I’m always amazed by how small Seoul can feel for such a massive city. While Co-Pilot lives on a military base in Korea, his cousin and her boyfriend live live and teach in Suwon! Suwon is technically part of the Seoul subway system. Since they’re leaving to go back to the States soon, we wanted to…
Category: Korea day trips
Weekend Warriors: Daedun Cloud Bridge and Chateau Mani Winery
On a Friday night in February, I hopped on a bus from the WinK Taphouse and headed down to the middle of Korea. WinK has definitely stepped up their food menu game. I really enjoyed the spicy mac and cheese, which had a real kick to it and plenty of bacon. The ooey-gooey cheese is…
Hanbok in a Hanok: 학인당 Hakindang Guesthouse
Hakindang Hanok Guesthouse in Beautiful Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do! View this post on Instagram Super duper Korean cuteness! What do you think the guy on the left is supposed to be? // #travel • • • • • • • • • • • • #ig_travel #travelphotography #travelpics #travelsnaps #travelphotos #instapassport #passportready #travelingram #travelblog #travelblogger #solotravel #globalnomad…
The Bucket List: Round II
On Saturday I participated in a press tour organized by the municipality of Seoul in collaboration with the Korean Food Foundation. Seoul Bloggers and Photographers went for a meet, greet, walking tour of the old city, and lunch. I’m so incredibly honoured to have been invited. We had a wonderful day with a great tour guide and I managed to cross off even more places I had been hoping to visit. Having lived in Korea for a year, I’d like to present Round II of my Bucket List, this edition being all Seoul. As I’ve already managed to visit many of the places on my initial list, I’ll give a little information and/or an opinion on each, and then list the remainder at the end. One thing’s for sure – it’s never a dull time living in Seoul!
Jogyesa Temple – Lotus Lantern Weekend Part ii
Korean couples love to get dressed up and wander around the old, traditional towns, as well as the Palaces and the Temples. All this was amplified by the hoopla of Buddha’s Birthday Weekend which has been celebrated as a festival since the Unified Silla era over 1,300 years ago. Yep – he gets the whole weekend, the festival, the parade, and all the beautiful lantern displays at nearly every temple the month leading up to his birthday and for for many, the weeks beyond (at Jogyesa they’ll be around until May 22nd). I guess it’s like leaving your Christmas lights up on your front porch all year long, just a lot less honky-tonk and a lot more beautiful!
Lotus Lantern Weekend – Part I
After a very relaxing day meandering around Sincheon, we ventured up to the subway and along the green line to Dongdaemun History & Culture Park. This area is one of my favourites already, even though I’ve only explored it for the Indian food (well, Nepalese), and for Seoul Fashion Week. The area is particularly modern because of the architecture surrounding the big Dongdaemun Design Plaza by Dame Zaha Hadid.
Jindo: Puppies, Pink Cherry Blossoms, and the Parting of the Sea
We had seen the sea parting once, not knowing it would part two more times again by sundown. Some of us (self included) were a little worried about getting seasick on the boat out to Modo Island, so instead of braving the sea we actually ended up having a leisurely morning getting ready (after a well-deserved, post-parting nap!) before heading down the cherry-blossom lined paths and street over to the festival.
The Miracle Morning at the Jindo Sea Parting Festival
Late last Friday night a mish-mashed group of new and old friends and I boarded a tour bus and took the red-eye nearly 6 hours South of Seoul to spend a weekend in Jindo: the site of “The Miracle Sea Parting” and the accompanying festival. The real miracle was that someone was able to wake me up for our 4 AM briefing and departure from the bus. Once I was up and at ’em, however, I was happy as a clam. We’ll get to those later!
How to get to Seokbulsa Temple
I’ve heard about a number of people getting lost en route to Seokbulsa, a temple in Busan, South Korea. Here are directions and some footage on getting there from Mandeok Station. I think this is the most straightforward route (as you can also hike from Hwamyeong or Oncheonjang). [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti5oGJ-yxZU&w=640&h=360] Most directions to this temple…
Gyeongju – fit for a Queen
This past Saturday I had the opportunity to travel to Gyeongju with some passionate history students from Dong-A University in Busan. They’re our friend Joe’s students (from G’s birthday yachting experience) who wanted to share their Korean pride, culture, and history with Koreans and foreigners alike. This trip was an absolute steal at KRW 50,000…