Once we were finished with co-op and Family Sunday School for the year, we were able to take the week after Christmas to travel. First, we went to the northeast coast. We stayed in a beachfront hotel overlooking the East Sea. It was a little beachfront town lined with fresh seafood shops and hotels. At night, walking along the beach, we saw many huge fishing ships out at sea using giant lights to attract fish. The bright lights can be seen in these pictures. The Korean motels have small rooms where you sleep on the floor. We had to get three rooms at the Motel El Mar to accommodate our family. Still haven't figured out why a Korean motel would be called The Sea in Spanish. Seeing a Spanish speaker in Korea is one of the more rare events here. The beautiful barb wire fence was because of a military base right around the corner.

Now would be a good time to comment on the fact that the entire Pent family of 11, plus Matt DeVincenzo all packed into our Hyundai Starex and traveled all over Korea. The size of the 12 passenger Starex is equivalent to a Chevy 7 passenger van. It was sort of like riding for several hours in a washing machine.

Our next stop was a quick visit to the 38th parallel. The ocean was beautiful. The water was crystal clear, and the coast was speckled with giant rocks. The 38th parallel was the line between North and South Korea that the North Koreans agreed not to cross. The break of this agreement, when North Korea crossed into South Korea, began the Korean War.

After reaching the east coast, we started north. We were heading to Seoraksan National Park. To get there, we drove through some amazing mountain roads. It was similar to Pikes Peak, CO, except here they have the brains to use guard rails. What was a little unnerving was the rock slides that were evident. Several times, we saw a huge pile of boulders mixed up with an old guard rail and an old road. Apparently, rock slides had previously taken out the road. The road had been repaired, but it kind of makes you wonder when a rock slide might take out the road you happen to be driving on. At one point, we stopped to get some pictures of a large hanging ice cliff. We were getting quite close to North Korea by this stop, and military bases and soldiers were seen everywhere. What you see hanging on the racks are thousands of delicious squid.

So, the plan was to find a good place to snowboard while we were in the mountains. We had a travel book which stated that the Alps Ski Resort had some of the best snow in South Korea. When we started getting close to the resort, things didn't seem right for a ski town. There were a myriad of snowboard and ski shops lining the streets, there were restaurants, but there wasn't a single person. Pulling up to the resort, we found a really nice resort and slopes, but it was a ghost town. Apparently, they must have closed some time in the last year. So, we were happy enough to have an entire resort to ourselves. We explored some rooms and went sledding down the slopes. Parking was easy; we figured since no one existed, at this point, besides ourselves, we just parked in the middle of the road. Since nobody wants it, maybe this place would make us a nice home.

Soraksan National Park is one of South Korea's most famous parks known for its fall beauty and rocky mountains. The weather was extremely cold, but thankfully, we still pushed ourselves out for a hike. At the entrance of the park was a rather large Buddha which people would kneel in front of and pray. There was also a Buddhist village where we saw traditional Korean architecture. We took a hike, following a river up the mountain, and finally reached a waterfall. The scenery here was different than any other we have seen in Korea. The boys continued up the mountain to a small cave in the side of a cliff where there was another Buddha at which people could worship. Notice the stairs we had to climb. They weren't the most structurally sound stairs we could have hoped for.

Thankfully, they provide special toilets for those dumb foreigners who cannot manage the squatty.

One last stop at the coast before heading home.

Here are pictures from the border between North and South Korea. The Odusan Unification Park had a room with telescopes to look across the river and into North Korea. Some of the following pictures were taken through the telescope and show North Korean buildings. These group of buildings are called presentation towns. North Korea built these border apartments hoping people looking across would believe that North Korea has a decent standard of living. The apartments are not finished and have no power or water. When you look across, you can see a few North Koreans walking around. The border is lined with fence and barb wire. South Korean soldiers are stationd on watch in small towers all along the border.

We drove as far as possible toward North Korea. Beginning to cross the bridge over the Han River, we were stopped at this military stop. The soldier kindly told us with his machine gun to turn around.

There is a memorial at this border park to thank the United States of America for their assistance in the war.

North Korea... For some reason the mountains are stripped of trees. Either they have been used for firewood, or they were removed to allow the government to keep watch on those wanting to cross into freedom.