Trip was mostly a bust because it rained the whole time, but Kristen and I did have some excellent rain adventures on Saturday. Friday was gorgeous, but we spent most of the time in transit–until we rented our bicycles and took off into the setting sun and rice patties galore. Read more…
Well my exciting Magoksa Temple Stay Festival turned out to be somewhat iffy. It seemed as though things were really poorly planned, especially since my tour group showed up with 2 buses instead of the 1 that they apparently said they were bringing. They were also an hour and a Read more…
Jeonju (전주) is a small city just south of me, about an hour’s bus ride from the Yuseong terminal. On Sunday, I went down to explore the traditional building district, or Hanok district, of this small, delightful city. I spent a lot of time walking. It was comforting to wander Read more…
[In this episode, we wander aimlessly until an ajumma hand-feeds us, get on a boat, and spelunk.] This weekend, Kristen, Tom, and Lee, and I headed out to Chungju, a town (or tiny city), northeast of Daejeon. Chungju is the proud owner of the Chungju Dam, a hydro electric extravaganza Read more…
Last weekend was Korea’s independence day (March 1, 1945–from the Japanese), and it’s a national holiday–which means that I had a very exciting day off. To pass the time, I went to a soccer game with Tom, Kristen, and Kristen’s friend from Suwon. Daejeon was playing FC Seoul, and we Read more…
[In which we ride the oldest bus in Korea on the twistiest roads in Korea, and are forced to eat temple food by an enthusiastic monk.] Lately Gongju has simply been the best place to start for intriguing day trips. People in search of some interesting destinations around Daejeon would Read more…
Daejeon is conveniently located in what used to be the Baekje Kingdom. During the Three Kingdom’s period of Korea–before Korea was a unified country–from roughly 55BC to 668AD. Baekje, Goguryeo and Silla fought and shifted borders, and at one time throughout the 700 year period, each one controlled a large Read more…
On Sunday, Stephanie and I headed out to Songnisan National Park. Songnisan is a little ways north of Daejeon, and it is quite famous in the summer months. However, in the winter months, it is snowy and quaint. The little town outside the park entrance was sleepy, but full of Read more…