Initially they said three weeks, then six. Six weeks turned into three months and eventually I ended up staying in South Korea for half a year. An exciting time and in some ways for sure eye-opening – which in my opinion holds true for whenever you live as a stranger in a strange land for a while. I’m now going to try and shed some light on my personal experience with the country and its people as well as provide some general information. Continue reading
Category Archives: Korea
Island camping
Searching the web for weekend destinations in Korea I stumbled upon a few weblogs that described a camping trip to an uninhabited island off the west coast. The information was very sparse, especially regarding the exact whereabouts and how to organise a trip but that only made it sound even more adventureous and we snapped at the first chance and literally set sail towards Sa Seungbong-Do from Incheon.
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Hwayanggugok
Want to get out of Cheongju for a bit? Get some sun and enjoy the beauty of nature? In about an hour the bus headed for Hwayang-Dong brings you to Songnisan National Park. Get off at the stop for Hwayang Valley and hike along the river for about 20 minutes. You’ll get to sandy beaches and smooth rocks where you can sunbake or go for a swim in the river. Continue reading
Cherry Blossoms in Korea
Every year during spring time many Asian countries are organising festivals where they celebrate the time of the cherry blossoms. Only for about two weeks the trees are in full blossom, and around this time there are a few annual cherry blossom festivals in Korea, too. I hadn’t been in the country at that time but thanks to a relatively cold spring, the time of the blooming started a little later then expected. You can see the cherry trees in various places all over Cheongju, for example along the river that runs all the way through the city. Continue reading
Danyang
A little while ago Christina and I took a day trip to a town called Danyang near Chungju. Photos are already up but here’s now a little report about the trip. Continue reading
Gallery Update
There are new photos in the gallery from my recent trip to Danyang | View album
Korea, 2nd stint
Some weeks have passed already since my short trip back to Germany. Not much has been happening since then, for the last couple of days I’m trying to get rid of a nasty flu (without swine), other than that work is keeping me busy and doesn’t allow much action during the week. On weekends I usually play some pool or foosball at Road King. The weather changed from sunny blue sky to gray and cold, sometimes it rains so I haven’t really been outside of Cheongju lately.
But I finally managed to go climbing! There is a bouldering gym only a five minute walk from Ramada Hotel with polished holds and strong climbers. Although communicating is rather tough they are all really nice and helpful.
Back home
Unlike the previous days the sky was clear and blue this morning. A shame that I had to return to Seoul to catch my flight back home. But the trip form Sokcho to Dong-Seoul was really stunning: Leaving the houses behind there were only hills, covered with this amazing patchwork of red and green and yellow forest. And above it all the granite towers of Seoraksan. I had this Idea of asking the driver to stop for a little while but quickly dismissed the thought because a: he wouldn’t have been able to do so and b: there was no way I could have made him understand me anyway.
Only two hours later I was back in Seoul, hidden in thick mist. I dropped some postcards off at the post office and went on to Incheon International Airport where I’m preparing some blog posts that I’m going to upload later in Dubai – unlike here they have working WiFi over there.
Seoraksan National Park
From Sokcho Intercity Bus terminal I took bus number 7-1 to Seorak-Dong. This small place is the gateway to the National Park and offers accomodation and basic supply – assuming you have cash, international ATM’s don’t exist up here. I checked into Han Gang Park Motel and fell asleep after a long day. Continue reading
Northbound
Before leaving Korea for a short visit to Germany I wanted to squeeze in some travelling. It came in handy that I still had a free day due to my volunteer work last Saturday and my flight leaving late Tuesday. That basically gave me more than three days, enough time to visit Seoraksan National Park up north, supposingly the most stunning in whole Korea (North and South). Continue reading
