Trip to Daecheon

Me and Si have been planning to take a weekend trip to the beach while it's still warm out, and we made an attempt last weekend but things didn't go so well. We knew where we wanted to go but we get off of work so late, that we didn't get on a bus to head to the train station in Seoul until after 8:00. We didn't do much research or planning and it turned out that the last train to Daecheon, the beach we wanted to go to, was at 8:45. We ended up buying our tickets that night to go this past weekend, leaving on the last train out on Friday night.

As soon as we got out of work on Friday, we grabbed out bags and headed for the train station in Seoul, which can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. Just our luck, the traffic was awful and it took us about an hour and a half to get into the city, and we still had to take a cab to the train station. We hurried and ran and missed our train by 5 minutes...bad luck! We were able to trade out tickets for the first train the next morning, which left at 5:45 AM. We were stuck in an area we weren't familiar with, with our bags and nowhere to stay. We set out to look for a hotel, or motel...pretty much just anywhere to sleep for a couple hours! We ended up on a neon-lit prostitute street. The front of all of the "rooms" were glass and a girl was sitting on a stool looking inviting behind each window. It was definitely an experience, but one i'd rather not repeat! We eventually ran into some military guys from America who took us to a hotel they knew of. It was the bare minimum and cost only $20, but I guess that's about what you get for your money! Luckily we made out train the next morning and got to Daecheon a little after 8:00 on Saturday morning. Daecheon is known for natural mud, used for facials and body scrubs, and they have an annual mud festival that is a huge party on the beach with tons of mud brought in and games and music etc. Si went this year and had a blast, but I was on my vacation to Busan with my co-teachers so had to live vicariously through pictures.

Unfortunately for us, it was completely cloudy and rainy on Saturday and we couldn't believe all of the bad luck with our trip. We ended up getting a really good deal to stay in the nicest hotel in the town that had a huge outdoor waterpark and indoor jacuzzi/massage pool. It was so nice! The waterpark had tons of water slides and fake surfing that Si had a blast doing. I had a blast watching people try to stay on the board and completely bust! Even though it was raining, we had a lot of fun going on the water slides and down the rocky river in a tube.

Inside the hotel was a hot tub about the size of a football field. It was all decorated to look like you were under the sea...absolutely beautiful! It was filled with different spots, and each one massaged a different part of your body. It was amazing and I can't even begin to describe how cool it felt! There was also a sauna and an oxygen room.

Also on Saturday, we went to the mud health spa to get mud massages and facials. Spas are very common here. You usually pay an enterance fee for the use of hot/cold baths, sea bath, saunas and other things that are split into male/female rooms. You have to go in nude, which is hard to get used to, but if you don't know anyone it's not so bad. This particular spa also had a mud bath and mud you painted all over your body to make a body mask which is supposedly really good for your skin. After I went through the steps in this big room...from bath to bath, I had my feet soaked and massaged, and then a facial with a mud mask. It was really cool, especially since i've never done anything like it! Even though the weather was nasty, we had a great time and did things that we probably wouldn't have done had the sun been out!

It was a great, relaxing weekend that was much needed! Now it's back to work, and school (my graduate classes have started online), so I am super busy but still loving Korea! Talk to you all soon and check out my pictures!