The Kangwondo Trip. (part 3)

Our last day in Kangwondo passed by quickly. I was in a really good mood cause I was well rested the night before. When I opened the windows to check the surroundings, it was dark and foggy. 9 am looked more like 6 pm then. But it was comfortably warm that I could leave my thick winter jacket at the backseat of the car. We weren't able to wake up early as we previously planned to catch the sunrise. But I was glad we didn't cause the clouds were so thick then, that it would have been impossible to see the sun. Chris drove to 정 동 진 ("Jeongdongjin"), a famous place to catch the sunrise... But since we were late, the beach was almost empty. The rocky shore looked different from the last time I saw it... The air seemed fresh and briny that I tried filling my lungs with as much fresh air as possible, till I felt light-headed.


Those black things attached to the rocks are interesting looking mussels. It was a first for me to see that...


The next place we visited was 추 암 촛 대 바 위 ("Chuam chot dae baui"), it translates as Chuam candle-shaped rock in English. It's among the three best places to catch the sun rise in Korea. It's really a beautiful place and I would recommend others to visit there. The color of the water is emerald green, and the islets and huge rocks where migratory birds were comfortably nestling, made it even more beautiful. There was a small village nearby, and I saw several villagers drying squid and some other fishes to sell. Others were leisurely playing 'go-stop' in the sand while drinking soju.


The last place we visited in Kangwondo was 대 금 굴 ("Daegeum cave"). Chris knew how to plan well cause he saved the best for last. Tickets cost 12,000 won each and that includes a mono-rail ride that goes to the opening of the cave on top of the mountain. It took 50 minutes to walk around the cave.. Taking pictures was higly prohibited inside, but I saw several stubborn ajussis taking pictures using their phones and cameras.... The cave looked really cool inside. Some places were submerged in deep blue-green water.. but it was so clear that people can still see the gigantic rocks below. There were crystals shining like diamonds in the walls while stalactites and stalagmites hung like chandeliers. Here's the place where we took the mono-rail to climb high up the mountain.





After the cave tour, we stayed for a while exploring some other places there. There was a dry riverbed with shallow pools of water turned to ice. It was windy so when it was about time to go, I stiffly followed Chris to the car.



The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur. The drive back home was long and tiring and I drifted to sleep most of the time. Chris didn't talk much, he must have been concentrating hard not to fall asleep behind the wheel. When we arrived home, I was surprisingly energetic and not tired. Chris felt the opposite. He fell asleep as soon as he lay on the bed while it took me 14 songs before I was finally able to shut my eyes and fall asleep.