Day 36 - Donghae Beach & Bats - July 30

Hanseom Beach

Today was beach day! I picked a hotel nearby so we could walk. We managed to successfully dodge the traffic and climb over barriers on our poorly navigated but mostly direct route to the beach. First impression — people cover up a lot more in Asia. Many swimsuits on an American beach you could stuff into your wallet, and in lots of places in Europe they’re optional. Here, many people have better coverage than Canadian kids on their way to class when it’s –20 out.

Cooled off in the Sea of Japan. The water was cooler than I expected, but in all fairness, still warmer than many swimming pools. 

Check out the big jelly in the middle-bottom in the above pic. I kept an eye out for them as they were everywhere but looked mostly life impaired. However, I’ve been read that even a dead jelly can sting!

Above left is known as James Bond island. Apparently it was in a certain movie... I couldn't resist the temptation to find my way there.

Sadly I couldn't around this bend on the voyage without a bit of a swim so I needed to park my phone; it is no friend to salt water. Hence I wasn't able to document the destination.

Sea Cave! Hard to see from the photo. Also required a swim to get to.

Lunch! I love how convenience stores are like mini restaurants here. Sure, you need to find and cook your own food, but it’s very budget‑friendly.

Cheongok Golden Bat Cave

The Bat Cave! No, not the secret layer hiding beneath Wayne Manor. Although it did contain some secrets... Only a few minutes walk from the beach and another cool spot to hide from the heat. This was a much smaller cave than Hwanseongul the day before. So small we needed to crawl through a few places. Hard hats required. And I used mine a few times.

 

We were more than a little dubious as to whether this was a real bat cave however. With it being smaller there wouldn’t be as many bat friendly places to hide. But we heard the constant squeal from them. Curiosity got the better of me (as always) and I followed the sound. It led to a speaker in the floor. Hmm….

   

But wait, more bat evidence hanging near the entrance. It looked pretty real and Ava thought she saw it move. But with the constant flow of tourists could it possible sleep? I was tempted to give it a poke but but sadly we didn't spring for the rabies vaccine, too expensive.

Chuncheon 

Another day, another city. Took the inner‑city bus to Chuncheon. 

We stayed at the OST Hotel, which was cleverly disguised as a parkade. To my great dismay, you only needed to walk through the parkade to get to the lobby, and beyond that they only had regular rooms. You didn’t need to sleep in vehicles like I had first suspected.