Food
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The Last Korean Road Trip: Adventures in Busan
Welcome to the next leg of our final road trip! To recap: with a year to spend in South Korea, our goal was to see as much of the country as possible. We planned our last big road trip for the major holiday week of Buddha’s birthday. Making several stops, we covered some well-known sites we hadn’t visited yet: Songnisan National Park, Andong Hahoe Folk Village, and the city of Busan. The weather unfortunately was not on our side. Indeed, this was hands-down the rainiest vacation we have ever taken, with significant rainfall on six out of seven days of traveling. In this post, we visit Busan, South Korea’s second largest city, about a…
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The Last Korean Road Trip: Adventures in Hahoe Folk Village
Welcome back to our final road trip! To recap: with a year to spend in South Korea, our goal was to see as much of the country as possible. We planned our last big road trip for the major holiday week of Buddha’s birthday. Making several stops, we covered some well-known sites we hadn’t visited yet: Songnisan National Park, Andong Hahoe Folk Village, and the city of Busan. As you will see, the weather unfortunately was not on our side. Indeed, this was hands-down the rainiest vacation we have ever taken, with significant rainfall on six out of seven days of traveling. Fortunately, a year of walking and hiking in…
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Mountain Parks Blooming: Places to See in Jeollabuk-do (Part Two)
Our road trip started with South Korea’s south coast and the province of Jeollanam-do, but we ended by driving back up to Seoul through the western province of Jeollabuk-do. This area offers a rural and small-town feel, very different from Seoul and distinct from the coastal towns and villages we visited earlier on this trip. Here, we explored the foodie city of Jeonju, hiked the rugged peaks of Naejangsan National Park, and trekked through the towering stone pagodas and blooming cherry tunnels of Maisan Provincial Park. In part one of this post, we visited historic Jeonju Hanok Village. In this post, visit nearby Naejangsan National Park and Maisan Provincial Park.…
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Jeonju Blooming: Places to See in Jeollabuk-do (Part One)
Our road trip started with South Korea’s south coast and the province of Jeollanam-do, but we ended by driving back up to Seoul through the western province of Jeollabuk-do. This area offers a rural and small-town feel, very different from Seoul and distinct from the coastal towns and villages we visited earlier on this trip. Here, we explored the foodie city of Jeonju, hiked the rugged peaks of Naejangsan National Park, and trekked through the towering stone pagodas and blooming cherry tunnels of Maisan Provincial Park. In this post, visit historic Jeonju Hanok Village. In part two of this post, visit Naejangsan National Park and Maisan Provincial Park. Jeonju Hanok…
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Jeju Island: Christmas Eve on the South Coast
Jeju Island’s unique geography and fascinating history will take several posts to cover. In this post, discover the beauty of the island’s south coast with volcanic cliffs and waterfalls. We filled our Christmas Eve day with visits to some of Jeju’s most famous sites. Since we couldn’t be home for Christmas, Jeju was a wonderfully soothing place to spend the holiday. As a bonus, we even put an international spin on an Italian Christmas Eve tradition: The Feast of the Seven Fishes. In our Japanese-insired Korean version, it became the Feast of the Fourteen Fishes! First, though, we had some walking and exploring to do. Jusangjelloi Cliffs This volcanic rock…
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The Great Wall of… South Korea? Hwaseong Fortress
This is essentially one post in two parts. In this post: Hwaseong. In the last post: Namhansanseong. The Korean Peninsula’s strategic position between China and Japan has increased its risk of military invasion for centuries. Vestiges of this history remain in the form of protective fortress walls in Seoul and beyond, many of which are now maintained and utilized as hiking trails. The ease of accessing these trails, as well as their tendency to be well-maintained, have made them a go-to for our hiking adventures since we arrived in Seoul. In addition to trekking the Seoul city walls, we have visited Namhansanseong Fortress just outside of Seoul, and Hwaseong Fortress…
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The Great Wall of… South Korea? Namhansanseong Fortress
The Korean Peninsula’s strategic position between China and Japan has increased its risk of military invasion for centuries. Vestiges of this history remain in the form of protective fortress walls in Seoul and beyond, many of which are now maintained and utilized as hiking trails. The ease of accessing these trails, as well as their tendency to be well-maintained, have made them a go-to for our hiking adventures since we arrived in Seoul. In addition to trekking the Seoul city walls, we have visited Namhansanseong Fortress just outside of Seoul, and Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon. Each is worth the trip from the city and provided very different opportunities for exploration.…
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Good Grief! What’s so Shocking about Culture Shock?
If you’ve ever traveled outside of your hometown, you probably are familiar with the highs and lows of experiencing a culture different from your own. Traveling (even to another state or city) can be exciting, challenging, and full of learning opportunities. It also can be scary, frustrating, and overwhelming. Add a worldwide pandemic into this mix, and you have a recipe for lots of potential stress. The term culture shock describes the mixed emotions and sense of disorientation that are commonly felt by travelers to a culture different from their own. As I’ve spent my social work career helping people coping with grief and loss, I find it helpful to…
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Trail Challenges at Seoraksan National Park
Our last post detailed our experience of the most accessible trails from the Seoraksan National Park entrance near Sokcho. In this post, we tackle a couple of the more challenging courses. Don’t worry though. As with any good hike, there are tasty food and beverages at the end! Ulsanbawi Course Ulsanbawi arguably is the most famous peak at Seoraksan National Park. Its iconic rocky ridge can be seen for miles around. Day-trippers travel nearly three hours from Seoul just to complete this hike. Unfortunately, because of the heavy monsoon rains this year and the COVID pandemic, we needed to make significant modifications to our hike. The usual place to begin…
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Sokcho and Abai Village: A Taste of North Korea
Last month, we traveled for the first time to South Korea’s east coast, home to some lovely beaches and the iconic Seoraksan National Park. We traveled easily by intercity bus from Seoul to this area. Though Sokcho is only a 30-minute drive from the national park, it is very much a beach town rather than a mountain town, so we thought it deserved its own post. We were able to take a local bus from our hotel near Mt. Seorak to spend a day in Sokcho and the surrounding area. Most interesting were the seaward-facing Naksan Temple and the historic fishing town of Abai Village, originally a settlement for North…
