Check out day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 of my trip with my parents!

For our fifth day we checked out of the hotel we had been staying at for the past four days and ventured out of Seoul. Since my father’s a pharmacist I decided to bring us to Daegu’s large herbal medicine market. We also took a stroll down the Deok street to get some of my mother’s favorite Korean snacks. I was surprised when we rode on Daegu’s subway to see that it has a coin-like token system separate from T-money. Individual fare tickets are coin-looking things which you put over a sensor like T-money and then drop in a hole at your destination.

After we were done with Daegu we headed on an express bus to Gyeongju where we would sleep and head out early to get in as much sightseeing the next day before starting our templestay experience. After leaving the Gyeongju express bus terminal a taxi driver tried to get me to go to the location where all the best hotels are but I told him no. He kept insisting there weren’t any close hotels, but I knew better. After walking no more than two blocks we found a decent hotel for a very good price. Good try taxi driver man. Good try.

Check out day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 of my trip with my parents!

We had to wake up for a pretty early start of the day. Our bus left for the DMZ at 7:30 ><. We arrived at the DMZ area and got a 20 minute briefing about JSA before heading out to the JSA area. When we arrived, we walked out of the South Korean headquarters in a line and talked a little bit about the area. At the other side’s main building there was only one DPRK soldier standing outside and one inside watching with binoculars. We then proceeded into one of the blue buildings which has half of the building in South Korea and half in North Korea. I, of course, took the opportunity once inside to step over into North Korea.

The next destination was the third infiltration tunnel and the Dora observatory. The third infiltration tunnel wasn’t that interesting, but it’s still one of those places that you just have to go anyway. It’s a lot smaller in width than I would have thought. I had to bend over most of the way while walking through the tunnel. One of the more interesting things of note is that the walls were painted with coal so that North Korea could try to claim it was a coal mine or something. At the Dora observatory we could see into Gaesong, the second biggest North Korean city and the location where South Korean companies hire North Korean labor.

The last and definitely most not-notable stop was Dorasan station. It was built fairly recently and was used for a brief time to transport materials to Gaesong and back before being shut down do to many issues with the North Korean government. Now it’s only open to tourists to go and see.

After arriving in Seoul and finishing the DMZ tour we went strait to Insadong to get some presents for my parents to bring back to the states. It was such a clear night I decided to bring them up to Seoul Tower on the cable car. Apparently everyone else in Seoul had the same thoughts because the lines were absolutely atrocious.

Check out day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 of my trip with my parents!

We ate at a little Kimbap place for breakfast before heading down to see Gyeongbok Palace where we got an English tour.  I never did the tour so I also learned some new things about the place.  Afterwards we went through the Korean Folk Museum which turned out to be one of my parents favorite destination.  Then we walked along Samcheong street, saw the Blue House and then ended the night over a bowl of Kalgooksu.  We made sure to make it an early night since we had to be at Camp Kim the next day by 7ish to spend the day around Panmunjeom in the DMZ.

I just got back from a fun trip with the SNU geography education club for three days and two nights down in Jeolla.  I never really traveled down there so it was a great opportunity to see a part of Korea I hadn’t seen yet.  We went to Jido and Jungdo islands, Mokpo, Yeongsan River (part of the Four Rivers Project), Boseong Green Tea Fields, Sooncheon (Nakaneupsung Folk Village), and various other little spots.  Out of all the destinations we went, I would recommend Nakaneupsung Folk Village the most.  We only stayed for like an hour but you could spend a much longer time walking around the village and meeting the various people living there (if you speak Korean).

Thus ends my epic end-of-summer traveling.  Enjoy the pics~