THE MOST AUTHENTIC KOREA
Yes, yes, Seoul is really cool: cafes, movie theaters, signs in English, Western food... but is this the only Korea? Get a little outside the capital and you'll encounter something very different...
DANYANG
About 2 hours to 2 hours and 15 minutes from Seoul lies this small village on a riverbed, surrounded by mountains and two natural parks (Woraksan to the west and Sobaeksan to the east).
As soon as you arrive at the bus or train station, you will realize that it is not going to be a walk in the park... unlike in Seoul, local buses only have signs in Korean, and the information panels showing their schedules/routes will not be very useful to you.
To make matters worse, there are no ATMs with the “Global” logo (the only ones that accept foreign credit cards), so you have to carry a lot of cash or exchange currency at one of their NH banks on the main street of the town at a pretty bad exchange rate.
Fortunately, there is a fantastic tourist office (located opposite the bus station, across the bridge) where they also speak English ☺️ and where they will provide you with an indispensable document: the bus guide to tourist sites.
Well... how do we translate this?
At the top of each section, you will find the departure points for the buses: the “Danuri Center Terminal” is the bus station itself; the “Tourist Hotel” is the Edelweiss Hotel at the other end of the city, following the main road west (it is a huge building and impossible to miss). Regarding the latter, buses do NOT depart from the hotel but from the regular bus stops nearby; the hotel is only a reference point.
The times in the left column indicate when the bus departs, and those on the right indicate the return time at the FINAL destination.
The city's main attraction is the Gosu Cave, on the outskirts of the city, a 10-minute walk from the Tourist Office.
It costs 11,000 won to enter (very expensive for Korea) and it's not one of the best caves I've seen: it's very large but not particularly beautiful.
Beyond the cave in Danyang itself, there isn't much else to do except rent a bike and ride along the wonderful bike path that runs along the river.
Woraksan National Park
Getting to this national park from Danyang is quite a challenge... it's only 30 km away, but with my level of Korean, it's a world away...
Let's get started
You arrive at the bus station and ask for a ticket to Bokpyeongni. It's a junction between a main road (Route 36) and a secondary road that leads to the park. They won't know about this at the ticket office, so it's best to take a map with you or ask the tourist office to write it down in Korean and show it to the ticket clerk.
Get off at the Bokpyeongni stop where there is a huge bridge (you have to tell the bus driver, or show him the word “bridge” in Korean, or tell him to stop at the Worak Youth Hostel).
You've reached the bridge. Now you have to hitchhike for 5-6 km to get to the park entrance. I have to say that every time I hitchhiked in Korea, I always got picked up quickly ☺️
And once in the park, there are several routes to choose from to climb its highest mountain, Yeonbong.
The most direct and difficult route is veeeery steep, and it will take you about two and a half to three hours to reach the summit. There isn't even a false flat. The entire path is quite impassable except for the final part (stairs)... but hey, we made it ☺️
Don't come back later than 7:30 p.m. or you won't find any buses to take you back to Danyang... and one last piece of advice: bring mosquito repellent. Lots of it. Seriously...
Sobaeksan National Park
It's much easier to get here. There's a direct bus marked with the number one in the guide above, which drops you off almost next to the Park Information Office.
The climb up Birobong Peak, which dominates the park, is long (7 km) but infinitely easier than the previous one (about 3 hours to the top); I would almost say they even lay down a carpet for you to climb on 😜
It's a good way to spend a morning, but it won't take your breath away... especially when you reach the top and can't see anything because of the fog.
Guin-sa Temple
Anyone interested in taking a meditation course or simply learning about Buddhist culture can take a bus (again, consult the guide above) to this enormous temple surrounded by mountains, flowers, and nature.
Although everything is very well maintained, it almost seems more like a school than one of those mystical Buddhist temples you find in Japan or Myanmar. It seems a little... “bureaucratic”... but hey, unlike me, avoid accidentally wandering into the monks' dormitories and everything will be fine 😅
For more information: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=1634462
DAEGU
And from the small town to the big city...
Subway, signs in English... very, very easy.
At first glance, Daegu is the archetype of a large, modern city, but if you dig a little deeper, you will find some very interesting details.
Curious is its semi-pedestrian street dedicated to medicinal herbs.
Shop after shop filled with all kinds of plants, bottled roots, wood (?), and even deer antlers!
Walking into one of these shops is like stepping into the secrets of an ancient alchemist's laboratory: tubers in formaldehyde, the aroma of herbs and spices, and a gaunt shop assistant half-hidden behind sacks and sacks containing God knows what...
Unfortunately, everything is written in Korean, and in the end, you don't know what each ingredient is for, but the neighbors have created a fun and interesting experience around the neighborhood: for example, outside each store, there is a caricature of its owner.
And in the central square there is a kind of fountain where you can soak your feet, as its waters are supposed to have medicinal properties.
To get here, get off at the Banwoldang subway station and walk about 500 meters west along the main avenue.
Gatbawi
If you have only one wish in life and desperately want it to come true, you're in luck: this man is going to help you fulfill your dream.
This peculiar Buddha is called Gatbawi (in Korean, I believe it means “the healer”) and legend attributes miracles related to healing and health to him (in fact, I met a woman who had overcome cancer and was making a pilgrimage up the mountain to thank him ☺️).
The healing seems to have evolved to another level: granting you a single wish if you climb the 800-900 meters up the mountain (about an hour's climb) and pray to him.
I don't know if my wish will come true, but along the way I met a nice Korean couple who “adopted” me: they gave me candy, bought me a scarf (why?), invited me to eat, and took me back to Daegu. Wow. The people in Korea are incredible...
How to get there: Take the subway to Daegu Train Station. Exit through Exit 6. About 20-30 meters to your right, you will see some escalators going down. Go down. Once down, on your right, about 50 meters away, you will find the bus stop for bus 401, which will take you there in 45 minutes.
Non authentic Korea: Hahoe Folk Village
A big disappointment. It's on UNESCO's World Heritage List and is heavily advertised here in Korea, so it looked promising... but the reality was very different...
It is supposed to be a village that not only preserves traditional Korean buildings but also follows ancient customs. So one expects to find farmers plowing the fields as in days gone by, traditional craft shops, things like that...
Well, it's true that the houses are old.
But that's where the magic ended. I arrived around 10:00 a.m. and it looked like a ghost town or a movie set. There were no locals, only tourists; you don't find those old shops either, there are only souvenir shops and a few bars...
The visit is saved by the delightful Mask Museum 1 km away: charming, informative, and small (a museum doesn't have to be huge to be excellent).
I could go on talking about the temples in the area, but I don't want anyone reading this to die of a Buddhism overdose... Let's move on to the last city in this post (but not in Korea).
GYEONGJU
What a name... I don't think I ever managed to pronounce it correctly in the three days I was here 😅
It is a small town on the east coast of Korea nicknamed “the museum without walls” because it is dotted with various monuments that blend perfectly with the modern part of the city: tombs of ancient kings, Buddhist temples, and solitary pavilions lost among the rice fields.
The truth is that it's a nice and interesting place; there are bike lanes running along the main roads of the town, but that doesn't stop residents from riding on the sidewalks when there are no bike lanes. If you smile and say a few words in Korean, you can get a discount at bike rental shops (1 hour for 3,000 won, 2 hours for 5,000 won).
But paradoxically, it looks better at night than during the day: the famous tumuli (small artificial mountains built to serve as tombs for various kings) do not evoke any feelings during the day, but at night they are impressive.
The place you CANNOT miss at night is Anapji Pond (2,000 won and open until 9:30 p.m.).
It is a group of pavilions built on the edge of a lake filled with lotus flowers which, if you go on a windless night, will treat you to some spectacular views.
You can easily walk there from the town center (15-20 minutes) by following the main road eastward... or you can simply follow the trail of people who make their way here every day when the sun goes down.
But you have to do something during the day, right?
If you enjoy hiking, there is a huge network of trails in the mountains south of the city, in a village called Namsam (any bus with a 500 and something number will take you there in about 15-20 minutes; ask the driver to drop you off at the Sangseonam stop).
In ancient times, various hermits and monastic communities inhabited these mountains. Their legacy is a wealth of works of art scattered along the paths in a completely random and fortuitous manner, making for an entertaining walk as you go “treasure hunting.”
Or you can also enjoy nature itself.
One of the most common routes, and one where you'll find the most “treasures,” is to climb up Mount Geumbong and descend to the village of Yongjangni (or something like that, haha) to catch the bus back to Gyengjou... It takes about 3-4 hours, and the climb isn't too difficult, although the descent is quite challenging...
Between these cities and Seoul, you can easily spend two and a half weeks in Korea. There are many more things to do in the cities described above, but we don't want to overwhelm our already long-suffering readers...
Those who like a more modern Korea should not miss Busan, the cosmopolitan city in the south: the best beach in the country, good nightlife, and the world-famous street food for which this city is renowned.
A picture is worth a thousand words….
And that's where my stay in Korea ended. It's not the most spectacular country I've visited, but the people are extraordinarily honest and kind, and for that reason alone, it's worth coming to the other side of the world ☺️
If you liked this post, let me know by leaving a comment!
And if you want to read more about South Korea: https://999millas.net/category/paises/corea-del-sur/
Next stop : Sri Lanka !
Texto y fotos : Mike !
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