gangneung daze

gangneung is a city on the northeast coast of south korea. it's an average-sized city, having about 250,000 residents and is conveniently located between mountains rising to the west and the east sea washing ashore to the, um, east.

there are ten provinces in korea and gangneung is located in the most northeast province of gangwon. it is one of the largest provinces in land area, but it's only the second-least populous, which is a welcome break from the crowded rest of the country. gangwon, on average, is also the most mountainous of korea's provinces, and it is with this in mind that the mountain town of pyoung-chang is bidding to host the 2014 winter olympics after having lost out to vancouver in the last vote for the 2010 winter olympics.

most people's first trip to gangneung is via seoul, which is 230 kilometers to the west, accessed by travelling the yongdong expressway. after the (on average) two and a half hour trip, and after one pays the exit fare at the tollgate, one can see a veritable feast of trees on one side--and the tall presence of city hall poking up through--and a small river that bisects the city on the other. there are the ubiquitous apartment buildings dotting the skyline, as is true in any korean city of any size, but none of them are too tall, relatively speaking. as one approaches gangneung, one can continue along the river, cross the river, or head north away from the river and then make one's way through the relatively unclogged streets of the city.

perhaps the most popular way to traverse gangneung from the freeway is to take the street that passes by city hall and continues past the express bus station. this main road will lead all the way to the beach. however, from this road, you are also able to access downtown (or, city center); the newly-developed area called gyo-dong taekji, which is still being developed, truth be told; gangneung university(next to taekji); gyoungpo lake; gyoungpo beach, to which the lake is adjacent, one of the most popular beaches, if not the most popular, on korea's east coast; ponam-dong ("dong" means district or burough, in this instance), which is one of the oldest sections of gangneung and is the closest part of gangneung proper to the beach; the three beaches south of gyoungpo yet still north of the river: gangmoon, songjung, anmok beaches; and the part of the city that's south of the river, including noam-dong, gwandong university, namhangjin beach, gangneung city airport, and more.

as an introduction, this will do to start...