After an exciting first day in Jeju, we were ready to continue our adventures with a packed day of exploring Seogwipo. I started my morning early, going for a quick run around a park near our hostel, and I was pleasantly surprised by the scenery. Palm tree lined paths allowed look out points cut out from the greenery, and I finally found the view of Cheonjiyeon Waterfall that we had such a hard time finding the day before.
Following my run I met back up with the girls for a quick coffee, and then we were off chasing another waterfall. We grabbed a bus that took us to the entry point of Jeongbang Waterfall and then let the pathway guide us to the falls. I let my eyes glance down the staircase taking us to the edge of the waterfall where I saw colorful spots of people along the rocks lining the water.
Ironically, the day before I had been dying to escape the hot humidity that is Korea in July and dive into the water at the Cheonjiyeon Waterfall. Little did I know that was exactly what was allowed at Jeongbang. I couldn’t have gotten my shoes off any faster.
Once we had taken 100 or so photos we decided to leave the refreshing mists of the falls and start making our way to Sanbanggulsa Temple.
Our directional skills failed us slightly on the way to the temple, but that simply gave us an excuse to explore the countryside streets of Jeju. After a bit of a walk back from our mistaken bus stop, we set eyes on a giant golden Buddha and knew we had made it to the right place.
Sanbanggulsa Temple is known for a few different reasons. One is the immense golden Buddha we could see from the street, but another is the grotto which houses another Buddha statue. We toured various corners of the temple and eventually decided to start the hike up Sanbanggulsa Mountain towards the small cave.
We donned our hard hats as a precaution for falling rocks, followed the stairs, and about 20 minutes later we found ourselves in front of the cave. A woman was there devoutly making her 108 bows which was fascinating to watch as she must have been in her 80s. The idea of her making it all the way up to the cave and then proceeding with her bows is incredible dedication. We let her finish and then, as respectfully as possible, took some pictures and soaked in the space.
In my travels I must have visited dozens of various temples at this point, but each one grabs my attention in a new way. They are so beautiful and feel so sacred and offer such an interesting insight into the beliefs of those who follow the respective religion.
After making our way down from the grotto we walked around the grounds a bit more. Then we were back on a bus headed towards our hostel once again to grab dinner – a delicious black pork burger which the island is known for.
The next day would be a busy one of traveling up to the northern side of Jeju.
Finally it was summer vacation. One thing I’ll say about Korea is that there’s a descent amount of public holidays, but they really don’t space them out efficiently. I joyfully boarded the small plane that would be taking some friends and I to 
We knew that the Cheonjiyeon Waterfall was within walking distance and at some places could even hear it. Finding it was another task entirely though. We walked around the island following maps and street signs for what felt like hours. Eventually we made it to the park for the falls, where we walked along the path stumbling upon little bits of character all the way.
After lunch our group split up. One friend and I decided to brave the 90 degree heat and walk the town. Along our way we found a bustling street market and a charming café filled with vintage books and tropical leaves on each stainless steel table top. I also had the best coconut ice of my life.
Always in search of an enticing weekend get away, when a friend mentioned this festival last winter I was equal parts gung-ho and yet seriously questioning my desire to spend the weekend in a teeny tiny town surrounded by snow. Ultimately I decided that if nothing else it would be an adventure, and I purchased my ticket.
It started with a fish pedicure. Essentially you put your feet in a pool of water, and these little fish eat away any dry skin. While it feels really weird at first, once you get used to it, it’s not bad, and your feet are incredibly soft once your leave. I had the opportunity to have it done in Thailand as well where it’s a bit more common and the effects were, possibly, even better than a traditional pedicure.
And so, after our pedicure we taxied over to his office and walked into a small building with about 10 or so beds for acupuncture separated by curtains. We had a Korean friend go with us who signed us in and helped us translate. While the acupuncturist has assistants who help him do some of the work, he actually feels your energy and places the needles himself. He somehow managed to know the year I was born simply by holding my wrist. We left 40 minutes later feeling relaxed, and I personally was feeling very zen.
One of the wonderful parts about living in Korea is that the country is small enough to be able to make it to any coast just to spend a weekend away from the city. After a stressful week post 2016 election, some friends and I were looking for a peaceful weekend away, perhaps on a beach. We decided to head out for central Korea, towards a city named Sokcho. Near the larger city of Sokcho are both Seoraksan Mountain, as well as, a cozy little beach town, Ingu. Both would be my destinations for Saturday and Sunday.
My travel mates had previously hiked through Seoraksan National Park so we decided to part ways for a few hours as they went straight to Ingu, and I left for the mountain.
Ingu is a tiny surf town that runs about four blocks long and is set against the Sea of Japan. There are coffee shops, burger restaurants, and countless surf shops. This appears to be the city where all of the few Korean hipsters have settled. It is amazing.
After leaving the coffee shop it was time to get to the beach. While my friends hit the waves, I opted for the warmer option of reading a book on the sand. Somewhere in the middle of chapter two, a beautiful friendly golden retriever came up and sat down right next to me on my blanket. His owner seemed to be mortified, but it was everything I could do to keep him right next to me for as long as possible. Once again, perfection. Calming, peaceful, quiet perfection.
As a young girl being raised in the suburbs of Chicago there are a lot of teams you cheer for throughout your life. In my family baseball was our sport and the Cubs were our team. I grew up going to baseball games be it my brother’s games, minor league games, or Cubs games. Baseball was a comfort sport. I knew the rules, I knew what team I cheered for, and I knew to order a Chicago dog and beer at Wrigley field.
Fall in Korea is beyond gorgeous. Even being from a place with a nice fall season, I was mesmerized by the colors on the trees in this country. Everything becomes painted with shades of orange, red, and yellow and seems to stay that way for months. Set against the backdrop of mountains and blue skies it makes for a dreamy walk to work each day. That said, with all of its beauty Korea unfortunately lacks in the customary autumn festivities. There isn’t any apple picking or hot apple cider. Starbucks doesn’t serve pumpkin spice lattes. Halloween is not celebrated. There is no pumpkin carving or scary movie marathons on TV. While the weather is beautiful the traditional feeling of fall can be hard to come by.
We made it to the festival expecting to see stands selling apple cinnamon baked goods, apple cider, apple wine, and of course miles of red spotted orchards to go apple picking. What we discovered is that even in its best efforts, Korea’s idea of an apple festival is unfortunately quite lacking in the standard festivities we are used to from the United States. Ironically, the festival was less about apple themed festivities and more about apples themselves. SO MANY APPLES.
various types of tea, and even a little apple juice. It turned out there weren’t any apple orchards for picking bundles of apples, or at least not that we could find, but at that point we were happy just to be taking home our apple pies.
A string of national holidays in October leads to a number of long weekends in the beginning of fall and a lot of opportunities to explore the country. One of these holidays is National Foundation Day which is a celebration of the founding of Korean as a nation. While this year I’ll be doing some adventuring outside of the country, last year I used the the extra day off work to explore Nami Island {one of over 30 islands in Korea} with a friend.
Towards the end of the day we went off the beaten path a bit and discovered a quiet area on the edge of the island by some water to watch the sunset. As we started making our way back to catch the ferry home we realized that those “balloons” from the tree lined path were in fact little white lanterns that magically lit up the trail as we waited in line for the ferry. A perfectly charming ending to a long and exciting day.
We left early Saturday afternoon for an overnight stay on the island. Catching the subway and bus were fairly easily, and we got only slightly turned around once we got off at our stop. The next bit of the trip was much more memorable as we realized we would have to walk across an incredibly narrow bridge, lacking any kind of guard rail, as cars and busses drove by; some slowing down to avoid us and others not so much. After about ten minutes of cautiously creeping our way along, a middle-aged man offered us a ride across the rest of the way. And just like that we graciously accepted the offer hoping the backseat of a stranger’s car would be safer than the treacherous bridge. It was a good call too because we ended up just making the last ferry of the day. Once on the island we found a local bus driver to take us to the beach, and made it right in time for sunset.
bbm travels 