Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Papa Smurf]

I've got 8 or 9 days vacation coming up. I fancy taking some trains and buses, and seeing some stuff.

Anyone care to share any tips or itineraries?

Cheers

[Kurtz]

I'm a big fan of Jeollanam-do.

Get a bus to Jeonju (Jeollabuk-do) Check out the old city. Head to Jinan and go walking in Maisan Provincial Park, and check out Tapsa, an interesting rock temple.

Get a bus to Mokpo.

Get the ferry to Heuksando, either sleep there or continue onto Hongdo, Both very nice places.

If you like hiking, do a day trip to Wolchulsan National Park.

From Mokpo, head to Boseong tea plantation. Continue onto Yeosu.

Check out Yeosu, get the bus to Dolsando. Spend a night there, and get up at sunrise to view an awesome sunrise from Hyang-il-am (hermitage).

If time allows, do a walk at Jirisan.

[Unposter]

Go to Seokcho. Work your way down the east coast to Kyungju or even Busan. You will love it. Breath taking views, temples, beaches, mountains, historical sites and caves and other interesting natural environments. The coast is nice.

There are some nice areas around Seoul, too, such as Kongju, Puyo, Songnisan, Icheon and Yeoju.

I forget where it is but if you like Buddhist temples, I would recommend He-in Sa.

Being a tourist in Korea is totally different than having to live here.

[njp6]

I second the above two posters as well (especially the Jinan area). Another area worst checking out is Danyang, cool caves to see (a bit touristy though) and the temple complex of Guinsa--the best series of temples I've ever seen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinsa

[ChopChaeJoe]

If you don't mind humping it up ad down moutains (and if you do, forget backpacking in Korea anyway) head out to Gangwon do for a few days. Try Odaesan park. You could either start from the top or bottom of the trail close to the town of Jinbu. At the top is a couple of temples, the larger beig Silsangsa (I think)and there are several on the way down to the bottom one, which is Woljangsa (maybe, been awhile.) Great scenery, it's about a full day's hike withexploring and breaks. You can have free meal at the temple.

Then try Seoraksan Park on the side opposite from the city of Seokcho. It's got much less tourist traffic but is every bit as beautiful. You could start at the tourist village or the Baekdamsa temple, if you want to skip some walking and take a bus, ad make your way up the mountain to Oseam hermitage. You'll truly feel 'top of the world, ma' up there amongst the granite peaks.

Then you could bus it over to the Naksansa temple, somewhereon the coast close to Yangyang. It's a swell seasidetemple, and from there just hike dow south along the coast.

Really, there's a lot to see if you want tobackpack in Korea. Just take a bus out to some farming village and headin any direction. You'll meet friedly people and see off-the-beaten-path kind of stuff. Take care on hiking along road after sunset, but otherthan that, it's entirely safe.

Bring a camera and plentyof memory cards/film.

[crossmr]

You should read the book "A walk through the land of miracles". its a little old, but the author walked from jeju island (after taking a ferry) to the DMZ to retrace the steps of the first europeans who crashed here then wrote about it.