Where To Next?

It’s nice to get away from the urban sprawl.  While I consider Cheonan to be a nice city, a day in the countryside is always appreciated.  Luckily for me, the bus terminal is right next to my apartment, so I can escape to farm fields on the 900 bus route in under an hour.

I decided to go to Hyeonchungsa Shrine and the surrounding park for the day.  It wasn’t crowded at all, I probably have MERS to thank for that.

impressive entrance

The sun was shining and the clouds were beautiful, and it was nice and humid.  You hear many complaints about the Korean humidity, but I don’t think it’s any worse than Missouri humidity.  I would still pick gross and sticky over freezing cold any day.

I love the fact that I can take a casual walk through a site that is several hundred years old. And entering the park is free.

The shrine was built for Admiral Yi Su Shin in 1706, and like all great Korean heroes, he became heroic by battling against a Japanese invasion.  He was born in 1545 and grew up in Asan, a town neighboring Cheonan.  When Japan started heading for Korea (for the millionth time) Admiral Yi had only about a dozen ships to fight off the enormous Japanese navy.

He is also famous for coming up with the idea for the “geobuksun” or turtle ship.  Metal spikes were placed on all sides of the boat to keep those pesky Japanese soldiers from boarding the ship.

Admiral Yi’s son is also buried here. Apparently his Dad loved him the most?

Yi Myeon’s grave

It’s not the most impressive landmark you will find in Korea, but I don’t get tired of being surrounded by mountains and trees.

Every city usually has something that makes it unique.  But I’m finding most Korean cities look similar, especially in more recently developed areas with the same high-rise apartments, the same coffee chains, and the same restaurants.

I was quite pleased to find Busan has its own quirky neighborhood which was perfect for an afternoon visit.

Gamcheon Culture village started out as an impoverished and haphazardly built part of town where refugees from the Korean War settled.

Now it’s full of art galleries, colorful houses, street art, and street food stalls for the frequent neighborhood festivals.

We walked down the narrow alleys, taking pictures of all the amazing views the neighborhood offered.  The tourism office also offers a map you can use to collect stamps at different locations.  If you get all the stamps and show the tourism office, they will give you a free postcard.

someone made their exhaust pipe into an elephant head

one stairway decided to tell us how many steps there were, but we walked up and down several of them

My travel mates agreed that this would be a lovely place to live, but probably dangerous when the streets and steep steps get icy in the winter.

We found a cute cafe on a house roof and they had delicious doughnuts for only a dollar!

mmmm….doughnuts

When I go back to Busan, this will definitely be a stop.

Busan is South Korea’s second largest city and the largest port.  But this past weekend, it was also host to about 40 English teachers for a culture trip.

We set out on the KTX, Korea’s high speed train at 7:30 in the morning.  It only took us about two hours to get there from Cheonan-Asan station.  If we took the lame, ordinary slow train, it would have taken about four hours.

Everyone got a bag of snacks for the trip, a definite perk of having a trip arranged for you.

we are well fed in this program

Our first stop was Haedong Yonggungsa, a Buddhist temple right by the sea.  These pictures don’t show it, but it was quite crowded.  Everyone was trying to get down the steps that winded down the cliff side at the same time.

We also went to a market in downtown Busan, but it was essentially all t-shirts, cheap purses, and shoes.  It didn’t really appeal to me since I have zero shopping instincts.

I did see an interesting display in the middle of the road next to the market.

I think they were lanterns…maybe?

No trip to Busan would be complete without going to the beach.  It definitely was not swimming weather though.

I finally had Mexican food at a restaurant close to the beach called the Fuzzy Naval.  I don’t know what belly buttons have to do with Mexican food, but I miss it all the time and don’t care where the food comes from.  Mexican food seems to be a close second to friends and family on the list of things everyone misses from America.

the beach at night

We had to find our own accommodations if we wanted to stay the night and continue exploring Busan on Sunday.  A lot of people stayed in hostels in a dormitory, but I had just been on a crowded bus all day and I needed some space.

I found the Blue Backpackers Hostel online, and it was actually as nice in reality as it was on the pictures on Hostel World.  They also give guests free toast, eggs, and juice, and most importantly: private rooms.

big bed, check

clean bathroom, check

Star Wars playing on the movie channel in English, check

I’ll save my adventures in Gamcheon culture village for the next post.

If you enjoy mountains and hiking, then Korea will probably suit you.  Even though my apartment is in the middle of downtown Cheonan, I can walk a short distance past the highway and busy intersections to Taejosan.  There are also awesome people in my apartment building that enjoy being in nature.

The views were the best part of the hike.

I think we walked about 6 miles.  The majority was uphill, and towards the end there was a lot of uneven land going downhill but fortunately no ankles were rolled.

And there were little Buddha rock carvings hiding in between the trees.

And we were rewarded with Gakwonsa Temple at the end.  Buddha’s birthday is coming up, hence the pretty lanterns.

Next time I’ll have to try another trail, before it gets deathly humid outside.