I arrived at their bus terminal, walked outside so that I could catch the #303 to Odae-san. I sat down on the bench, waited for about 3 minutes when the bus arrived. I walked up, asked if it was going to Odae-san, and the bus driver said no it wasn't. So, even though I was confused, I sat back down on the bench with my 65L hiking bag that weighs like 1/3-1/2 of me. Ok an exaggeration, but really, it's more than 30 pounds (again, my original plan to sleep inside the mountains didn't work out, so now I have extra unnecessary items in my bag i.e. sleeping bag and towels and extra undies - full seat because hiking with thongs could be uncomfy and so extra material = extra weight).
After sitting for about 30 seconds, the bus driver (who does not speak English) called me back over. I walked up to his bus and he basically was like get on, said something about how I would have to wait 2 hours for the next bus, and he would take me... somewhere (I couldn't understand where). I figured it was like, he'd take me as far as he could go and I'd figure it out from there.
What I figured out, while on the bus, as he was trying to explain to me (then to the fellow passengers) is that, his bus was the only 303 bus and that the bus was indeed going to go to Odae-san, just not for a few hours (post lunch). As I sat there, not saying much, because well, go with the flow man, he thought I didn't understand, then proceeded to "make fun" of me by explaining on his mic to the rest of the bus that because I am a Weh-guk (foreigner), not from there, and because my Korean wasn't good (these opinions of my ability to speak Korean poorly or well seems to differ depending on where I am in the country by the way), he might as well have me ride with him along the route, since it would be better than waiting at that stop for two hours.
As he finished his route and dropped off the last customer, he turned to me and explained that he was going to have lunch then he was going to go up to the mountain. He asked if I had had lunch, I said no. He said, well we can eat together then go up together. See, I thought we were going to go to a restaurant or fast food or some type of place like that - however, my bus adventure took me straight to where all buses start and finish, the bus nesting place.
Again, I was confused as to where we were going to eat, but all became clear as he steered me towards the bus driver canteen aka: their cafeteria where ahjumas prepare food for them. Of course everyone in the canteen looked at me in complete confusion and the bus driver had to explain to them what had happened.
So, I got to eat with the bus drivers of Gangneung and bonus, it was free :). After lunch, we headed on our merry way towards Odae-san. It took like an hour or so, but really the ride was well worth it. Basically it was like a dollar to go from the town up to the mountain and I got to see everything in between; not that there was much, but it's just kind of nice to window watch.
I found out that the bus driver was the only driver on this route. This meant, that after my hike, he would be the one to pick me back up and take me down. It gave me approx 3-3.5 hours to trek. Odae-san is not a particulary difficult mountain, not like Sorak-san the day before, and to be honest, for the time of year, I thought Odae-san was prettier. Shh, don't tell the Koreans as Sorak-san is like the mountain with the most national pride; it is supposed to be the most beautiful in all the land (I might believe this in the fall when all the leaves change colors - but during winter/early spring, not so much).
I went in and I came back out; then I caught my special bus back down to Gangneung. Along the way back into town, we picked up a few other Weh-guks (foreigners). I was surprised as Gangneung and Odae-san are of the smaller variety to pick from in Korea. These Weh-guks were German and one was German-Korean who spoke English with a thick German accent. Now that's a trip for the ears and eyes. They were both female travellers like myself, poking around the country. They were really cool and we were getting along well... so well that the bus driver thought I knew them lol. I am disappointed that we did not have time to exchange contact information as when we got to the bus terminal, their bus was departing immediately and they had to run for it. I didn't even get their names. :(
I almost considered asking, hey can I tag along with you two to your next point of interest - but I remembered why I was on this trip in the first place and opted for solitude; so I took my bus to Won-ju that night on my own so that in the morning I could go to Chiak-san.
Again, I was confused as to where we were going to eat, but all became clear as he steered me towards the bus driver canteen aka: their cafeteria where ahjumas prepare food for them. Of course everyone in the canteen looked at me in complete confusion and the bus driver had to explain to them what had happened.
So, I got to eat with the bus drivers of Gangneung and bonus, it was free :). After lunch, we headed on our merry way towards Odae-san. It took like an hour or so, but really the ride was well worth it. Basically it was like a dollar to go from the town up to the mountain and I got to see everything in between; not that there was much, but it's just kind of nice to window watch.
I found out that the bus driver was the only driver on this route. This meant, that after my hike, he would be the one to pick me back up and take me down. It gave me approx 3-3.5 hours to trek. Odae-san is not a particulary difficult mountain, not like Sorak-san the day before, and to be honest, for the time of year, I thought Odae-san was prettier. Shh, don't tell the Koreans as Sorak-san is like the mountain with the most national pride; it is supposed to be the most beautiful in all the land (I might believe this in the fall when all the leaves change colors - but during winter/early spring, not so much).
I went in and I came back out; then I caught my special bus back down to Gangneung. Along the way back into town, we picked up a few other Weh-guks (foreigners). I was surprised as Gangneung and Odae-san are of the smaller variety to pick from in Korea. These Weh-guks were German and one was German-Korean who spoke English with a thick German accent. Now that's a trip for the ears and eyes. They were both female travellers like myself, poking around the country. They were really cool and we were getting along well... so well that the bus driver thought I knew them lol. I am disappointed that we did not have time to exchange contact information as when we got to the bus terminal, their bus was departing immediately and they had to run for it. I didn't even get their names. :(
I almost considered asking, hey can I tag along with you two to your next point of interest - but I remembered why I was on this trip in the first place and opted for solitude; so I took my bus to Won-ju that night on my own so that in the morning I could go to Chiak-san.
No comments:
Post a Comment