My Top 10 Experiences in Korea - Part 2

It's crazy to think that my time in Korea is quickly coming to an end.  Time goes so fast and I am truly grateful to have had this opportunity.  Here are the final 5 things that have made the past year an extremely memorable one.
6. Goryeosan Azalea Festival
     I've since realized that Korea has a lot of azalea festivals but this one was easy enough to get to and a nice day trip from Seoul.  It's located in north Incheon and was breathtaking.  It looked like God threw up azaleas on the side of the mountain because it was completely covered and absolutely beautiful.

7. Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival
     Like the azalea festival, Korea has hundreds of cherry blossom festivals.  Honestly, you don't really have to go anywhere to see cherry blossoms because they are everywhere.  But, we figured that if we'd visit a cherry blossom festival, it might as well be the biggest in Korea down in Jinhae.  It rained on us the first day and unfortunately, a lot of the cherry blossoms had fallen off the trees, but there were still enough left to show why this was the biggest and most popular in Korea.

8. Jeju Island

     We did a lot of fun things in Jeju and I could probably do a top 10 of Jeju itself.  Jeju was amazing and was the last trip we took to make our journey around Korea complete.  Even in January/February, the weather was surprisingly warm.  We hiked the tallest mountain in Korea, saw some lava tubes, women divers, lava cliffs, waterfalls, rode in a submarine and went to Love Land.  I see why Jeju surpassed Hawaii this year with it's number of visiting tourists.  I can only imagine how beautiful the island is in the spring, summer and fall!

9. Gyeongju

     The old capital of Korea during the Silla dynasty and full of history.  It's too bad that I only had a few hours there before I had to leave, but I heard the hiking around the area has a bunch of stone carved buddhas and nice views of the city.  I did get to do a temple stay at a Buddhist Temple for Korean Martial Arts which was pretty cool but I could've spent another day visiting the area.

10. Gwangju/Damyang

     I'm sure there is a lot more to see in Gwangju than I was able to see but the fact that I was able to see the city where my dad's family came from was priceless.  What made it better was that I went with my dad!  I saw my grandfather's and great grandparents grave sites and the city where my dad was born.  It was a special moment while in Korea and was one of my main reasons for coming.

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.