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 4^th 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!

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