I’m from Texas, which means I am accustomed to having some body of water in which to immerse myself every summer. I long desperately for bare feet, briny hair, and a good book — until I obtain it. I make a point to partake in a beach trip, a river trip, a pool day every summer. But in SoKo, there are no pools, there are no rivers (well, none that you want to swim in) — there IS a coast! A glorious coast!
It didn’t take me long to decide we needed to experience this coast for ourselves and, after a bit of research, I opted to pitch Jared a day trip to Sokcho on the East Coast.
The weather on Sunday was 86 and sunny! We got up really early and boarded an Express Bus for Sokcho, it was a 3.5 hour ride — which isn’t too bad considering the buses in Korea are the most comfortable I’ve ever been on. We napped mostly. When we arrived in Sokcho, I thought we could walk to the beach. Wrong. Of course, there were two bus stations and we were at the wrong one. We took a taxi to the correct beach and found an uncrowded patch of sand to lay our towels on. The water was really deep with a strong current where we settled, so there weren’t a lot of families around (bonus).
Jared is not impressed by early morning bus trips.
The water itself was gorgeous — clear and blue (which is nonexistent in Texas.) Advisory: the East Sea is cold, really cold. Brainfreeze cold. It’s kind of like diving into a tub filled with ice; but once you get nice and numbed up it’s fine.We were swimming alone for most of the afternoon. Koreans aren’t very avid swimmers it would appear. Additional advisory: foreigners are the only ones who wear bikinis, so expect some odd stares. Koreans wear hats, shirts, pants, and they may take off their shoes if they are particularly daring.
It was lovely — a perfect beach day. We laid on the beach, swam in the unbelievably cold sea, and watched the fully clothed Koreans screaming and running from the water’s edge. The trip also totally validated the urge I had to pack my swimsuit, one I did not resist (thankfully).
