Summer shots of Naksan Beach are rather scary. I can just imagine it - The massive crowds in and out of the water. Territorial disputes over space to spread one’s beach towel on the sand. Public humiliation of exposing one’s cellulite in skimpy summer shorts. The long queues to rent a beach umbrella or to buy an ice lolly. But when I find myself on Naksan Beach in autumn, the emptiness is also a little intimidating though of a different sort.
The winds are chilly with a hint of winter and the walk down the empty beach is a little discomfiting as one can’t hide in a crowd here in this season. I feel like a hermit crab without my shell as I’m about the only one on the beach, exposed to the eyes of the locals who must be wondering who this crazy tourist is to be wandering alone on the shoreline.
The ajummas in the sikdangs ( restaurants) who are usually kept busy serving raw fish ( saeng-seon hoe – pronounced “hwey”) are sitting around, chatting or watching TV drama serials. I’m hardly likely to venture into any of these eateries for these reasons 1.I’m not into “ raw squid, flatfish, sea cucumber, abalone, sea urchin or croaker” ( quoting from the Yangyang Travel Guide) 2. I’m on a shoestring budget 3. As a solo traveler, I’m not likely to order an expensive seafood meal usually served to groups (from at least 50,000 to 70,000 won, 2004 prices)
So what else is there to do in Naksan in this low season? I should’ve checked out the Hoe Centre at the base of the cliff where Uisang-dae is perched just to see how Koreans prepare their raw seafood dishes. If I had checked the Yangyang guidebook carefully, I would’ve also visited the Naksan Yellow Ochre Fire Kiln ( sauna) to try out its various facilities such as the natural jade room, the sauna with jade-pebbled heated floor and the herbal steam sauna. ( Bus No 9 goes along National Road No. 7 between Yangyang and Sokcho every 20 minutes , get off at Josan)
A note on getting to Naksan: Took a shuttle bus from Osaek Greenyard Hotel, in the southern part of Soraksan. After a short walk past shops selling a wide assortment of dried seafood, I found a bewildering array of minbaks and yeogwans just before the beach. Not too difficult finding a place to stay during autumn though I’m sure available rooms would be hard to come by in summer. Paid 20,000 won for a small room in a minbak ( October, 2004 prices)
sources:
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264622
http://eng.yangyang.go.kr/page/foreign/eng/index.jsp
http://www.korea.net/news/news/newsview.asp?serial_no=20080704010
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Korea_style_raw_fish.jpg
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