Last night I arrived in Bologna after 20 hours of travel from Taegu (or Daegu), South Korea. After three weeks in Korea, I can surely say that I have become even more dedicated to Korean food than before. But that’s not all. It was a really terrific trip and I’m so grateful to my friend Jean and her family for hosting me, and to the many friends whom we met up with along the way for spurring on our adventures.
The basic idea of the trip was as follows: Natasha (another close friend from Boston), Jean and I started our journey together in Seoul, South Korea's capital. Natasha and Jean had arrived a week earlier in Taegu, and were therefore much less jet-lagged than me. We stayed with Jean's mom's cousin, who also happens to be the vice-governor of Seoul. Not bad! We explored like crazy, thanks to an amazing subway system (and cheap cabs for whenever we got lazy).
After four and a half days in Seoul, we went back to Taegu and settled into the gorgeous apartment of Jean's aunt, or Imo (her mom's eldest sister). Taegu is South Korea's 3rd biggest city - and it felt super big, though not as all-encompassing, consciousness-swallowing as Seoul. For the record, Seoul is the most overwhelmingly big city I have ever visited - it's massive! It doesn't help that there are no street signs anywhere. People just know where they are, and everyone has a navigation service in the car.
We then had five days in Taegu, which we spent hiking, visiting Buddhist temples, seeking out beaches in nearby Pusan (unfortunately it rained), and generally enjoying a slower pace. On Wednesday night, three more friends arrived - Hannah (Jean's college roommate), Hannah's friend YunJa, and Tony, a friend of Natasha's. On Thursday the six of us set off for Jejudo, which my Lonely Planet guide calls "Korea's Holiday Island". Armed with a lovely vacation house, courtesy of Hannah's uncle, and a rented SUV with a priceless navigation service, we spent the next four and a half days seeing absolutely everything we could. Jejudo is a volcanic island with lots of outdoor activities (plus a few bizarre indoor sights, like a Teddy Bear Museum). We managed to keep busy even though the sun was out only a few times.
After a quick flight back to Taegu, our friends gradually took off for other destinations. Jean and I spent the final few days finishing up our sightseeing and trying to eat as many spicy foods as possible.
This first blog entry will serve mostly as a photo deposit. When I’m less jet-lagged and more alert, I’ll write more!
One of many beautiful trees at a bonsai garden - Bunjae Artpia - in Jejudo. This was one of our favorite spots.
Kimchi pots - they're huge!
A stormy beach on Jejudo.
At a park in Seoul. Apparently the city spent millions of dollars to create this artificial stream, which is lined with flowers and plants. Lots of people stopped to dip their feet into the water - us too.
At Jeongbang Pokpo waterfall, when it was finally sunny.
At Sangumburi Crater, Jejudo's second-biggest, in haze of fog and rain. We all bought lovely ponchos!
2 comments:
Wow. These photos are spectacular. Volcanic islands! Manhattan became a psuedo-Volcanic Island last week, albeit only for a few hours, when this steam pipe exploded and lava spewed out along 42nd street.
Spectacular!
I love these photos, too! And the travelogue. And I think I recognize that dish from live dinners with eeeeems in Cambridge.
more, more!!
xoxox
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