One of my longstanding dreams is to go into retreat to a remote island far from the bustling city in mainland to relax for a week or two. And, finally, I was able to make my dream comes true. On July 31, 2009, together with my wife, brothers-in-law, their spouses, and sisters-in-law, I went on board a ferry steamer, the Princess, connecting Incheon Yeonan Wharf to the island of Baegryeong-do, located in north-westernmost Seohae (Yellow Sea), which is only 12 KM away from 'Jangsangot', Hwanghae Province, North Korea. Actually Baegryeong-do is a part of Incheon, specifically 'Baegryeong-myeon, Ongjin-gun, Incheon Metropolitan City.' Therefore, Incheon citizens can have the advantage of getting 50 percent discount of passenger fares from early this year.
The ferry left for the island at 1 o'clock in the afternoon on time and the sea was calm and peaceful enough for the passengers to enjoy their voyage. We reserved our seats on the 2nd floor and the decision turned out to be right because it's more comfortable, comparing to the 1st floor. I started to read a paperback novel 'The Pelican Brief', written by John Grisham, while sipping beer out of the can. From time to time, I went out of the cabin to hit the deck for fresh air. The ferry was running throuigh a broad expanse of water toward the north.
Around 5:30 in the afternoon, four and half hours since the departure, the ferry reached Baegryeong-do after a couple of stopovers at 'Socheong' and 'Daecheong' Island on its way. After transferring to a passenger van at 'Yonggipo' Port, located at the southeastern part of the island, we started to move to our final destination 'Dumujin'. En route to the location, we stopped by at 'Kongdol' beach. As the name indicates, the broad beach was covered by numerous small satiny pebble stones. The Korean word 'komgdol' can be interpretted into English language by stones that looks like soybeans. Swimming, however, is not allowed at the beach probably because it's too dangerous to swim. The depth of water turned out too deep to guarantee a safe and pleasant swimming.
We proceeded to 'Dumujin', our final destination, through mostly paved country roads to unpack our luggage and suitcases at a local fishman's house which served as our base camp during our stay on the island. The fisherman owns a raw fish restanrant, named 'Parangsae' (Blue Bird) at the waterfront and two fishing boats, as well, with the same name.
Around 5:30 in the afternoon, four and half hours since the departure, the ferry reached Baegryeong-do after a couple of stopovers at 'Socheong' and 'Daecheong' Island on its way. After transferring to a passenger van at 'Yonggipo' Port, located at the southeastern part of the island, we started to move to our final destination 'Dumujin'. En route to the location, we stopped by at 'Kongdol' beach. As the name indicates, the broad beach was covered by numerous small satiny pebble stones. The Korean word 'komgdol' can be interpretted into English language by stones that looks like soybeans. Swimming, however, is not allowed at the beach probably because it's too dangerous to swim. The depth of water turned out too deep to guarantee a safe and pleasant swimming.
We proceeded to 'Dumujin', our final destination, through mostly paved country roads to unpack our luggage and suitcases at a local fishman's house which served as our base camp during our stay on the island. The fisherman owns a raw fish restanrant, named 'Parangsae' (Blue Bird) at the waterfront and two fishing boats, as well, with the same name.
No comments:
Post a Comment