8 November 2014

Autumn Trip Day 2 - Seoul to Sokcho by Bus

Assalamualaikum. 안녕.

First Night in Seoul (here).

Ok pagi ni bangun awal. Done my packing the night before so pagi tu terus mandi. After bersiap ala kadar I went to the kitchen. Sebelum tempat tu jadi crowded, better lah aku buat breakfast dulu. I had instant porridge & hot green tea. Semua aku hangkut all the way from KK.

Tengah melayan bubur instant (tapi sedap!) masuk lah penghuni lain. Ada couple ni dari Russia, pastu Aunty dari Spain, budak Pinoy depan bilik aku & Ahjumma yang baru balik dari Sokcho. Terus beramah mesra di awal pagi. Cakap sekerat, almaklum level Eng kami semua boleh tahan tunggang langgang. Aku lancar bercerita sama budak Pinoy tu jak sebab kebetulan 'wavelength' kami senada. And Ahjumma tu bersungguh bercakap sama aku lepas tau aku mau pi Sokcho pagi tu.

"The view...very beautiful. Now peak autumn, more people. U alone? Take care."

Gitu kan bercakap. Biarlah ayam itik, janji kau faham aku faham. Lepas breakfast; check out, kiss goodbye sama Meow dua ketul tu & borak sikit sama si Agnes...aku pun mulakan langkah. Purposely aku jalan awal although aku belum plan mau naik bas jam berapa. Janji sampai Sokcho not later than late evening. Plan harini mau ronda Sokcho town & Abai Village. Ni semua hasil godaan si Jea. Lagipun dalam web KTO suggest that week was the right time to visit Soraksan. Peak foliage katanya.

23 Oct 2014
Seoul
From the hostel I walked to Jong 3-sam ga Station. Mainly to avoid the scary stairs at Anguk Station. Kununnya! 
Good morning Gyedan! Seawal pagi kita berjumpa ah. And I thought departing from this station would be less torturing than Anguk Station? Ouh boy was I wrong. Yang ni 2x5 juga! Anguk tu ok lagi sebab ada escalator 2 level terbawah. 
Mind our own business katanya. 
And those men sitting at the 'designated seats'? No worries, diorang akan automatically bangun kalau nampak orang tua, mother with little kid or pregnant ladies masuk dalam train tu. So far belum ada kejadian mother with little kid duduk atas lantai train, sambil breastfeed anak. Eh? 
Dong Seoul Bus Terminal located just opposite Gangbyeon Station Line 2.
Boleh menjamu perut at Lotteria while waiting for the bus to depart but I chose the Yakguk over the resto. Kaki yang sakit perlu extra attention, perut boleh letak tepi.
Ticket counter.
Albeit arriving early, I only managed to grabbed the 11am bus to Sokcho. Ndak apa, bukan in rushing pun. I've planned to go to Sorak the next day. 
Hasil belian di awal pagi. Ndak sia2 belajar the language, the Pharmacist understood what I wanted. Basic language jak tapi kureng lah sikit scene ayam itik. I bought the gel for my muscle pain because the spray is too expensive. And I also bought the instant cold/hot pack thanks to Dayang for bebel-ing the night before. 
Ahjumma & Ahjussi memang paling suka outdoor adventure i.e hiking. Apa sangat sejuk autumn ni, sedangkan winter yang sejuk beku tu pun diorang tetap hiking.
Bound for Sokcho. The bus to Sokcho departs every 10-20 minutes. Having said that, there will be few buses with Sokcho signboard.
Tips: Make sure the clock displays on the bus window (green box) match with the time printed on ur ticket. 
Taiwanese friends I met while waiting for the bus. They're going to Sokcho as well. 
I said Hi to the girl in blue sweater when I saw the bus ticket in her hand. Lucky enough they speak passable Eng. Trip kali ni jumpa ramai new friends. 
2+1 seater. 
Tip: Next time beli tiket bas, akan ku khabar sama Counter Eonni yang aku mau single seat supaya dapat ku conquer view seorang diri. Or at least let her know aku mau window seat. Suci betul diri aku beli tiket haritu, ikut jak seating arrangement yang dibagi, ended up dapat aisle seat. Tumpang view kiri kanan jaklah.
Rest & Relax area. Aku malas turun sebab ndak da urusan pun.
View sempat aku snapped on the way. Main zoom jak lah. Tumpang window orang lain. Sobs.


23 Oct 2014
Sokcho
Journey to Sokcho takes about 2.5 hours. Upon reaching the intercity bus terminal (this is the final destination if u hop on the bus from Dong Seoul terminal), I quickly ran to the ticket counter. 
Bus timetable for Sokcho - Dong Seoul Station
I need to buy the return ticket to Seoul although I intended to go back the next day. Soraksan ni memang among the famous spot during peak foliage. Better lah beli awal dari menyesal bila tiket habis. My friends managed to buy the 730pm bus to Seoul. 
Sokcho Intercity Bus Station.
Coming out from the station, while facing the terminal I turned left to reach the bus stop that is situated at the end of the road. 
That's the bus stop. Mau pergi Soraksan, pun kena tunggu bas dari sini. 
Refer to the orange timetable if u're going to Soraksan. Sebabkan hostel aku tu terletak on the way to Sorak, jadinya aku pun kena ambil the bus bound for Soraksan as well. 
A 착한 아저씨 explained everything to us about Sokcho bus system while we waited for the bus. And he explained in Eng; so fluently! When I praised his Eng he told us back in the days, he worked with the US military. Hence the fluency. 

Because we have another 30 minutes before the bus arrives, my Taiwanese friends & I took the opportunity to exchanged emails & fb accounts. I swear they are amongst the cutest girls I've met during this trip. Ndak cukup tulis nama fb in English, they even wrote them in Chinese characters. As if aku boleh baca lah kan? And they even drew their profile picture just in case I couldn't recognize them in fb. 

Masa ni aku off wifi modem because the Wifi Eonni at the airport told me there will be no connection signal in Sokcho for the modem I rented. My good friend went to Sokcho a week after that & her modem worked fine! Strong signal strength lagi. Kalau tau ada connection, boleh jak aku buka fb time tu & add them right away sebab sampai sekarang neither of us could find each other in fb. We only keep in touch via email for the time being. Their Chinese names were just too complicated to search in fb. Told them I have plan to go to Taiwan & yes they're really excited. Siap bentang places to visit...and of course, offer jadi guides. Insha Allah, harus ku cari kalau jadi plan aku pi Taiwan. 
When 아저씨 found out I was travelling solo, he insisted me to take the picture of the bus stop signage in case aku sesat. So sweet!
Bus arrived on time, tanpa diragui lagi!
Bus fare has increased. According to Jea, it was 1,100KRW last time. But now it's 1,200KRW regardless where u will be alighting. Please bear in mind, Cash Bee can be use to ride the bus but NOT the T-money. Ndak laku di sini, hokey. If ndak da card, sila lah bayar cash jak. 

I hop off the bus at the 4th stop. Pastu rasa macam lost gila sebab it looked completely different from I saw in naver map. Yes, aku memang macam tu. Suka navigate 'diri' dalam map before arriving at the actual spot. Tapi masa tu memang aku blur habis. I saw the Rodeo Street archway, and according to the direction given the guesthouse is situated in front of the archway. But I cannot think straight. 

Makanya masuk 7E & minta tolong Cashier Eonni to call the guesthouse. Paling best, aku yang ajar the number she should dial sebab the number I saved includes the international code. Masa ni memang ayam itik sebab Cashier Eonni tu jenis ndak bercakap sangat. I minimized words I uttered to the 3 important ones only i.e butakhamnida (please), jeonhwa (call), guest-e hou-se (guesthouse). She understood what I wanted & right away called the guesthouse. Fuh! Nasib baik sejuk, peluh ndak sempat menitik. I followed the direction given by the owner...and arrived in less than a minute! Betul2 dekat guesthouse ni sama bus stop, just like what's mentioned in the hostels.com website. 
Inside the guesthouse lobby. Selca dulu while area ni masih ndak da orang. Surprise surprise...suddenly pagi tu lepas breakfast, aku muat trench coat yang aku bawa tu! Badan aku ni sengaja bah kan suruh aku shopping sweater bagai! Badan adalah mengecut? Sebab sejuk katanya. Eh?
As it was already near 3pm when I arrived...and my room pun sudah ready, they let me check in. Punya percaya owner ni sama guest diorang, langsung dia ndak suruh aku bayar dulu. Just pay when u check out; the couple told me. The next day masa check out, diorang busy kemas bilik. I bet they won't notice if I leave. Tapi tulah kan, orang sudah percaya so kita kenalah jujur. Gitula yang patut diamalkan supaya boleh bunuh rasa sangsi towards others especially strangers. 

So, lepas check-in & rehat ala kadar...ke mana si Err? Petang tu decide untuk bawa slogan "these boots are made for walking". Poyo gila. *nah baldi* Gitulah perangai orang yang baru mau bergaya macam itik masa travel ni. Ikut mood. & angin! All this while ndak pernah ambil peduli, now sudah macam penyakit. Maybe sebab jalan sendiri tu yang berhodohoutfitoftheday bagai. Thanks sama tukang bagi inspirasi Ms Aima & Ms FidaJacob. 

Jumpa di next entry!

eryantierdabdulkarim

31 comments:

tintamerah_blogspot.com said...

Bie,aku imagine yg diri ku di tempat mu masa tu..hehehe

Jari Manis said...

nampaknya perlu berlama di South Korea utk dapat berat yg ideal...guess what?..JM stay 3 hari kat sana pun dh rasa suar longgar ahaha...mencik..balik msia 2 hari dah ketat semula..adakah sbb kurang mkn :-)

hidayahrodhi said...

Tak sabar nak tgk view autumn di Sorak tahun ini. Bie,cepat2 post =)

Unknown said...

Time yang mana? Hazab turun tangga? Or masa sesat cari hostel. Xjuga sesat sebenarnya sebab aku x jalan mencari pun hahaha stay di 7E tu jak tiba2 blur.

Unknown said...

Sebab kat Msia manada nak kena catu makanan bagai. Siap turun naik tangga lagi. Mana nye x turun berat.

Unknown said...

Sangat lawa tapi yang spoil banyak sangat tape merah putih kat area pokok2 tu, diorang tengah buat construction tanam paip dalam tanah. Lagi 1 post baru aku tempek gambar autumn kat Sorak. Mu tunggu!

Lady Dreamer said...

taiwanese girl in blue sweater memang kawai..

giler detail ko punya direction ni. best best... boleh jadi rujukan nanti:)

zarul farhana said...

wow..traveling solo... sgt berani...
sambil2 travel dapat new friend plak.. bagusnya...bertambah lagi kawan

bilabudakkampungtravel said...

Betul-betul serupa balik kampung ye Bie. Semua tempat ko redah dengan yakin termasuklah mana station yang ada tangga, mana yang tak ada. Aku kena menuntut dari ko ni bila samapai masa aku nak melawat kampung ko. Lawa gilelah scenery dari dalam bas tu.

Unknown said...

Aah tapi the girl in pink sweater yang banyak cakap sebab dia reti Eng sikit hihi.

Details eh. Ada kawan nak tau route tu yang alang2 letak jelah sini. Untuk reference bersama.

Unknown said...

Xde berani sangat, saja nak merasa udara Seoul sensorang hahaha. Aah alhamdulillah bertambah lagi kawan baru.

Unknown said...

Semua station ada tangga, tapi ada yang baik hati halfway diorang sediakan escalator hihi. Sebab duk lalu station tu dari dulu tu yang aku tau. Xpe nanti dah sampai seru ko, tanya je aku. Mana aku tau, boleh aku share. Scenery dari dalam bas lawa, tapi aku terpaksa main zoom jelah sebab duk kat tengah.

Scdha Sein (SS) said...

Aku mmg agak septical skit dgn bus... Takut kalu terlepas... He he he... Bus 7-1 tu ada routes map?

Unknown said...

Bus kat sini so far memang on time so depends on us untuk rancang journey. Routes map aku xde. Tapi Soraksan tu memang stop paling last. Semua turun kat situ.

Mie said...

Bie... kalau stay kat House Hostel yg super cantik tu... boleh jln kaki je utk ke Abai village tu...

Unknown said...

Dari hostel nak ke Abai Village tu pun xjauh Mie. Dalam 5minit jalan kaki gi jetty gatbae boat. Rasanya Abai ni in between House Hostel ngan guesthouse saya stay tu.

Farikica said...

Seronok p sokcho... my last seoul trip terpaksa cancel sokcho..huhuhu... bnyk dpt kwn baru ya... bagos2... dpt yakult free lg di guesthouse... klu dpt susu pisang lg seronok eh? Haha...

Unknown said...

Aah trip kali ni best dapat ramai kawan baru hihi. Nak sangat gi Sokcho waktu winter sebab tengok town ni lawa gila bila dah turun salji. Aku ada tanya staff tu kenapa xde banana uyu, mengekek dia ketawa. Mahal katanye.

zarul farhana said...

tgk gaya sis Bie travel.. mcm siap sedia dgn perancangan...

mrs said...

untung ler ramai yang prihatin...eeeh driver bas tu hensem gak eeh
hahaha

Unknown said...

Rasa disayangi tau. Bahahaha itu pun ko telek ke. Xperasan pula tapi Ahjussi tu xdelah kategori xhensem. Aku x tengok betul2 sebab duk khusyuk dengar announcement nama bus stop aku nak turun.

Unknown said...

Hihi memang siap sedia ngan plan tapi trip ni memang xprepare apa. Just list down tempat nak gi sebab info2 lain semua memang dah ada. Hasil sedut info dari blog2 lain.

Farikica said...

Nk kumpul duit ni bie..mo winter sonata di south korea ni aku..hihihi

Unknown said...

Wah semoga tabung cepat penuh!!! Plan yang ko cakap kat IG haritukan. Aku nak excited juga.

nyza said...

Bieee..
aku impressed tgk bus schedule tu...18.43 pm, 19:17 pm....ko bole bygkan tak betapa dorang confident buat schedule tu..
klu kat sini..nan hadoooooo..sume letak standard time...tp tak muncul2 pun bas nye,...ke takde schdule??? ha lupe aku....hahaha

Unknown said...

Ha tulah. Pastu bas memang sampai on the dot pula kan. Confident gila sebab diorang expect semua buat kerja dengan lapang dada. Gitu kan ayat aku.

Nana Rjay said...

Bie, bagus betul pacik driver tu, based on ur story, seems like Korean people very helpfulkan :) klu di Msia..susah skit dpt pacik driver mcm tu, hihihi....btw, Taiwan??? mau join bole, hehehehe....

Unknown said...

Bukan driver tu, pakcik tu sama2 tunggu bas sama kami. Memang diorang sangat helpful pun. Walau bahasa lain2 tapi sungguh2 diorang mau menolong tu. Taiwan? Bisa aja.

Scdha Sein (SS) said...

Kalu aku dari Soraksan... Kat mana paling dekat nak stop kalu aku nak ke Abai Village?
*Pengsan! Soklan macam tanya drebor bas... He He He...

Unknown said...

Ko memang sah rasa aku ni driver Sokcho kan. Kalau xsilap aku, dari Soraksan tu alert archway Rodeo Street tu. Turun kat 2nd bus stop lepas archway tu. Dekat sikit ah nak jalan gi Abai.

Scdha Sein (SS) said...

Ok... Dah paham dah skit2... He He He... Kumawoyo!