It is now April 28th and the Olympics have been over for 2 months. After this blog from our last day in Seoul, I have one more to go! Thanks again for your patience and I hope that you enjoy this episode.
Today is moving day - we are off to Gangneung for the Olympics! Sunny, our Airbnb host asked that we arrive in Gangneung after 6 PM so that she could pick us up at the train station. This gives us another partial day to explore Seoul. But first we have an errand to do. For our trip to Korea, we had brought rail passes which allowed us to get on any train that had empty seats. However, we could not pick up the passes until the first day of use (today). That is okay with us, as it gives us a chance to scout out the route to the train station so it won't be a hassle when we have to do it during the afternoon rush.
After breakfast, we headed out through the underground passages leading to Seoul Station. We knew that the train station was positioned directly over the subway and we had a general idea of where the escalators up to the train station were located, but getting there involved a maze of walkways to avoid going down into one of the subway entrances. After at least one U-turn, we find the right escalator and go up to the train station. But where is the customer service center where we are supposed to get the passes? We ask a rail employee who does know about the passes that we are talking about, but points us toward the information desk. The woman staffing the information desk speaks just about enough English to tell us that we have to go to the train station office and points out the entrance to us.
We get to a solid door with no signage of any kind. In fact, it looks like the sort of door a janitor would unobtrusively appear from to empty the trash cans. Behind the door was a hallway with doors to a bunch of rooms, most with no signs. But the door at the end of the hall is glass and we can see people inside so in we go. No one speaks good enough English to figure out what I am talking about, but fortunately, I'd printed out the confirmations when I bought the passes. When I show them to the woman behind the desk, she nods her head, takes my confirmations, finds our names on a long list and checks off our names. We sign our names on each line and then she hands us our passes. We head back to the hotel and check out. The women at the front desk help us move our stuff into a storage room so that we can go sightseeing. We will come back here to get the bags and then head over to the train station.
For a long time, Korea was like a miniature version of China. The educated people spoke and wrote Chinese. Gyeongbokgung palace was built like a miniature version of the Forbidden City in Beijing. They even had a small version of the Great Wall surrounding Seoul. Today, we are off to Heunginjimun - Gate of Rising Benevolence - one of the few surviving parts of Hanyangdoseong - the Seoul City wall that once encircled the entire city. Very close to Heunginjimun is Dongdaemun Market, the largest market in Seoul and a place where we hope we can get lunch. Here is a view of the gate from the back:
If you were unlucky, you would be holding a ladder to get your comrades to the top of the wall while archers shooting through those small openings at the top of the wall tried to turn you into a pin cushion. There would also be soldiers catapulting boiling oil down on you, shooting small cannons at you or waiting until your forces had weakened to pour out through the gate and put an end to you. Attacking Seoul was no simple matter.
Here is a view from the front:
Hanyangdoseong was started in 1396 and was rebuilt a number of times. This version of Heunginjimun was finished in 1869. There were originally four gates in the compass directions (Heunginjimun is the Eastern Gate). Only one other gate still exists. Likewise, very little of the original wall is left, but we see a section of it across the street from Heunginjimun:
In other parts of the city, you can see these markers on the sidewalks to see where the wall once stood:
We are getting hungry so we head over to the outdoor part of Dongdaemun Market. Like the markets we've seen in Beijing, there are a lot of vendors side by side, each hawking their food to anyone who even looks sideways at their booth. But most of the stalls are only selling a small number of items so you'd have to visit several to get a complete meal. We wander around through a maze of little stalls. At one point, we narrowly avoid walking down a street where it appears that you can buy dog meat soup or dog parts to make soup - gross!
We finally decide to go into one of the garment markets and have lunch in their food court at the top of the building. The place is a zoo! It takes us some time to figure out that the food items are listed on the wall close to the entrance along with a number that tells you which of the many stalls will sell you that item. There does not appear to be anyone who speaks English, but Beth has the great idea of telling me to photograph the sign with the items that we want (which include some English) and then show the picture to the vendor. This works amazingly well and soon, I have a piece of paper with a pickup number. Then we sit down to wait:
Most people sitting around us were eating various forms of bright orange foods we'd come to associate with blazing hot. I'd tried to avoid this by taking something called mixed mushroom topping rice. This sounded reasonably benign and I was happy to find when our number was finally called that it was not orange!
After lunch, we hustled back to the subway and back to our hotel to pick up our bags. We decided to head to the train earlier than we need to so the walk back to Seoul Station with all of our stuff was not too bad. This was partly because we had found the elevator up to the train level and avoided having to drag our bags up the escalator. The first thing that we saw when walking into the station was a brand-new Olympic store that was just in the process of setting up. There weren't many available seats so we just hung out near the store until they were ready. Beth bought these plushies for Sean's collection:
After lunch, we hustled back to the subway and back to our hotel to pick up our bags. We decided to head to the train earlier than we need to so the walk back to Seoul Station with all of our stuff was not too bad. This was partly because we had found the elevator up to the train level and avoided having to drag our bags up the escalator. The first thing that we saw when walking into the station was a brand-new Olympic store that was just in the process of setting up. There weren't many available seats so we just hung out near the store until they were ready. Beth bought these plushies for Sean's collection:
These are the Olympic mascot Soohorang, a white tiger and the Paralympic mascot Bandabi, an Asiatic black bear. Sooho means protection in Korean and symbolizes the Olympic goal of world peace. Rang comes from ho-rang-i which is tiger in Korean. Banda means half-moon and bi means to celebrate the competition. We will be seeing a lot of these two in the next 12 days! I bought about a dozen Olympic mascots sports pins knowing that these will be very popular with anyone who is interested in trading.
Further along in the station we see this:
Further along in the station we see this:
It looks stationary in the picture, but in fact, everything is moving in this display - skiers going downhill, bobsleds going down a track, etc. It certainly caught the eye of nearly every kid who walked by. After walking around Seoul for three days and hardly seeing anything indicating that the Olympics were soon taking place nearby, it is good to see some signs encouraging people to pay attention.
After what seemed like forever, the public address announces the arrival of our train and we head outside. I'd thought that the tracks were at the same level as the station, but they are actually down one floor. It takes us a while to find an elevator down, but we finally manage and come out to see this:
Every Olympic city or country, depending on size, wants to get something out of hosting the Olympics. This is what the Koreans, especially those in Gangwon province, got: a brand new high speed rail line connecting Seoul with the ski areas near Pyeongchang and the seaside resorts in Gangneung. The old train used to take 5 hours to make the trip that we are going to make in about 1 hr 50 min. Korail is actually using part of an existing KTX line from Seoul to Wonju in the middle of the country and then makes a jog to the northeast to Gangneung. Cost of the line is estimated at $3.5 B.
The amazing thing to me coming from California is that they built this 120 km extension and built six new stations in less than 4 years. So far, we have been working for 3+ years on a 191 km section of high speed rail (the first such project in the US) along highway 99 in the Central Valley (as part of an eventual system running from Los Angeles to San Francisco). So far, we have no continuous track or working trains at a projected cost of $10.6 B. To be fair, most of the rise in costs has been a pile of lawsuits by opponents designed to slow down progress and increase costs until they are so high that everyone will give up. Having ridden on these types of train in Italy and Japan, I hope we will persevere.
The KTX train cars are quite similar to airplanes. Here is a picture of the passing scenery:
The country appears quite mountainous, but I don't see much snow. I wonder if this is going to be a problem. Anyway, the ride is quite smooth even at 250 km/hr (155 mph) and the trip goes by in no time. I watch for signs of the Olympics as we pass the stations of Pyeongchang, where the Opening Ceremonies will take place, and Jinbu, where many of the sliding and Nordic events will take place, but don't see anything.
Finally, we get to Gangneung. Like Seoul Station, the tracks are below the station. We can't find an elevator so cram everything onto the escalator. This doesn't inconvenience anyone too much as there are a lot of Olympic team members and support staff on our train and they are all doing the same thing. Once upstairs, we look around, but don't see anyone who looks like Sunny (we had exchanged pictures previously so we each knew who we were looking for). We had just started walking toward an exit when I see Sunny coming toward us.
While we are walking toward her car, she tells us that she used to teach college Biochemistry, but got tired of classes full of kids who were tired all the time and were having no fun. She resigned and went to work teaching kids English.
We somehow get all of our stuff crammed into her car - it is about the size of one of the larger Mini-Coopers. I am trying to keep track of all of the turns that Sunny makes because I know that we will end up having to walk the same route as time goes on. It is a little farther than I thought, but fairly straightforward - come out of the train station. Go in the direction of the traffic circle, go straight until you come to a T, turn left, take the first right and then the first left. After that, we find ourselves next to about a dozen 15 story apartment buildings. Sunny brings the car into the parking garage so that we can put all of our stuff into the elevator. Each building is divided into two with separate entrances and elevators and there are two apartments that share half of each floor. Sunny's apartment is on the 12th floor and has drawings of cats on the wall outside - this will make it easy to find!
Her apartment consists of a central hallway with three doors on the right (two bedrooms and a master suite) and two doors on the left (a 3rd bedroom and a bathroom). At the end of the hallway is a living area and around the corner to the left is a small kitchen. There is also a covered deck that is accessed through the living room. Sunny directs us to the second door on the right. Inside, this takes our breath away:
Along one wall are a series of lacquerware closets inlaid with mother-of-pearl and abalone. Sunny explains that her father used to collect this stuff. It is so beautiful, we're afraid to put our stuff in it. Next to the closet is a queen sized bed. There is no room for anything else and there is no space on the other side of the bed so we both have to load from the left - tight, but manageable.
Once we get our stuff packed up, Sunny asks if we have had dinner and whether we'd like to join her family. This is also when we meet most of her family. Her husband is Jaeyoung. He is a lecturer in anatomy at the local medical college. Sunny explains that he understands English, but doesn't like to speak it. We also meet her daughter Minji who is studying Marine Biology. Sunny explains that her younger daughter Minju, who is about Sean's age, is attending a special high school in Seoul to study traditional Korean performing arts. She says that we will meet her when she comes home for New Years.
I had thought that we were going to have dinner at home, but Sunny has different ideas. She explains that we are going to walk to a restaurant that is very close to the apartment complex. So off we go. The restaurant really is close by and judging by the neighborhood, must get most of its business from people in the apartment complex. When we walk in the door, the greeting by the young woman manager makes it clear that Sunny has been here a lot. There is initially no space for us so we have to wait a few minutes. I notice that all of the tables have a cooking surface similar to what we have seen at Korean barbecue restaurants at home. After a short wait, we are seated. The waiter turns on the heat and brings a plate of lettuce. Sunny asks what we'd like to each and I think that we win some points by answering that we'd like to eat what you typically eat. I'm not sure of what all we eat. I recognize mushrooms and onions and several types of pork including pork bellies. There are also a bunch of dipping sauces including the dreaded orange stuff we learn is called gochujang. Sunny shows us that the way to do this is to take a lettuce leaf, add a piece of pork, a little of one of the sauces, a few more condiments and then wrap up the lettuce and eat it in one bite. Just as with tacos, I really have problems figuring out the right amount of stuffings and my single bites keep threatening to blow up all over me. But eventually, I get the hang of it. While we are eating, Sunny asks if we'd like to try a typical Korean rice drink which she says is weakly fermented. We say sure and the waiter brings us a couple of glasses filled with a kind of white, watery liquid with bits of what look like bits of rice floating in it. This is sikhye. I think I understand correctly from Sunny that this drink is made by fermenting barley and rice together which gives it an interesting flavor sort of the like a sweet beer. Not bad! It appears that the waiters will keep bringing food as long as we are eating. Beth and I are both stuffed and insist that we cannot eat another bite.
Feeling warm and happy, it was a shock to go back outside for the walk home. But it didn't take too long. I get the feeling that Sunny would like to spend more time talking, but we are pretty tired at this point and need some sleep. Sunny says okay, but would like to take us to see the store where she is working during the Olympics in the morning. This is fine with us as we don't have an event until tomorrow evening. We say goodnight and hit the bed thinking that this is going to be a great Olympics.
Steps for the day: 13,396
After what seemed like forever, the public address announces the arrival of our train and we head outside. I'd thought that the tracks were at the same level as the station, but they are actually down one floor. It takes us a while to find an elevator down, but we finally manage and come out to see this:
Every Olympic city or country, depending on size, wants to get something out of hosting the Olympics. This is what the Koreans, especially those in Gangwon province, got: a brand new high speed rail line connecting Seoul with the ski areas near Pyeongchang and the seaside resorts in Gangneung. The old train used to take 5 hours to make the trip that we are going to make in about 1 hr 50 min. Korail is actually using part of an existing KTX line from Seoul to Wonju in the middle of the country and then makes a jog to the northeast to Gangneung. Cost of the line is estimated at $3.5 B.
The amazing thing to me coming from California is that they built this 120 km extension and built six new stations in less than 4 years. So far, we have been working for 3+ years on a 191 km section of high speed rail (the first such project in the US) along highway 99 in the Central Valley (as part of an eventual system running from Los Angeles to San Francisco). So far, we have no continuous track or working trains at a projected cost of $10.6 B. To be fair, most of the rise in costs has been a pile of lawsuits by opponents designed to slow down progress and increase costs until they are so high that everyone will give up. Having ridden on these types of train in Italy and Japan, I hope we will persevere.
The KTX train cars are quite similar to airplanes. Here is a picture of the passing scenery:
The country appears quite mountainous, but I don't see much snow. I wonder if this is going to be a problem. Anyway, the ride is quite smooth even at 250 km/hr (155 mph) and the trip goes by in no time. I watch for signs of the Olympics as we pass the stations of Pyeongchang, where the Opening Ceremonies will take place, and Jinbu, where many of the sliding and Nordic events will take place, but don't see anything.
Finally, we get to Gangneung. Like Seoul Station, the tracks are below the station. We can't find an elevator so cram everything onto the escalator. This doesn't inconvenience anyone too much as there are a lot of Olympic team members and support staff on our train and they are all doing the same thing. Once upstairs, we look around, but don't see anyone who looks like Sunny (we had exchanged pictures previously so we each knew who we were looking for). We had just started walking toward an exit when I see Sunny coming toward us.
While we are walking toward her car, she tells us that she used to teach college Biochemistry, but got tired of classes full of kids who were tired all the time and were having no fun. She resigned and went to work teaching kids English.
We somehow get all of our stuff crammed into her car - it is about the size of one of the larger Mini-Coopers. I am trying to keep track of all of the turns that Sunny makes because I know that we will end up having to walk the same route as time goes on. It is a little farther than I thought, but fairly straightforward - come out of the train station. Go in the direction of the traffic circle, go straight until you come to a T, turn left, take the first right and then the first left. After that, we find ourselves next to about a dozen 15 story apartment buildings. Sunny brings the car into the parking garage so that we can put all of our stuff into the elevator. Each building is divided into two with separate entrances and elevators and there are two apartments that share half of each floor. Sunny's apartment is on the 12th floor and has drawings of cats on the wall outside - this will make it easy to find!
Her apartment consists of a central hallway with three doors on the right (two bedrooms and a master suite) and two doors on the left (a 3rd bedroom and a bathroom). At the end of the hallway is a living area and around the corner to the left is a small kitchen. There is also a covered deck that is accessed through the living room. Sunny directs us to the second door on the right. Inside, this takes our breath away:
Along one wall are a series of lacquerware closets inlaid with mother-of-pearl and abalone. Sunny explains that her father used to collect this stuff. It is so beautiful, we're afraid to put our stuff in it. Next to the closet is a queen sized bed. There is no room for anything else and there is no space on the other side of the bed so we both have to load from the left - tight, but manageable.
Once we get our stuff packed up, Sunny asks if we have had dinner and whether we'd like to join her family. This is also when we meet most of her family. Her husband is Jaeyoung. He is a lecturer in anatomy at the local medical college. Sunny explains that he understands English, but doesn't like to speak it. We also meet her daughter Minji who is studying Marine Biology. Sunny explains that her younger daughter Minju, who is about Sean's age, is attending a special high school in Seoul to study traditional Korean performing arts. She says that we will meet her when she comes home for New Years.
I had thought that we were going to have dinner at home, but Sunny has different ideas. She explains that we are going to walk to a restaurant that is very close to the apartment complex. So off we go. The restaurant really is close by and judging by the neighborhood, must get most of its business from people in the apartment complex. When we walk in the door, the greeting by the young woman manager makes it clear that Sunny has been here a lot. There is initially no space for us so we have to wait a few minutes. I notice that all of the tables have a cooking surface similar to what we have seen at Korean barbecue restaurants at home. After a short wait, we are seated. The waiter turns on the heat and brings a plate of lettuce. Sunny asks what we'd like to each and I think that we win some points by answering that we'd like to eat what you typically eat. I'm not sure of what all we eat. I recognize mushrooms and onions and several types of pork including pork bellies. There are also a bunch of dipping sauces including the dreaded orange stuff we learn is called gochujang. Sunny shows us that the way to do this is to take a lettuce leaf, add a piece of pork, a little of one of the sauces, a few more condiments and then wrap up the lettuce and eat it in one bite. Just as with tacos, I really have problems figuring out the right amount of stuffings and my single bites keep threatening to blow up all over me. But eventually, I get the hang of it. While we are eating, Sunny asks if we'd like to try a typical Korean rice drink which she says is weakly fermented. We say sure and the waiter brings us a couple of glasses filled with a kind of white, watery liquid with bits of what look like bits of rice floating in it. This is sikhye. I think I understand correctly from Sunny that this drink is made by fermenting barley and rice together which gives it an interesting flavor sort of the like a sweet beer. Not bad! It appears that the waiters will keep bringing food as long as we are eating. Beth and I are both stuffed and insist that we cannot eat another bite.
Feeling warm and happy, it was a shock to go back outside for the walk home. But it didn't take too long. I get the feeling that Sunny would like to spend more time talking, but we are pretty tired at this point and need some sleep. Sunny says okay, but would like to take us to see the store where she is working during the Olympics in the morning. This is fine with us as we don't have an event until tomorrow evening. We say goodnight and hit the bed thinking that this is going to be a great Olympics.
