Seoraksan National Park

This past Tuesday-Thursday was the Korean harvest festival, Chuseok. Chuseok is a 3-day holiday that falls on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. Koreans get together and share a big meal of traditional Korean food, including songpyeon. Songpyeon is a moon shaped rice cake which is steamed with pine needles.
We made songpyeon in school last Monday while the children wore their traditional Korean dress, Hanbok’s they wear during Chuseok.



Since we didn’t have work Tuesday-Thursday because of Chuseok, Barry and I decided to visit Seoraksan National Park, the lonely planets number one pick in Korea. On Monday night, we boarded the bus and in 3 hours and 40 minutes were sitting in our nice cozy hostel in Seorak-dong.

On Tuesday, Barry and I woke up nice and early and headed to the park to begin a hike. We decided on a medium difficulty level hike and headed to Biryong Popko (waterfall). As we climbed slippery rocks for an hour, we came upon a beautiful waterfall that was breathtaking. When we arrived, there was only 1 man sitting peacefully on a rock. We sat and appreciated the beauty of our surroundings and then decided to trek back and find another hike that would again satisfy our yearning for the great outdoors.







While we were hiking back from Biryong Popko, the clouds opened up and rain came suddenly. Luckily, we were ¼ of the way to the parks visitor center but just enough time to become completely soaked from head to toe. We decided to hop on the bus and get back to our hostel and change our soaking wet clothes. Unfortunately, the rain did not let up the rest of the day. Therefore, we had to make the most of the day drinking and eating in our hostel.

The next day we woke to a bit of an overcast sky, but dry, so we were quite happy. We hopped on the bus and in 2 minutes were standing in front of a massive bronze Buddha statue.






After walking around this statue, we walked uphill a couple of more minutes and came upon a Sinheungsa, a Buddhist Temple. This temple is said to be one the oldest zen temple in the world. Since it was Chuseok, the temple was beyond packed, but it was fascinating being able to watch people as they prayed to Buddha.







Next, we went up in a cable car to Gwongeumseong. It took around a 6-minute ride to get to here:






And then another 15 minute walk to get to here:








This was my favorite spot in the park. It was beautiful; we were literally above the clouds.

After climbing some more, we decided to leave the park and indulge ourselves in some natural hot springs. We jumped in a cab and 5 minutes later were in a spa lounging in the hot tubs and sauna. This is a very common thing in Korea; it’s called a Jinjabong, basically a sauna that converts into an overnight accommodation. At this particular spot, there was a hot bath, a warm bath, a sauna and scrub stations. Other jinjabongs my friends have gone to have lavender baths, ginseng baths, etc. The thing about jinjabongs is they are separated by gender and you must be completely naked. As you can guess, I was stared at like no other. But, it was a nice way to relax after a long hike.

On Thursday we got up early again and decided to go into town to Sokcho. You know you are in a fishing town when…





(this little dish is called a squid sundae and is famous in Sokcho. It is a squid casing with chopped up noodles, tofu, spices, veggies and more seafood. Barry gave me 5,000 to try one, I would never do it again)


It was a nice place; I would probably become a skeleton due to the fact that the ONLY restaurants we could find were fish. We walked around for 2 hours and finally found a place across the bus station that would give me rice. Overall, it was a great little vacation and a break from work. It was great being able to see a little more of Korea and immerse ourselves even more in the culture.

The Medicinal Herb Market

On Saturday, my friend Michael and I wanted to go on an adventure to Seoul. We casuall flipped through the Lonely Planet and decided to go to Asia's biggest medicinal herb market.

After getting off the subway we made our way to Korea's medicinal herb museum. As all of the museum was in Korean, we were left to view the diferent potions and lotions. We even saw preserved animals like frogs and rattlesnakes, what they used the animals for, your guess is as good as mine. After smelling different herbs and looking at all the pretty jars, we headed off to the real marketacross the street...



(jars of various herbs and plants in the museum)



(little rattlesnakes used in the remedies)

The medicinal herb market was one of the biggest markets I have ever been too. Wall to wall people, it would be a claustrophobic s nightmare. There were people left and right selling different herbs, plants, you name it. In Korea, there is a very high health conscious outlook. For example, I always see people exercising, no matter what time of the day. Yesterday in Seoul, I saw people with tennis rackets and all the gear walking through the streets at 3:30am. Also, everything that you eat in Korea helps your body in some way. For example,seaweed is supposedly good for circulation while dog gives men "stamina" throughout the summer.

While walking through this massive market, I had a "I am really in a different country" moment. This art of medicinal medicine is completely foreign to me. These medicinal herb recipes have been passed down through generation to generation in Korean families. There are so many different concoctions to cure just about anything from cancer to the common cold.



(me at the entrance of the market with a big stone grinder)



(frogs)



(garlic)





(ginseng)

The city that never sleeps

This past Saturday was one of my most favorite nights in Korea yet. When I was in Chicago having my interview for my Korean visa, I got to talking to Noelle, a recent graduate from Iowa and we vowed to meet up in Seoul. So, this Saturday Barry and I met her in Gangnam station and the first thing we did, fish pedicures. I have heard and read about this, but never in a million years did I think that I would actually do it.

I had read about Dr. Fish Café, I did not know what to expect but when you walk in you order a coffee and a Dr. Fish. While we were eagerly sipping away at our iced coffees a nice Korean woman came over to tell us she was ready for us. We walked to the other side of the café and had our feet rinsed and before we knew it, little fish were attacking our feet. These fish literally swim all over your feet eating off your dead skin. At first, it took everything for me not to pull my feet out but after awhile it just felt like nice Jacuzzi jets on your feet. Now, after the fish I am unsure whether the fish did the works on my feet but it was an experience nonetheless.



(I could not get a good picture of our fish, but these guys were next to us getting their feet done too)



(up close and personal)

After the fish were full, we met Janine, the foreign teacher at our school and headed off to an FC Seoul game at World Cup Stadium. It was foreigner’s day, so along with the 10,000 won ticket we also got a free beer and two hotdogs. It was very cool to be inside World Cup Stadium and to meet a bunch of new people. (I even spotted two buckeyes jerseys, I got close enough to one of them to exchange words and he gave me a hug-Buckeye nation or Buckeyes taking over the world?)



(after FC Seoul scored a goal)



After the game, we headed off to Hongdae, an area in Seoul with eclectic bars, all night dance clubs, the works. At around 7am we decided to call it a night and by 8am I was asleep for the night (day?) in good ole’ Dongtan.

A tourist's weekend (Sunday)

On Sunday, we got up early again and headed south to the city of Suwon. Suwon is the provincial capital of the Gyeonggi-Do province with a population of just over 1 million people and is around a 15 minute cab ride (depending on traffic) from Dongtan.

In Suwon there is a fortress, Hwaesong Fortress which was built in the late 18th century by King Jeonjgo of the the Joseon Dynasty. This fortress surrounds the center of Suwon and was built by the king in honor of his father, Prince Sado. In 1997, this fortress became of UNESCO world heritage site. The wall is just over 3.5 miles long and stands just at 4ft.

After hopping on a random bus headed to Suwon, the bus pulled into a garage and we were forced to get off. We had no idea where we were so we shuffled our way to the front of the bus and gave the bus driver our lonely planet book in hopes of directing us in the right way. Luckily, there was an inspector on the bus as well and after both the driver and the inspector took a long look at the lonely planet, they told us to sit down and drove us 20 minutes closer to town. The inspector flagged down a bus and after speaking to the driver, we were dropped off at Deukjungjeong, a part of the wall where the King practiced archery and they still do today! We were so grateful for the bus drivers and the inspectors’ kindness and willingness to help us out.

Here are pictures from the fortress…














(We ran into a Buddhist Temple)

After walking around the fortress for a couple hours, we decided to go into the walled area and visit some markets.






(silkworm larvae, yum)



Since Suwon is known for their galbi, we hopped in the cab and showed the taxi driver the lonely planet where they had recommended a galbi place. With the language barrier, it was impossible, and after saying “galbi” and patting my stomach, we arrived in a galbi restaurant fit for a king.