Wanderlust of the Asian Variety: Annyoung Hasehyo from Wonju!

My dad is living in Korea for three months teaching at a university, so the first stop on my journey was to pay him a visit. He is living in Wonju, a small town in the middle of South Korea that really reminds me of State College. It is in a valley surrounded by amazingly green mountains.

Welcome sign for my dad at the entrance to the university

My first day here was spent wandering around the university and getting my first exposure to the joys of Korean food. As you may know the main staple in all Korean meals is Kim chi, any form of pickled vegetables. All meals I've had here contain a huge amount of different Kim chi dishes along side the main course. It is also common to eat the meals while sitting on a mat on the floor, something my long American legs are not made for. I have to readjust constanstly to keep my toes from tingling.

An example of a Korean restaurant where you have to take off your shoes and sit on the ground.

A meal with my dad at the Yonsei university cafeteria. Notice the many Kim chi dishes.

The second day we went for a hike in Chiaksen national park. We climbed Nomdebong (bong meaning peak in Korean) where there was a great temple on the side of the mountain. It was a really pleasant hike, not too hard but gorgeous.

View from the peak on Nomdebong

Lanterns in the temple

After this hike, we decided to come back for a second day to make it to the top of the highest peak in the park. Often in Taiwan I found that a hike would be listed as very difficult, only to be a bunch of easy stairs to a small hill. So when we heard the hike to the peak of Birobong was considered extremely difficult, I laughed. Well Korea decided to laugh right back at me because this hike was one of the hardest I have ever done. We climbed to 1200m from sea level up a sharp incline of giant stairs, rock scrambles, and even a few places that had ropes and metal rails to helps you make it up. We actually climbed into the clouds and at the top you couldn't see more than 10 feet away making it very eerie. But the hike was beautiful and I was proud to make it to the top. I was again amazed not only at how green and beautiful Korea is, but also how clean it was. There wasn't a single piece of trash on the trail, and at several spots there were ladles so you could drink the water because it was so fresh.

Victory (or asian shot) at the peak

An example of what we had to climb up

Wonju is located in the center of the country, so one day we also made a trip out to the East Coast. We drove with only a little direction and wandered from beach to beach hitting a few war monuments and tourist attractions along the way.

Because of the continuing tough situation with North Korea, the entire beach is lined with barbed wire, and there are many guard posts stationed along the coast with guns facing out to the water. At first I thought I wasn't allowed to take his picture, so I waved. He waved back and then watched us with his binoculars, but seemed happy enough to be photographed.

This also means that there are many army bases along the coast. We saw this great sign at one beach. Shortly after, I found all the bathrooms to be locked and had to pee in the trees behind a police station. Luckily I didn't get in trouble for exposing too much flesh.

When the Korean war began in 1950, the main attack came over the border between the two countries. But right before this began there was an attack on a beach on the East coast. We found the spot where this attack occurred, and there was a monument to the civilians who lost their lives.

In 1996 a North Korean Submarine tried to land in South Korean, and 25 soldiers came on shore. They ended up all being hunted down and killed, and now the submarine has been turned into a museum. It was build for little asians, so they make you wear a hard hat when you go on board as to not hit your head.

Korean pop music is a huge culture, and I think they also have a ton of great soap operas. Many of them are filmed along the east coast, and in one little tourist stop we found the world largest hour glass to commemorate the filming of the soap opera sandglass. The clock is so big it takes an entire year for all the sand to fall through.