Around this time last year some friends and I took a Saturday to visit the country side of Korea and attend an apple festival. This would be the third apple festival we’d visited in two years, searching for a taste of home, and we finally found it in this one.
As our bus dropped us off at the orchard we walked through countless rows of beautifully ripe red apples. In a scene that it rare in Korea, we were immediately surrounded by westerners, all of whom were decked out in their best fall plaids. It was as if we stepped out of Korea and into small-town Americana.
Our first stop after arriving at the festival was to join in a pie baking class. The ingredients were set out and we were ready to get to baking. There was an instructor who was trying to lead the class, however it seemed that they seemed to neglect the fact that most of the people in the room had made many an apple pie in seasons past. We rolled the dough, filled our pies, cut shapes into the tops, and pinched the sides like pros. When we were finished we put our names on the dish so they could be distinguished when they were ready to be picked up.
While the pies baked in the ovens we got to go apple picking. It was so fun getting to wander the rows of apples in search of the best ones to take home. Once we’d filled our baskets, we went back to pick up our pies and listen to music. The lead singer of the band that was playing happened to be from Chicago as well. It was the first time I’d met a fellow Chicagoan since the Cubs had won the World Series, and it was wonderful to finally be around someone who understood and shared the same excitement and pride for our home team.
The apple orchard we were visiting also happened to be a winery and offered tours showing us how the apples were processed and stored before giving us a tasting of the sweet wine. We all bought a bottle and went back outside to where the band was, listening to music, drinking wine, and eating apple pie until it was time to go back home to Incheon. It was the perfect fall day.
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Any quick Pinterest search of South Korea brings floods of images of bright green rolling hills filled with perfectly manicured green tea hedges, specifically those belonging to the Daehan Dawon Tea Plantation. That said, upon my arrival in Korea it didn’t take long to hear about the unbelievable tea fields that lay within the sleepy town of Boseong. Once discovering the fields were on the southern edge of Korea, I immediately made it a goal to visit on the first long weekend once the weather got warmer.
The park is actually much bigger than I had anticipated and is more than just tea fields. We wandered through fields to find cedar lined trails, water falls, and even some late blooming azaleas. After exploring the grounds we decided it was time for some green tea ice cream.
The idea of writing this post seems so strange. While I flew out of Incheon airport one week ago, it still doesn’t feel real that I won’t be going right back. At this time last Thursday, I was wrapping up my final classes, grading end of semester tests, and finishing my last report cards painfully trying to ignore the fact that I would be leaving in less than 24 hours.
As a peninsula, Korea has countless beachside towns and cities that offer the perfect escape from the busier areas of Seoul and Incheon. One of my favorites is the city of Busan. Busan is just a quick three hour train ride away and offers the opportunity for the perfect weekend getaway. It still has all of the conveniences of city life with countless cozy cafés and western restaurants, however, it sits right along a beautiful coastline housing various beaches to relax.
This sweet village offers such a juxtaposition to the traditional setting of Korea which is, for the most part, filled with tall office and apartment buildings and generally follows a gray color scheme with hints of green roofs. We couldn’t have been happier to experience this pop of color for a weekend and explore an entirely new part of the city we love in the country that has been home for nearly two years.
Every few weekends or so I find myself wanting to get away from bustling streets of Seoul and Incheon and explore new parts of Korea. That said, the recent start of the warm summer months has really amped-up those feelings and has had me reminiscing of past getaways. One of my favorites from last spring was the day trip some friends and I took to Ganghwado Island in search of azaleas on Goryeosan Mountain.
Once we had made it further inward on the island we realized we were definitely lost and actually traveling away from our destination. At that point, we decided to hop off the bus and trust our luck to catch another bus returning in the direction of the mountain we were so desperate to find. Forty-five minutes, two peeled oranges, one snack sized bag of peanut M&Ms, and a few pictures later we managed to hail a lone taxi that seemed destined to pick us up. After a brief drive we were dropped at an azalea festival which we wandered for a bit before starting our hike up Goryeosan Mountain.
Finally reaching the peak late in the afternoon we were able to take in the sun and the spectacular views of the island. Being from the midwest where even a good sledding hill is rare, seeing the lush mountains that cover Korea is always a breathtaking experience.
Just about a year ago a group of friends and I headed south for a weekend of festivals. We spent Saturday in Jinhae for the 
We woke up Sunday morning in Busan which was incredible enough on its own. Busan is a seaside city and always makes me feel like I’m in California rather Korea. It has a much more laid-back vibe than up north were we live.
Once everyone in our group picked up their color packets we ventured into the mass of people celebrating. Indian music was blasting, people were dancing, and color was everywhere. There were hundreds of people, some tourists, some fellow expats, and many transplants from India who were more than happy to share their culture with us; pulling anyone into the circle that seemed to be drifting away.
As signs of spring are starting to appear in Korea, I’ve been reflecting on weekend trips taken last year and starting to plan what I hope to do this spring. I’ve been revisiting photos of various getaways and one in particular that stands out was the weekend spent in a southern city of Korea, called Jinhae, for their famous cherry blossom festival.
Once we had finished eating and walked through all of the tent lined streets, we started exploring to find the river we’d all spent the week dreaming about via Pinterest and Instagram. Seeing as there really were thousands of people at this festival it wasn’t terribly difficult to find. All we had to do was follow the masses in hopes of making our way to the front of the line to take a photo of the brightly colored river umbrellaed by blossoming pink and white trees.
We spent hours walking along the river and eventually made it to a coffee shop around dusk for a quick rest and caffeine fix. As the sun set we ventured back out into the crowds and found that the paths had been lit up by arches wrapped in white lights making the small town seem just a bit more magical.
After a few wonderful days in Jeju City, our vacation was dwindling down to just two more days. We had a few things left on our to-do list, one of which was visiting Manjanggul Cave, a UNESCO World Heritage sight that is a cave formed from a lava tunnel.
When we arrived, we were greeted by a vine covered staircase entrance into the cave. We followed along the one kilometer path through the lava tunnel enjoying the chilly climate that was so different from the sweltering streets of Jeju.
Our last day started with us packing our bags and quickly dropping them off at the airport before catching a cab to the beach to soak in some sun before boarding our flight that evening. We had an incredible cab driver pick us up who tried his absolute best to communicate with us in his broken English and we attempted our best broken Korean. Though we had to act out words for ‘beach’ and ‘swimming’, he had no problems telling us his opinions of what was at the time the upcoming 2017 presidential election.
After a few days 
bbm travels 