A Trip to Suncheon
Children’s Day is here! May 5th is to celebrate the children, so we had the day off from work. Lily, Chris and I decided to take a trip to Suncheon since they both haven’t been yet. Lily and I had Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off, while Chris didn’t have Friday off so he was going to head back home on Thursday.
We took the KTX from Seoul to Suncheon. When we got there we dropped off our bags at Hotel Iam, grabbed a quick lunch and then headed over to Suncheon National Gardens. The weather was perfect; sunny and breezy. We wandered around the garden (both sides of the river) for hours.
We were so exhausted, we passed out in our hotel room when we got back. After a nap, we went to find some dinner. We thought we found such a good restaurant, and were excited when we saw pork soup on the menu…. little did we know that it was cartilage and intestines. Definitely an acquired taste. Chris and Lily were so funny competing to eat the peppers.
To cool down their mouths we went to Evergreen Cafe. The owner was absolutely amazing. He gave us free rice crackers with our drinks. He came back later and gave us yogurt and tea. It was such a nice experience to end our first day in Suncheon.
The second day, we took a taxi through the valleys to Naganeupseong Folk Village. The lady at the information booth gave us a stamp map; if we went to the certain locations we could get the stamps. So, instead of going straight into the village, we headed over to Ppurigipeunnamu Museum. There were lots of artifacts and information on this area.
We returned back to Naganeupseong Fortress and walked inside. There are still residents living here today! We saw some people gardening and going about with their lives. We strolled past the lotus pond and into the summer prison. Chris gave us quite the scare when we were looking at the mannequins that they had posed in the prison.
After the prison, we walked up the stairs on the side of the fortress wall and then walked along the top of the fortress wall. At the top of the hill, there was a great view of the whole village.
We stopped at a small tea shop to cool off and decide what we wanted to do next. The problem was that the public transportation came so infrequently that it was difficult to get anywhere. And, taxis weren’t even available in this area because it was so remote. So, we decided to take the bus back to Suncheon city instead of going to another place, because Chris had to be back to take his train back to Seoul.
Not us, missing the bus because we accidentally sat on the wrong side of the road. We decided to grab some lunch while we waited for the next bus. The lunch was huge and so good! It mainly featured cockles.
There were several beautiful cafes in the area. Since the bus still hadn’t come, we walked into Cafe Rowa for a drink.
Since we had some extra time before Chris had to catch his train, we walked along Dongcheon Stream. There were ladies jamming out to trot songs as they did Zumba. We sat and relaxed at Benisaf Cafe for a while.
After, we went to Jukdobong Park which is part of Bonghwasan Mountain. At the top is Yeonjaru Pavilion. On the way up, there was a sign to properly show how to walk up the stairs. Lily and Chris were hilarious employing the techniques. The view of Suncheon was beautiful, and there was a telescope that we used to see some of the places up close.
We walked Chris to the station and then got some dinner. After dinner, we weren’t ready to head to our hotel quite yet, so we went to Brewworks for some dessert and drinks. If this cafe was in Seoul, I would be going all the time. They had some nice jazz going on, and the desserts and drinks were delicious.
Our last day in Suncheon, we took the bus to Suncheon Bat Wetlands. Last time I had been here, the trail on the mountain was closed off. This time I was able to climb up and see the view of the wetlands. It was super beautiful but very hot out.
We ate a quick lunch of kalguksu near the wetlands and then took a taxi up to Seonamsa Temple. It has a huge stone bridge (Seungseongyo Bridge) arching over the water. The bridge has been in some dramas including “My Roommate is a Gumiho.” The temple itself was stunning. Most of the buildings were brown wood, because the painted had faded off of them. There were lanterns set up for Buddha’s upcoming birthday.
Closer to the entrance of the temple is Wild Tea House. We dropped by and sat at the tea house. To enter the rooms, you are required to take off your shoes. We sat cross-legged on the wood floor and drank green tea. It was so peaceful with the drizzling rain.
We were once again stuck in the countryside with no way of getting back, and no way to know when the next bus was coming. Naver Map was not helpful, and the taxis weren’t available. We decided to walk along the road. We walked until we came to a convenience store and the lady was kind enough to let us know when the bus was coming. We made it safely back to Suncheon after catching the bus. And, so ends our time in Suncheon!