South Korea Part 2

Hope everyone enjoyed my little style post this morning, but now we're shifting back to travel for another post about my incredible trip to Korea! These are all going to be pretty photo-heavy so heads up!

Sunday morning we were up bright and early and off to Daejon, about an hour and a half from Suwon to visit Lydia's aunt and uncle. We spent the night and were off the next morning (starting to notice a theme here?) for Daegu. We didn't do anything too exciting in Daejon so I don't really have any pictures!

Daegu is the hottest city in Korea and it certainly lives up to the title. It is known for being the site of the March 1st movement for independence, one of the first acts of resistance during the Japanese occupations, as well as Cheongna Hill which houses several old missionary houses that combine Western and Korean styles. The missionaries helped to establish Keisung School, Sinmyeong School, Jejungwon Hospital, the American Missionary Center, and many others. 

A mural commemorating the March 1st movement. 

Steps leading up to Cheongna Hill, part of the trail the rebels took on March 1st. 

In Daegu we also went to the top of Daegu Tower which looks out over the entire city and is the tallest observation tower in Korea. Our visit was short, which was fine as I didn't love Daegu. A little too hot and humid, a little boring. Gyeongju was definitely more exciting. 

Gyeongju is situated along the sea on Korea's east coast, and is known for its historical sites. Our first stop was Bulguksa Temple, a working Buddhist temple built in the 8th century.

Since the temple is still in use it is updated regularly, meaning the colors are as vibrant as they were hundreds of years ago. 

I snuck a picture inside one of the temples, where a service was going on. I had never watched a Buddhist service but the smell of incense, sounds of drums, bells, and singing was incredible. 

Our next stop in Gyeongju was Seokguram Grotto. We drove up the mountain (on a very, very windy road) to the top, where you then hike along a winding path that leads to the grotto. Just be careful, because one side of the path leads to a drop-off and there's no railing! 

The hike takes about 20 minutes, and at the top you are greeted by a plateau covered in lanterns, many of them with prayer messages written by people from all over the world. 

Another quick hike up some stone steps leads you to a small cave where a giant Buddha has been carved into the side of the mountain. Unfortunately, since this is also still in use as a sacred site, photos were not allowed. But it was definitely worth the trek up! 

This observatory was built by Queen Seondeok in the 634, a highly educated ruler who had the tower constructed to study astronomy; the name means 'star-gazing tower.' While it only stands a little over 9 meters tall, it is the oldest observatory in East Asia. 

Those hills? They're tombs! People used to construct giant dirt mounds above graves, and the bigger the mound the more important the person. Most of these tombs belong to previous rulers of Korea. 

You comfy there, Lydia? 

More food! The big meat patties on the hot stones are like hamburger patties but served as a steak.

A big thank you to this incredible girl for taking me along! I never thought I would be able to go to Korea, let alone with one of my best friends in the whole world! Thank you for the opportunity to travel a beautiful country, eat amazing food, meet incredible people, and have an awesome trip of a lifetime! 

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we head farther south to Busan!

South Korea Part 1

Hello!! Sorry for the radio silence the past few weeks but I am finally home from my adventures in South Korea!!! This trip was AMAZING and it is going to be hard to put into words, but you can expect lots of photos! I had no time/energy to blog during my trip so I'm going to be slowly posting over the next couple of days, along with a few non-Korea posts so get ready!

So, after a very long flight to Korea I finally landed at Incheon, where Lydia whisked me off to Suwon, a "suburb" about half an hour from Seoul that is a bustling city all its own. Friday night was mostly spent unpacking along with a walk around Suwon's lake park in order to keep me awake long enough to catch up to Korean time.



Jet lag had both of us wide awake at 6 am, and after a long walk around the lake we headed out to lunch. I had never had Korean food before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

We had a full, traditional Korean meal, where they cooked the meat right at our table (this is a big thing in Korea, at least half of our meals were made in front of us)! There are a few big holes in the table, and a guy comes in with massive tongs holding red-hot coals. They then place a grate over the coals, throw on your meat, and cook it right there, passing plates as you go along. The important thing to remember is to grab the meat quick, as it will either be gobbled up by your companions or burned on the grill!

Along with beef, we had about 12573230 side dishes, including rice, rice noodles (or glass noodles, for Americans), two different kinds of soup, and various kinds of vegetables.

It. Was. Amazing.

I am officially obsessed with Korean food now!! If anyone has any recommendations for great Korean restaurants in either Dallas or New York please send them my way! I'm going through kimchi and bibimbap withdrawals...

After lunch we headed out to the Hwaseong Haenggung Palace, an old palace built in 1789. Much of the palace was destroyed during the Japanese occupation in the early 20th century but was recently restored. You can read more about the palace and its history here.

"All my pictures from Korea end up being in doorways." 

Pretty much every palace/temple/historical site we visited has beautiful, detailed ceilings painted like this. I can't imagine the time and effort it took to make such amazing work but it makes the visit even more worthwhile. 

Sorry for the horrible picture but I couldn't get a good angle- anyway this is a huge golden Buddha on top of the hill behind the palace. We didn't have time to climb up and see this one (that comes in Gyeongju...)

After the palace we took a peek across the street at this giant bell (we tried to ring it but it was secured, probably so silly Americans like us don't try!). 

Look at that detail on the ceilings!

We then headed down the street to Namun market, an old-school outdoor market that sold everything from pigs' heads to chilies to live fish. 

Part of the old Suwon city wall. 

If you think this looks fun, just wait until we get to Busan and the Jagalchi fish market! But that comes later...

In just over two weeks, we went to Suwon, Daejon, Daegu, Gyeongju, Busan, Seoul, and Panmunjom! Whew, I know. We often were in two cities within a day and I'm exhausted but it was 100% worth it!

To avoid confusion, I've marked every city we visited in Korea on this handy little Google map. Suwon is the little marker underneath Seoul, the marker in the middle without a name is Oak Valley resort, and the marker wayyy up on the North Korean border is Panmunjom.

Sorry to be so photo-heavy, but I took a million pictures on this trip and probably didn't capture half of what I was lucky enough to see. Remember, this was just Day One, so stay tuned for the rest of my adventures in Korea!