Sokcho, South Korea: a first for us, our ship, for the port

A celebration

After an afternoon and evening  of rough seas as we cross the Sea of Japan we dock quietly at Sokcho port in the wee hours of the day. It's  going to be a cold morning. At the port immigration clearance is easy peasy. We hear Korean drums. The moment the automatic  doors open masked figures appear.  Beside them costumed performers  hail us with their gongs. The team includes a sweet little boy who stole the show. We made history and they are drumming it home -- looks like we are part of a historic Holland America Cruise Lines's  very first arrival at this the port. More Importantly, the very first cruise ship after covid. Hence the joy.

Patience pays: freebies

What is the line forming behind one of the booths? Don't  want to miss anything. Three women artists with brushes and paints are busy painting paper fans. You have to give them your name in English, they pronounce it, and when they are sure they got it right they paint your name in Korean chacracters on the fan and then embellish it with painted flowers. There is no charge. Some guest are asking for several for themselves. Sheer greed. If e eryone was allowed one each only the queues would not have moved faster. 

They also have a coffee booth. I skip that for later. The local ale sample booth is wasted on us but very very popular.

Twists and turns

Our plan is to  explore the streets after the shuttle bus drops us at the Tourist market. What we thought we would see, and what we would skip all pop up as we ride through the streets. That are so many turns  that its hard to register it all. We ride past the tower erected for the EXPO of 1999. We didn't have it on our list because it seemed too far to walk from our drop off point and we didn't think it worth the visit. But the bus was slow enough to give us a photo opportunity as it drove around the huge park. According to the map we seemed to be making detours. Was this a predertimed tourist route or was the city planning poor?  

Navigating and negotiating a new city and an alien langiage

The tourist market is famed for( what else?) fish and fish products as well as various Korean snacks.. Its made up of rows of stalls with a high curved opaque roof covering the aisles that criss cross in a grid. After a few obligatory photographs we exit and walk out on to the street in a direction I think will lead to the famed seaside pavilion whose name sounds like the waves gently lapping the rocks at its base. Our port map does little to help us for most of the inner streets and lanes are spelt in Korean. 

We want to walk to the pavilion built on the shores of Sokcho but we can't identify the landmarks. It's best to ask. So I enter a bakery. The girls speak English. They insist that it’s  too far to walk and taking the bus would be best. However I was sure it was only a 20 minute  walk from the Market. She points us in the direction of the city bus terminus which was probably about 10 minutes  away. We hadn't  bothered to get local currency for we had really no need for it. She suggests a taxi. She points in the direction where we might hail one. Beleiving that the direction will lead us to the pavilion we start walking. After about 20 minutes it is clear that we are lost. We still do not recognise landmarks but we do recognise brand names. We are in the main thoroughfare lined with boutiques. We don't want to go around in circles in a bitterly cold morning. So, again we enter a boutique to ask for directions. The sales clerk converses in fluent English. She too tells me it's too far to walk and suggests a bus or taxi. But we want to walk. She enlists the help of her colleague who is now attending to a customer and doesn't speak a word of English. She knows the city very well. We are walking in the wrong direction. We are to take a U-turn and walk all the way till we catch sight of the sea and then turn right. 

Saved by the bull 

Now we  walk with more confidence even though we haven't a clue as to how long it would take us. We begin to recognise two of the landmarks. The Tourist market was probably on a parallel St. But the bull, like the one in Manhatten, is unmistakeable. We know we are walk8ng in the right direction. We are supposed to pass by City Hall and the Bus Terminus, but were thry also on a parallel st. My map reading skills are certainly not poor! At long last we catchmsight of the sea. Should've take a side road as a short cut? What it turns out to be a dead end. Not worth tak8ng chances. The day is beginning to get warmer. We are at the city's  main traffic circle. Our destination is in sight. With renewed vigour we practically skip towards it. It is well worth the walk. The shoreline is breathtaking with waves lapping against the rocks, the sonorous music having given rise to its name, Yeonggeumjeong. There are two pavilions: one at the tip of a pier, and the other on the top of a rock. It would have been wonderful to have been able experience sunset in the particular location.

Happy discovery: a refuge of two kinds

As we walked towards it we had glimpses of our ship. We do not have to return to the market, and probably get lost in the process, to catch the shuttle back to the boat.  So now we now take a route along the shore lined with hundreds of sea food stalls towards the bridge. To our delight the bridge partly crosses over into Abay village. Exactly what we had planned to visit after a short sojourn at the dock. What would have been a long route from the other end of the bridge becomes actually shorter. There is a staircase from the bridge that leads us directly into the village. We are particularly interested in the area since this is where refugees from North Korea first settled. Of the original thousand only a hundred or so remain. The rest have left for other parts of the country. It is a quaint village of small houses with typical tiled roofs separated by narrow alleys. The citizens even have lush vegetable patches. Many of the buildings have now been converted  into inns and cafes. 

The village lies along Sokcho beach, the ship docked at the deep end, and beach goers enjoying the beach just a few meters away. Lots of benches and excellent public WiFi to boot. Its wonderful to see a public beach with not a single beach umbrella or deck chair. 

A memorial catches our attention. Two hand reaching out to each other while a couple and their child look on with hope. You guessed it. We are only about 20 km away from the observation tower that overlooks North Korea. We are close to the DMZ.

There are many other attractions around Sokcho but they are just too far away and we stand the risk of missing our boat.

As we return to the ship i savour the smooth Korean coffee that I saved for last. Its getting colder. From the bow I get lost in the fascinating  procedures as we get untethered and back into the sea. Our host bid us loud fawells as we depart. A speed boat rushes ahead of us and then just stops. It's bobbing on the ocean. At one point it starts up and speeds across out path. Dare devil! We hoot a warning. The speedster is clear. He the bobs again with pride on the other side of the ship.