driving up the coast

After visiting Gyeongju (the old capital of the Shilla Dynasty, 57 BC - 935 AD) on Wednesday we rode up the eastern coast to Mt. Soerak (Seoraksan National Park), which is at the northern tip of South Korea and borders North Korea.

We started off the day at a local bakery to buy some Gyeongju Bang, which are little barley pancakes filled with bean. Delicious.

The drive took us along the East Sea, where we stopped at a beach and put our feet in. The waves splashed a little higher than we thought so we got a bit wet! And, we also stopped a rest area and the girls got an ice cream!

Then we stopped at a local seaside restaurant for some traditional korean soup. We sat on the floor at the little tables. The girls ate the noodles from a noodle soup. While the woman gave the girls a fork to use, they made it through the meal with just the chopsticks. Korean chopsticks are metal and rounded at the bottom, so they took a little getting used to. Im used to the wooden chopsticks that are more square at the bottom. They seem heavier and slipperier. The woman who owns the restaurant went out to her garden and picked fresh tomatoes for us to eat. She also said the girls were "beautiful" and "well behaved". Of course all of this was said in Korean but that is what our friend Miyoun told us she said.

For the most part we took the Asian Highway north, and periodically we would see the signs for Russia & China. Partway through the drive Scott took over as driver, so he is now quite proficient at reading road directions in Korean. haha. Actually we have learned the korean script for a few very important words (men/women - for the bathrooms!). haha.