Mini-break on South Korea's East Coast

We decided a few weeks back that after many weeks of hard saving and counting down to our trip to South Africa (which is now 2 weeks away!) that we really needed a little break to just get away from it all. We made a phone call to mum and begged and bribed her to babysit the dog

for the night (actually 2 so we could leave early the next morning) and a few hours later were on our way round to her place in Osan to drop them off. (Thanks mum!)

The next morning we were up bright and early and headed for Suwon where we could catch a long distance bus that would put us on the beach within about 3-4 hours. We decided on the East coast because the beaches are better, less muddy, and more like the beaches that we are used too. I am Australian

so I have been a little spoiled as far as beaches

go! The bus ride was fairly pleasant... having traveled by bus a lot in Korea we knew to get on prepared with snacks, drinks, music, and the newest update of angry birds!

We were off the bus around 11:30 and we grabbed a quick bite at this little home-made burger place at the bus terminal in Gangneung before heading in the direction of the information booth to find out how we would get to Gyeopo beach - our destination.

As luck would have it we wandered out to the bus stop just as the local bus we needed to catch was pulling up and we were on our way. From memory it only took us about 20 minutes from the bus terminal to reach the beach and I physically felt myself start to relax the second I smelled that salty sea air! I really love the beach! We wandered along the beach with our eyes peeled for a nice place to stay. The first place we went to have a look at their didn't seem to be a reception desk so we ended up wandering around the rooms... we said no after looking at a room that wasn't particularly clean or well presented. We were grateful we said no when we saw a much nicer looking place a few buildings further down! It cost us 80,000won for the night which is $70-75 Australian for a serviced apartment that had

everything we needed -

including a good internet feed and big computer screen so we could watch the rugby that night! Within 30 minutes we

were down on the beach with our little cooler bag, cold drinks, new sunscreen, a big mat thing to put under our towels...and a wide brimmed hat for me!

It was heaven. White sand, blue water, blue sky, lots of sun...and not that many people! We accidentally chose a weekend where the kids all had to go to school on a Saturday which meant their parents and teachers were all busy

too so there were less people around to enjoy our space and fresh air! We lazed around on the beach for a while and then attempted a dip in the icy cold water... it took me about 20 minutes to get waist deep. Then we alternated between basking in the sun and dipping in the water, eating ice-creams and drinking beer, wne and soft-drink...truly the perfect day!