Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Jun 13-15 weekend

A busy weekend here - not for me, exactly, but for Sokcho and, I guess, tourists.

On June 13th, Fantasia opens - it's a new jimjilbang, health club and such . The building is right outside my apartment window and I have watched construction and renovations. The exterior looks good. I wouldn't come to Sokcho for Fantasia, but if you are here on Friday, it might be interesting (more for locals) to check out. Oh, a jimjilbang is described as a sauna and I am sure Fantasia has some but normally they are cheap places to sleep for budget travellers. As everyone sleeps in one big room, it may be sanctioned by parents for young couples, I don't know.

On Saturday and Sunday is the 4th International Walking Festival. -Gee, now that I think about it, it may be best for locals and especially for locals with children, like myself. Anyway, KwadongAlex and I will do the 5km walk. The 10 and 20km would be too exhausting for me to carry the little guy and be tortuously boring for him. The courses are all in Seorak National Park, starting at Seorak Dong - the terminus for local bus number 7 or 7-1.

On Saturday should be the local monthly KOTESOL meeting although I haven't heard anything about it yet.

On Sunday morning is a triathlon. I think it is a 1.5km swim, 50km bike and 10km run. The advertising says something like 'enjoy mountainous Sokcho' but the course is pool-table flat, entirely within the confines of Expo Park. That may make it more interesting to spectators - its hard to make triathlons less interesting to spectators - but more than a little repetitive for competitors. I guess they don't look around that much anyway. links: 1, 2 (PDF map),

Also on Sunday, and for locals only, is cheap day at Waterpia. Waterpia is a fair to good water theme park with a variety of pools, water-slides and excellent hot-springs but it is overpriced to my mind at around 30,000won. On the third Sunday of the month, Sokcho and Goseong residents can swim for 6,000 won. The little guy and I haven't missed a day all winter. It'll be great to use the outside facilities in comfort.

Finally on Sunday is a "Sokcho Beach Nude" . Whatever it is, it costs 20,000won, starts at 9:00am and involves nude photos. If others can translate the sign better, please do so in the comments.

1 comment:

Marcus Peddle said...

Thanks for the photo opportunity warning. I've had a chance to go to these things before but I have passed. There will be dozens of guys there fondling their longest lenses and getting the nude model to do cartwheels. It's almost impossible to get good photographs with such a large crowd.