East Sea Weekend

Back in June we decided that the last weekend of July would be spent on the East Coast. It started out as four of us, but as the weekend progressed, our group grew.

Our first night we spent at a love motel in Samcheok. A bit dirty but also dirty cheap. We spent Friday night on the beach slurping up ramen with shellfish and taking pictures at dusk.

Breakfast in the morning was a bit of a hassle to find, but once we found a restaurant, we enjoyed a Korean breakfast of 청국장 (fermented soy bean soup) and kimchi-jjigae.  

After meeting up with the rest of our companions at the bus stop, we headed to our Saturday destination: Jangho (장호). I had traveled to Jangho port last year when I camped on Samcheok's beach and really wanted to see it again. CNN Go listed Jangho as Korea's most beautiful village and I can see why. However, for some reason they like to describe it as Korea's Naples. This is Naples:

And this is Jangho.

So they are completely different. Plus, Naples is full of trash. Korea, stop calling X the Y of Korea. Jeju is not the Hawaii of Korea. Jeju is just Jeju. Comparing apples to oranges just ends up disappointing people. We were definitely not disappointed in Jangho, though, and spent the day basking in the sun, swimming, and drinking beer.

The evening was spent back in Samcheok with grilled shellfish and spicy octopus (쭈꾸미). A bit expensive, but mad delicious.

Sunday's activities were chosen last minute, but were probably my favorite of the weekend. We took a taxi to 무릉계곡 (Mureung Valley) for some hiking and mountain bibimbap. HS and I zoomed of and ended up by ourselves looking at waterfalls, climbing 'Heaven's Door' and looking out over the entire valley. What a day!

Poor deer lost its head...

This was my last weekend trip in Korea! Well, at least for this year. I'll probably be back again.

물 메밀국수

What could be better than iced whole wheat noodles on a hot summer day? Not much... but maybe I should have ordered the whole wheat makkeoli as well.

Inwangsan (인왕산) The Mountain of the Generous King

Four of us climbed Inwangsan on Saturday. This is another portion of the Seoul fortress wall, but not nearly as well marked and with much less guards protecting the Blue House. We started out near Dongnimmun Station and made our way east to Buam dong. The hike only took about an hour and a half. Although we were only about 330 meters up, we had some great views of the city. This blog post is mainly just to share this nice panorama.

Heading out of exit 2 of Dongnimmun station (독립문) you take your first left and wind up along tons of apartment complexes. Eventually, you'll find the trail, but it is not very well marked so good luck. Near the foot of the Dongnimmun side, there was a very atmospheric temple. We were kind of in a hiking hurry, so I didn't get any pictures. Lame. But I did get a decent pic of the wall...

Yummy Summer

I love 회덮밥. So much. Aren't the colors beautiful?

Raw fish, rice, and veggies with some spicy sauce.

I had this near Nakseongdae station with HS. Not the highest quality, but still great and refreshing.

Bukaksan: Northern route of the Seoul Fortress Wall

On the 6th of June (Memorial Day), C and I went to hike part of the Seoul Fortress Wall trail. There are four sections to this trail, and we took on the northern section that starts near Hansung station and ends up at Changuimun in Buamdong. This section goes through some peaks on Bukak mountain and it quite the nice walk. Starting from the east, you meander up against the wall until you reach a checkpoint where you have to show your passport or registration card. This is to stop would-be-assassins, as the Blue House is at the southern foot of Bukak mountain, so they need to be careful who they let in. This also means that there are only certain places where you are allowed to take pictures, so my pictures aren't the most amazing. All of the great views were in no-picture zones. Sad face.

You can see the wall!

Changuimun

If you are going to do this route, make sure you go east to west! If you take it west to east, you will have a ton of stairs, whereas the easterly route gives you some gentle inclines. The whole hike takes about two hours. To get to the trail, head out of Hansung station exit 5.  The Korea Tourism Organization provided this lovely map to get you to the fortress:

Unhyeongung

Last week I was let out of school early for Buddha's birthday, so I decided to visit Unhyeongung (운현궁) Palace in central Seoul. Although it isn't one of Seoul's true five palaces, it was the housing of Prince Regent Daewon-gun who ruled the Joseon dynasty during the 19th century. After paying 1000 won, I entered into the courtyard.

You can see how the city is right outside the palace's walls

There were four main buildings: Norakdang, Noandang, Irodang and Sujiksa. Honestly, they all looked kind of the same. Norakdang and Irodang were residences for women, while the guys would hang out at Noandang. Sujiksa would house the servants and guards.

Noandang

Norakdang

Irodang

 Irodang was my favorite building because of the elevated room. So, I took a selca that turned out surprisingly well.

For more information about Unhyeongung, check out the Visit Korea website. Here are the websites directions:

Directions

Anguk Station (Seoul Subway Line 3) Exit 4 50m from station Jongno 3-ga Station (Seoul Subway Line 5) Exit 4 Go 300m towards Anguk Station

Jeongneung Tomb

On Wednesday, May 15th I was let out of school early for the long weekend (thank you Buddha!). As most of my friends needed to work, I ventured out alone to Jeongneung (정릉) which is a tomb close to my workplace. Along with other Joseon dynasty tombs, it is  a UNECO world heritage site. Score.

 After following a bunch of signs up and down hills, I finally found the entrance to Jeongneung. I paid a small entrance fee (1,000 won), grabbed a map, and walked around. As it was a Wednesday afternoon, there were few people in the park: mostly ajjumas and ajjeoshis. A quick walk brought me to the tomb. Well, within sight of the tomb.

As you can see, the tomb is at top of the hill. I saw no way to get up to the tomb, so I imagine it isn't possible to get a close look. The tomb houses Queen Consort Sindeok, who was the second wife of King Taejo (the founder of the Joseon dynasty). Her place in history is a bit interesting, so to learn more, check out the Korean Cultural Heritage website for details.

I imagine the surrounding vicinity rather than the tomb itself gives reason for the locals to visit. Smack dab in a very apartment-heavy neighborhood is a very green and walkable area. One walking course goes around Jeongneung's land, and takes about thirty minutes.  If it was a little closer to my school, I would visit often to go for jogs. Peaceful, if a bit hilly, Jeongneung can be seen in about an hour.

Jeongneung was a bit difficult to find... here are the directions from Visit Korea:

Directions

In front of exit 6 of Sungshin Women's University station (Donam station / Seoul Subway Line 4), take city bus No. 1012, 1014, or 1212 and get off at Arirang Market. Walk 5-10 min. Operating Hours 6:00-18:30 (Mar-Oct) / 6:00-17:30 (Nov-Feb) Yeonsangunmyo 09:00~18:00