My Top 10 Experiences in Korea - Part 1

Korea has a lot of amazing things to do, see and experience.  If you've been following my blog, you've gotten to see a lot of what we've done since coming over here but I thought I'd share a list of my 10 favorite adventures while in Korea. (It was pretty hard to rank my favorite experiences so these are in no particular order).  
Enjoy 5 now and the last 5 next week!

1. Garden of Morning Calm

     Situated about 70km northeast of Seoul, you can get here relatively easily by the high speed ITX train that leaves from Yongsan (west Seoul) and Cheongnyangni (east Seoul).  The ITX is only 7,000won and the trip is only about 30-40min or you can take the subway which takes a bit longer.

2. Boseong Green Tea Festival
     Whether or not you like green tea, this festival is well worth the trip.  It usually takes place in the spring and is an easy 3-4hr bus ride away from Seoul.  You have to take the bus to Suncheon first, and then a commuter train over to Boseong (3,000won and about 45min).  The green tea fields are amazing and you can pick your own tea leaves if you want!
     Before leaving Boseong, there is an amazing restaurant that has green tea infused pork. (I'm not sure if the pigs were only fed green tea leaves or if they marinated it in green tea, but either way, some of the best food I've had in Korea).

3. Naganeupseong Folk Village

     While you're down in Suncheon, you have to stop by this folk village.  It's one of the only folk villages in Korea that still has people living and working in it.  If you want a glimpse into the past and see how Korea use to look 50+ years ago, this folk village should be on your list of places to visit.  

4. Seoraksan National Park

     One of Korea's most beautiful and popular places to visit has to be Seoraksan.  You can do a day hike to one of the many waterfalls or smaller peaks or tackle a more strenuous path on a multi-day hike.  An additional perk of visiting Seoraksan is that the closest city, and where you'll probably stay the night, is a beach town (Sokcho) which has nice sand, clear water and great seafood.  We didn't get to go to Seoraksan in the fall but that's the best time to visit.  

5. Haedong Yonggungsa

     This is just one of the temples in Busan that I'm going to recommend, but because it's on the east side of the city, you probably would not visit this and the other one I'll recommend in one trip...unless you were there for a few days.  This is probably one of the most unique Buddhist temples I visited in Korea.  It's situated right on the water and aside from the large crowds, it is extremely serene and peaceful.

5. Seokbulsa

     Another temple in Busan that are well worth the visit.  When people talk about temples in Busan, Beomeosa and Haedong Yonggungsa are probably the one that will be mentioned, however, I think that visiting Seokbulsa is an even more surreal and memorable experience.  It's off the beaten path a bit but I was happy to have made the trek.