The whole reason why we decided to take a trip to visit Boseong was because of the Boseong Green Tea Festival. Surprisingly enough, Korea doesn't really have much green tea (nokcha) so when I heard of this festival, it was a no brainer that I was going to check it out. I'm embarrassed that it's taken me about a month to post about the trip down to the southern tip of South Korea but here we go...
Boseong is a small city in Jeollanam-do, a small province in the southwest part of the country, that is about 4-5 hours by bus away from Seoul. This was our first bus trip in Korea and didn't really know what to expect. Sarah and I were both a little worried when we boarded the bus and there were no bathrooms. How can you go almost 5 hours without using a toilet? Luckily, about 2 hours into the trip, we stopped at a rest stop full of Korean fast food, coffee and most importantly toilets. We made it to Suncheon on time and without any issues. One of the best things about seeing the different parts of Korea is getting there. ..the mountains alone are endless, lush and impressive.
Technically we stayed in Suncheon which is about an hour train ride away from Boseong, and arrived around 11am. At the time, we didn't know what we are going to see, do or experience but that's usually the best way to start a trip anyways right?
First, we set off for the Suncheon Bay Ecological Park which is home of the widest reed bed in Korea. Pictures are the best way to describe the place, so I'll stop yapping and get to the good stuff:
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| On our way up the mountain |
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| Suncheon Bay |
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| The view from above |
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| And another |
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| Sarah loves water! |
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| A sunset from our boat tour |
The next day, we headed over to Boseong to check out the Green Tea Festival. After a short 50min train ride from Suncheon to Boseong, we arrived in the green tea capital of South Korea. There was a smaller festival atmosphere, like the one for the Cherry Blossom Festival in Jinhae with food tents, entertainment and rows of vendor tents. We quickly walked through the festivities so we could see the fields of green tea. They did not disappoint!
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| Beating a drum and making a wish |
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| The green tea fields! |
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| The quintessential Boseong Green Tea Festival picture |
Day 3 of our trip to the Suncheon/Boseong area, we visited the Suncheon Bay Garden Expo which featured gardens, flowers and other cultural things from all over the world. The Expo started in May and will continue all the way through October. I won't bore you with too many flower pictures but here are a few to give you a little taste.
After the Garden Expo, we still had about 5 hours before our train back to Seoul so we decided to visit the Naganeupseong Folk Village. We've already seen one folk village closer to home but we thought why not see another in a more rural part of the country. The one fascinating thing about this particular village is that there are about 100 residents that call this place their home. This one was also bit more authentic and aesthetically appealing.
It was extremely enjoyable exploring Boseong and Suncheon. Thank you Buddha for having your birthday and giving us a three day weekend to see so much cool stuff!
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