My Korean Life #60: 순천

Today, I bring you pictures from my trip to 순천 (Suncheon), another destination along the southern coast of South Korea. There are two areas that I'm going to highlight: the Suncheon Bay National Garden and the Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve. The Suncheon Bay National Garden was featured during the Suncheon Bay Garden Expo 2013 and was constructed in order to preserve the bay area. Within the gardens is a station for the SkyCube, a personal rapid transit system. The Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve hosts the biggest colony of reeds in Korea and also attracts a large number of rare birds. It was formerly named the Suncheon Bay Ecological Park and can be viewed from the Yongsan Observatory which is on a mountain near the wetlands.

Map of the Gardens

Wing Sculpture in the Korean Garden

Inside the greenhouses

Dream Bridge

 

Windmill in the Netherlands Garden

Weather was great to take in the fall colors

Suncheon Bay National Garden

The above picture is from the 일품 restaurant near the entrance to the wetlands. The set menu comes with a ton of side dishes as well as a large plate of 꼬막 (cockles). There are small tools connected to the table for opening the cockles. There are other restaurants similar to this one that line the street in front of the wetlands. Normally these restaurants cover the tables in disposable paper or plastic to make clean-up quicker easier. Do note that you have to sit on the floor

The following pictures are from the Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve. There are were ton of people there and the pathways around the reserve were packed. The easiest way to get to the reserve is to drive but many others were taking public buses and taxis. Getting back out of the area is a bit of a challenge. Many people go to the wetland reserve to see the sunset so after sunset there are massive amounts of people trying to get back out of the area. Suncheon is a smaller town and doesn't have that many taxes or buses to begin with. Those with personal cars were also stuck in the parking lots for quite a while as well. When I left, after walking up the street for a few kilometers, finally a taxi came around that wasn't reserved in advance or already full of people. Back at the bus stop near the wetlands entrance, there were at least like 40-50 people lined up...probably more. I recommend making a taxi reservation in advance, driving yourself, or going earlier in the day when it is easier to catch a bus back to town. I suppose you could also ride a bike or walk there and back from town, however it would take a while (~8-9km). [Update: Apparently when I visited there was a festival going on so that's why there were more people than normal]

Near the entrance to the wetlands - there are board walks and paths through the reeds

Mud Flats

View from the top of the Yongsan Observatory

Reeds forever

Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve

As always, stay tuned for more content soon! 

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My Korean Life #54: 제주도 (Jeju Island) - New Discovery

For years my friends have been telling me to visit Jeju and were surprised to find out I had never been (even though I have been traveling to Korea since 2011 and have lived in Korea since 2014). Most if not all of my friends that have visited Jeju had nothing but nice things to say about the island. They raved about the waterfalls, beaches, hiking, and sightseeing opportunities. After hearing this for years, I felt like Jeju had been so hyped up in my mind that I was set up for disappointment. This past June, I finally made the trip to Jeju and, to my surprise, was not disappointed at all.

First, is how insanely cheap you can find flights to Jeju. While the major airlines have plenty of flights, so do the many budget airlines that operate within Korea. For my flights, I booked on Air Busan going to Jeju and JinAir for the return. Jeju does have its own airline (Jeju Air) but for the dates I booked Jeju Air's ticket prices were not the best. If you use search engines like Kayak or Google Flights you may have to visit the airline websites individually for pricing but it's totally worth it. You'll save a lot of money.

Second, are the amount of lodging deals there are for Jeju...and just affordable lodging in general. Korean online shopping portals often run weekly travel specials and Jeju is a common destination. Many people choose to stay on the southern end of the island since a lot of the sightseeing options are located there. However, there are plenty of options in Jeju city where the major airport is. The hotel I stayed at is relatively new and was running a lodging and breakfast special for a fraction of their normal summer rate. Below is a map of where the hotel is as well as a room tour I filmed - the room was huge and so was the bathroom. The bed was big and comfortable and the room faced the ocean! The breakfast buffet had plenty of options and the dining area was large and accommodating.

Third, transportation - while many elect to rent a car while in Jeju. I didn't have that opportunity since I didn't have an international driver's permit at the time nor a Korean driver's license. However, there are buses and plenty of taxis available even on the southern end of the island. There are also buses from the airport that can take you to your hotel. I heard some people hire taxi drivers for the whole day, picking out some places they want to go and basically having a private driver for a flat rate. These daily rates (or for however long you need them) are negotiated with the driver. One taxi driver we talked to offered to take us around for an afternoon for a flat rate of KRW 60,000. I ended up using mostly buses and taxis however having a rental car is much more convenient and actually cheaper in some cases.

I'll be detailing more of my trip in future posts! Thanks for reading!

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My Korean Life #38: USA Holiday 2015

Originally, I had not planned to return to the USA over the holidays but, since I know once I gain full employment here in Korea vacation will be scarce, I decided to head back to the USA to see my family and friends.

I am thankful I still have quite a few frequent flyer miles from my business travel days so the actual monetary cost of the ticket was minimal. My dates were also somewhat flexible so that also helped out with the impact to my miles/dollars split. I was able to return to the USA for a full two weeks. My previous visit was just a week and I was jet lagged and busy with family functions the whole trip. This trip was very different - relaxing, not too many scheduled events, and less family functions.

When flying from Korea, My preferred route on United is the following (ICN - NRT - wherever after). This is because United still uses really old 747s with roof mounted screens in economy for routes like ICN - SFO. I much prefer the 777 out of Narita to wherever my next connection or destination is. Unfortunately to get to my hometown there is no direct flight from Seoul. My chosen itinerary had me traveling for over 24 hours.

If I were to summarize my trip in a few words it consisted of family and food. I enjoyed many foods that are either difficult to find in Korea or very expensive in Korea. I also spent some much needed quality time with my family. It had been over a year since I had visited my parents' house and seen my hometown.

I also got to see some friends that I grew up with. All are seemingly well on their way in their young adult lives. One of my friends now owns her own event/wedding business, one is a lawyer, another a nurse, another works in finance.

I have posted many of the pictures I took on another social media site but will repost them here for you!

Have yet to see Yuengling in Korea

Sandwich and chips at home

Sandwich and chips at home

Gluten-free pancakes, eggs, and bacon!

Homemade lasagna 

Cherry limeade fix

Bonus: My gift wrapping skills

In hindsight I should have taken more things back to the USA to store than I did. Don't worry parents, it wasn't going to take up that much of your precious storage space ;) I have a lot of old language school material and such that I could probably do without. Anyway, until next time! Stay warm!

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