Wild Korea

This is a description of a trip I did at the beginning of May in 2005:

On Monday I got a bus to Chungju (no, that’s not the same as Cheongju where I went last week, even though it’s in the same province of Chungcheong buk-do.) And from there got a bus to the Songye Valley. I got off at Deokju village and found a minbak, the Weolsong Garden – had a big Korean-style room (sleep on the floor with a huge choice of bedding available.) Twenty bucks a night. I showed them where I had written that I am allergic to wheat, so they made me for dinner: acorn jelly, a very tasty large potato pancake, a large bowl of rice with some vegies – I think it was like bokkum-bap (Korean fried rice) with a broth added. The ajumah tentatively gave me some kimchi and when I ate the spicy cabbage she gave me some more. She wrote down that she would provide dinner, breakfast and a packed lunch, plus the accomodation for 40,000 won (US$40). Sounded good to me.

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This was just a short trip- stayed in Cheongsong overnight and then went up to the Juwangsan National Park. This is one of Korea’s more isolated and less-visited parks. Started up a valley after a visit to the temple next to the entrance booth. Went up close to the head of the valley. There’s an interesting artisan’s village up there. Came home that night with the weather turning to rain. Here’s some photos.

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South Korea has twenty National Parks. There are also Provincial Parks, forest recreational areas, local parks, and interesting and scenic area with no particular protected status. There are hundreds of interesting islands off the coasts, ranging from tiny ... [Continue reading this entry]