other stalls.

We then returned to the van by the boat on the rope and Alex took us to find an ATM followed by a little tour of some tour of the Sokcho area including Yongguemjong pavillion on the hill and another fish market that we drove past. He also explained
Jjimjilbang which is Korean form of bathhouse, scrub and sauna. All nude. I was quick to pass on that option for a rainy arvo.

Dropped into Daiso for a bit of look around for particular insoles Aunty Sue has been chasing. We found the little cushion seats the gardeners wore in Seoul.

Back to hotel via and worked out some logistics for our last day on tour.

Back to rooms for some downtime and for me some drying out of backpack and contents and a slight rearrangement of my cases.

Dinner tonight was up in the R.9pup which is a pub on the 9th floor, hoping for a G&T only to find it’s all about the beer with each of given a wrist tag to tap and a selection of 21 taps. There was a heap of staff and few patrons.

We perused the menu and chose a Caesar and Fried Shrimp to share. Then we ventured over for a closer look at the taps as we were considering beer, only to find there was a Rose cider that was quite nice. Very hip. The beer/cider taps were all controlled by wrist bands and food delivered by robot. The weather cleared a little during dinner and we could see the lights along Sokcho beach.