Korea Trip 2022: A Trip to the Northeast
When planning for my Korea trip, I decided to split it as evenly as I could between solo travel periods and time with my extended family. I spent the first week in the country alone in Seoul before spending about another week of good time with my family. Now, the time came for me to travel to Gangwon-do and spend a few days exploring the northeast part of Korea.
Getting There and Getting About
It had been a long time since I rode the subway from Incheon to Seoul, but I think this was the first time I would do so during busy hours. I had to arrive at 서울역 경부선 (Seoul Station KTX) | Naver link on time to catch the 10:01am KTX (Korea Train Express) from Seoul to 강릉 (Gangneung). First, I got on the subway from Imhak Station and took it to the end of Incheon Line 1 at 계양역 인천1호선 (Gyeyang Station - Incheon Line 1) | Naver link. From there, I had to transfer over to 계양역 공항철도 (Gyeyang Station Airport Railroad) | Naver link, which runs from the Incheon International Airport to Seoul Station. When transferring subway lines, I was very much taken aback at how packed the train was. There was no room for me and my luggage for the first train that came through, so I had to get on the second one that arrived five minutes later. By the time I arrived at Seoul Station, I had spent about an hour getting there via the subway.
Seoul Station has a bunch of restaurants that are open for extended hours, and I decided to get a small bite to eat from 롯데리아 서울역사점 (Lotteria Seoul Station) | Naver link. Lotteria is the most popular fast food chain in Korea and is akin to McDonald’s, which - of course - has tons of locations throughout the country as well. I remember liking it a lot when I ate there during my last visit to Korea, though from what I’ve heard from my extended family members, apparently the likes of Burger King as well as McDonald’s is much better. I was surprised to hear that, so I wanted to see for myself if Lotteria has indeed dipped in quality. I ordered a 야채라이스 새우 (vegetable rice bun with shrimp burger) for ₩4,700 ($3.40), and it came out within minutes. While it was shabbily put together, I thought it was solid taste-wise. The fried shrimp patty was nice, and the rice buns held together fairly well. It probably could have used a bit more seasoning, but I thought it was worth the value.
I figured that not many people would ride the KTX on a weekday, so I was taken aback by how many people were actually on the train. You can order tickets online, and you are assigned a car and seat number. I got a window seat, and I had decent enough leg room when seated, with my backpack on the floor and my luggage stored above my aisle. There’s complimentary WiFi that’s fairly fast, and there are also wireless phone charging ports. The trip from Seoul to 강릉역 강릉선 (Gangneung Station - Gangneung Line) | Naver link took about two hours, and I spent a good chunk of that time catching up on episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law on Disney+. Speaking of which, Disney+ in Korea is pretty cool, as it has a score of movies (including R-rated ones!) and shows that would normally be on Hulu in the U.S.
After arriving at Gangneung Station, I headed over to the car rental booths near Exit 2. I had reserved a car via Hertz, and their partner in Korea was the one providing the car. I showed them my passport and my international driving permit, and after paying and reading and signing the contract, I was led outside to the car - a Kia K3 - by a staff member, who inspected it to record any damages and walked me through the car’s dashboard. He then wished me happy travels and was off, leaving me to drive.
I was a bit nervous about driving in Korea, mainly because from what I've seen in both Seoul and Incheon, drivers in Korea have no patience and don’t always respect pedestrian right-of-way. In fact, I had witnessed two automobile accidents during my first week in the country! However, Gangneung isn’t as densely populated, meaning that there were less cars and thus less traffic on the road. After a nervy couple of minutes, I became pretty comfortable with driving, thanks in large part to the car’s excellent navigation system, which alerted me of any upcoming CCTV cameras and school crossings, which meant that I had to slow to the speed limit lest I get caught (Korea is quite strict about this).
Gangneung
First order of things: lunch. I drove over to 초당할머니순두부 (Chodang Halmoni Soondubu) | Naver link, which is one of many soondubu restaurants located in a village called 초당순두부마을 (Chodang Soondubu Village) | Naver link. What distinguishes Gangneung’s soondubu is that they use seawater to make it. The parking lot here had no spots, so I drove down the road until I found a designated parking area with plenty of spots and walked over. Luckily, there were a few tables open, so I was seated quickly and was asked what I wanted. I ended up going with 얼큰째복순두부 (spicy pink butterfly shell soondubu), which consisted of soondubu with several clams as well as a spread of various banchan. It cost ₩10,000 ($7.23). I’ve grown up eating soondubu in the U.S., which tends to use silken tofu, which is known for its smoothness. The soondubu here, on the other hand, looked more - shall we say - ground up, most likely due to the seawater used for the congealing process. Textually, it was quite interesting and just delicious, as were the banchan. The clams were nice and briny, and lo and behold, I even found a piece of pork. It was chilly in Gangneung compared to Seoul and Incheon, and the soondubu just warmed me up.
While walking back to the car, I stumbled across a gelato shop called 순두부젤라또 1호점 (Soondubu Gelato - Store 1) | Naver link. I can’t claim to have eaten at a lot of gelato shops, but I’m pretty sure that there aren’t many places that sell soondubu gelato - which meant I just had to try it. They had several other flavors available, but I ignored them and bought one serving of the soondubu gelato for ₩4,000 ($2.89). Honestly, I could only taste small hints of the soondubu flavor, so to me, it came across as a bit neutral. Still, the texture was very smooth, and it was a refreshing dessert following lunch.
What’s a trip to Gangneung without seeing the beach? I’d say it’s not really a trip to Gangneung, then. I drove over to 안목해변 (Anmok Beach) | Naver link, located in the eastern part of the city. The weather wasn’t as nice due to Typhoon Nanmadol (which is currently battering Japan), so even though the beach itself looked a little dreary, there were still a ton of people walking around and taking photos of the large waves crashing in. There are a bunch of interesting sculptures to take photos with, and the mist shrouding the coastline in the distance made for a pretty impressive view.
The real reason why I came to Anmok Beach was because of 강응커피거리 (Gangneung Coffee Street) | Naver link, a street stretching along the coastline consisting of a lot of coffee shops. While there certainly are restaurants, the coffee shops are the main draw here, and their sizes reflect this, with most of them being at least a few stories tall and just filled with patrons. Their architecture is quite interesting to look at as well when walking along this street.
I figured I should get coffee while I was here, and while there are plenty of options to choose from, I went with 산토리니커피 (Santorini Coffee) | Naver link, a coffee shop in which the design is inspired by its namesake city. Here, they specialize in hand drip coffee, and I bought a cup of 에티오피아 구지 사키소 G1 네츄럴 (Ethiopia Guji Sakiso G1 Natural) for ₩7,000 ($5.06). The drink itself takes a while to prepare, so I busied myself with snapping photos of the store’s interior and looking at the packs of coffee grounds they sell. I took my coffee up to the third floor and sat outside, wanting to enjoy the sea air. The coffee has hints of almond, blackberry, lime, and dark chocolate and tasted a bit acidic, which I was initially taken aback by but ended up liking. Hot coffee on a chilly day? Perfect.
낙산사 (Naksansa) | Naver link
Evening was going to arrive in just a matter of hours, so I high-tailed it from Gangneung and headed north to the county of 양양 (Yangyang), which is home to Naksansa. This Buddhist temple was founded in 671, destroyed by fire and water, and reconstructed several times. It’s perched right by the sea and is known for its stunning views and architecture. I paid ₩4,000 (estimated $2.87) to park at the back entrance, and then paid another ₩4,000 for the admission fee. I only had about an hour here, and my objective was to see as much as I could in that time frame. While I wasn’t able to see everything at the temple, I do think I got to see the major highlights, including: 의상대 (Uisangdae) and 홍련암 (Hongryeonam), a pavilion and temple respectively overlooking the ocean; 보타전 (Botajeon), a temple housing enshrined statues; and 해수관음상 (Haesugwaneumsang), a massive, towering stone statue of the Avalokitesvara weighing over 700 tons. The temple grounds here are quite breathtaking and really nice to walk around, and I wished I had arrived earlier so I could see more.
속초 (Sokcho)
After leaving Naksansa, I drove to the city of Sokcho, where I’m staying during my trip here in Gangwon-do. After settling into my Airbnb, I decided to take an evening stroll and find a place to have dinner. I’m located just a few blocks away from the shoreline, and there’s no shortage of great views here, especially at night. A nearby bridge lights up at night, and I’ve come to love restaurant signs illuminated at night. I headed over to a street known for restaurants offering 생선구이 (grilled fish).
While I did have a restaurant in mind, I was turned away since they were only accepting parties of two or more. I wasn’t sure why, but the fact that the restaurant was crowded probably had something to do with it. I spent a couple minutes looking up the most reviewed and well received grilled fish restaurants, only to find that some were closed, as it’s not uncommon for restaurants to take one day off a week.
Finally, I found one that wasn’t as busy and was willing to host me: 신피디 통큰 생선구이 (Sin PD Big Grilled Fish) | Naver link. I ordered one serving of 특선생선구이 (Specialty Grilled Fish), which got me fillets of 고등어 (mackerel), 가자미 (flounder), 청어 (herring), and 열갱이 (rosefish), a full array of banchan including two types of squid preparation (spicy raw and stir-fried), 미역국 (miyeokguk - seaweed soup), and two pieces of 아바이순대 (Abai soondae), a type of soondae from North Korea. The staff grilled the fish for me, and once it was ready, I would take them off the table’s charcoal grill and pick the flesh off the bones. Eating grilled fish can be a mess due to the bones, but I’m used to it, having grown up eating it. Everything was delicious, and I was kind of angry at myself for never thinking of the ideas to dip grilled fish into a mixture of wasabi and soy sauce, and to cook 미역국 (miyeokguk - seaweed soup) with 된장 (doenjang - soybean paste) - both of which the restaurant did to extraordinary results. I struck up a conversation with the owner, who, after finding out I was visiting from America, started talking to me in English. As it turns out, he trained with the U.S. military when he was younger, and he picked up some English through that. The majority of the staff working that night were Bangladeshi students studying at the nearby university, and having thought that I’d almost never see non-Koreans in this part of Korea, I found this pretty cool. While the Specialty Grilled Fish costs ₩16,000, I also ordered a bowl of steamed rice for ₩1,000, so the total charge came out to ₩17,000 ($12.29). I left the restaurant feeling quite pleased with not only the food, but what I had experienced during my northeast trip so far.
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