Last Saturday, I wanted to go to the beach. I already had made this great plan with the help of my Lonely Planet guidebook. After only 2.5 hours of traveling (and part of the way by ferry!), I would be sitting on a white sandy beach on some island off the western coast of Incheon. Threats of inclement weather scared off most of my traveling companions, so, when the day arrived, despite the sunshine pouring down, Philip and I were the only two.
We took Line 6 to Dongmyo, where we transferred to Line 1, which we rode for at least an hour to the end of the line at Incheon. After a while, though, the subway line surfaced, so we got to see plenty of the city of Seoul - at least, through the windows of the train.
My book recommended taking a bus (it listed an overwhelming array of possible bus numbers) or a taxi to Wolmido wharf, and we took the lazy/easy way out and grabbed a cab. For 3,000 won (~$3 USD), we were deposited at Wolmido. And I had NOT been prepared for Wolmido!
Wolmido was basically a festival on the wharf, complete with Ferris wheel, a giant swinging boat, games where you have to throw a blunt dart and hit balloons to win a giant panda, stalls where you can pick out an octopus tentacle the size of your forearm and they'll grill it up while you wait, batting cages (which Philip tried), and rides that flip you around and up in the air. The carnival was bustling with people and the sun was out in full force which, when coupled with the laughter and screams, catapulted me into the upper echelons of bliss.
The Tourist Information building seemed like a good place to start. Unfortunately, no one there spoke English. Luckily, I am quite good at pointing and clever enough to have written our (hopeful) destination in Korean. Purchasing the tickets was accomplished by pushing that same piece of paper through a tiny window along with 6,000 won and, after a few minutes of waiting, a ferry pulled up to the dock. Philip handed the tickets to a man to check if that was our boat and, when the tickets were not returned, we figured we might as well head on board.
On the top deck was a beautiful sign:
We found out its significance when more people, mainly families with children, joined us, and a sweet older woman gave me a handful of snacks.
Those brazen seagulls would take a snack straight from your outstretched hands! After a short, 15-20 minutes ride, we were deposited on a rather deserted wharf.
Much map-checking, questioning pantomimes, and pointing at Philip's watch led us to a bus (i#202, in case you're curious, and on which not a word of English was to be found) that a sweet woman with a child assured us would lead to the destination I had written on that now-beloved piece of paper.
Since nothing was written or announced in English, we were a bit on edge about where to get off. Finally, after an hour on this bus, we saw beach umbrellas and water and jumped off the bus! Unfortunately, we weren't exactly where we had planned to go. In fact, we had no idea where we were. By this point, however, we had been traveling for about 3.5 hours, and who's to complain, when we were greeted by this?
Lunch at the only restaurant on the beach was followed by getting into our swimsuits and rushing into the gorgeous, cool-but-not-cold, salty water... where we caused quite a stir! Except for the toddlers splashing in the surf, we were the only ones in the water. And all of the Korean people, strolling the store with heels and umbrellas, stopped, pointed, and stared. At first, it was quite strange. And then we became used to it. It's hard to be concerned when you're swimming in such a beautiful place! [Later on, more people got into the water to swim. But, even then, most of the people wore shirts and shorts! I did not see a single woman in a swimsuit - so I stood out quite a bit in my bikini!]
Swimming was followed by sunbathing followed by scrambling over rocks. Throughout it all, the sun shone.
Eventually, we figured we should attempt to head for home. The bus stop, however, did not contain a single word of English. Luckily, I have been paying attention in my Korean class and can read Korean! I still don't know what it means, but places are places and, halfway through the list of stops serviced by the second bus that loops through the area, I found something I recognized - Incheon! From the airport we figured we could take the subway, so we hopped on the next bus, rode until we reached Incheon International Airport, reloaded our T-Money cards, took the airport line to Gimpo International Airport, took Line 1 to its intersection with Line 6 and, after only about 2 hours of travel, we were back on campus with an hour to shower, dress, and eat before meeting everyone else at the Welcoming Party!
Except for Philip, I did not speak English with another person all day. There were no English signs and no non-Koreans to be seen. We definitely stood out, but I loved it. I loved the adventure (which was the term by which Philip kindly referred to the almost 4 hours spent reaching our destination). When I used to think of Korea, I never thought of beaches! But, after this gorgeous, perfect day, I am inclined to love Korean beaches. Unfortunately, that was the last time I saw the sunshine. Rain has been plaguing Seoul, and I look forward to the day when my umbrella can have time to dry!
