Korean Job Discussion Forums

[noraebang]

Have you visited a place in Korea that you really enjoyed and not many people know about? I'm interested in finding out about them. I've made it a goal to visit 40 different locations in Korea with my 52 weekends in the next year.

[air76]

40 interesting places in Korea? Good luck with that one. You might want to lower your sights to maybe 10 mediocre places.

The only places I've been in Korea that were anything better than "meh" were the fish market in Busan and riding my motorcycle around Jeollanamdo.....I've taken a couple dozen trips around Korea and for the most part they were all disappointing.

I'd recommend saving your money and going to a Japan and China when you've got more time off.

[WTP Trust]

[AsiaESLbound]

I heard about this Andong place with the Hahoe mask village that might be a cool thing to do with a friend or two.

I wanna see that Gyeongju place in the South. I think there is a lot more than most of us know about, becuase English information is lacking and no one is going to give you a talk about what you should go see and do as in promoting it, providing directions, and specifically accommodating foreign tourists. Korea might be for Koreans only, but you are free to get lost in translation in the process.

[Smee]

Well, in a small country with, historically, limited information in English, there's not a whole lot of stuff to see off the beaten path because nearly the whole path is beaten. But, getting out of Seoul will be a start, because most people never make the effort. In addition to the big tourist places (Gyeongju, Andong, Suwon Fortress), here are a few off the top of my head that might qualify:

* Samseonggung, a large palace site in Hadong county built almost entirely of stacked rocks, is impressive and well off the beaten path (scroll down for pictures)
http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2008/11/cheonghak-dong-and-samseong-gung.html

* There are some sheep farms in Gangwon province

* There are a few bullfighting festivals each year

* Eat whale in Ulsan: http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2885230

* The Jinju Lantern Festival is really nice each fall (but it was cancelled last year b/c of swine flu)
http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2008/10/million-people-went-to-jinju-this.html

* Ansan's Asia Town
http://www.zenkimchi.com/FoodJournal/korean-food-101/food-hoods/fatman-and-seoul-eats-in-ansan-asia-town/

[air76]

[furtakk]

GyeongJu is definitely overrated, but still worth the visit. I personally think Andong is a lot more interesting.

As someone else said though, there isn't much 'off the beaten path.' If something is worth visiting in this country, expect a horde of tour busses filled with ajumma and ajosshi when you go.

[PatrickGHBusan]

You can easily find 40 interesting places in Korea.

There are many hidden gems that remain so because tourism is not that well developped in Korea.

As a starter you can focus on temples (there are some amazing temples in Korea,, not the most popular ones mind you).

You can also focus on historical sites, national parks....

Visit places at various times of the year for local festivals, seasonal activities....

You can easily find 20 very interesting places right off the bat.

Of course, interesting depends on what you like and how you approach things.


Now about this:

[teretere]

The gem locations of Korea have unfortunately mostly been ruined by "development" -- i.e. ugly concrete high-rises and strip malls.

[AsiaESLbound]

I seen something on the internet a while back about this gigantic toilet that's a house. Serious. In my town, there is a ship apartment house where it's 2 floor metal ship on metal stilts with stairs leading up to the 4 apartments. There's really little to do in Korea, but view oddities like these and ponder at how Korean people interpret and integrate things from your culture. Like all the foreign flags and odd English in fashion with kids doing things like showing you a hamburger picture in their book and saying, "meegook, very good" and smiling. It's a didactical waste of time, but killing time I am.

[The Grumpy Senator]

There is tons to do here if you look for it.

For example:

Ganghwa Island- Forts and battlegrounds from the French and American encounters at the end of the nineteenth century and ancient dolmen burial stones.

Dan-yang- The Dodam Sambong rock formation in the middle of a river and Go-su Caves.

Jeju Island- Seongsan Sunrise Park, Jeongbang Waterfall among the many things there.

Gyeongju- Mentioned before, but I found fascinating. Cheomsongdae, Anapchi Pond, Namsan Mtn. Pulguksa, the tomb of Kim Yu-shin. Towards the coast, there is Gulguksa Temple (great temple stay where they study the martial art of Sunmudo) and the underwater burial tomb of King Munmu.

Hwasong Fortress in Suwon- Probably my favorite place in Korea. So peaceful to walk around the wall. It is about 7km in total and a great way to spend a quiet afternoon.

Yeosu- Southern coastal town where Admiral Yi Sun-sin was headquartered during the Japanese invasions of the 16th century. You can tour some of the original structures and visit shipyards where turtle ships were constructed. There is also a turtle ship you can board. I also recommend Tongyeong for sites involving Admiral Yi.

Busan- Taejongdae (dinosaur tracks and nice ocean views) and Haedong Yonggungsa Temple (seaside Buddhist Temple) just outside the city.

Enjoy your time here.

[air76]

[The Grumpy Senator]

[air76]

My entire post was not bashing Korea...I did say that Gyeongju was worth visiting, just that it doesn't live up to the hype....I also said that the Boseong tea fields were OK.

There are some things worth doing here, but 40? That's pushing it.

[jvalmer]

I've found almost every place I've visited in the world is kind of a let down. The only exception being the great wall. Most places are advertised as big, but when you get there, they are usually puny and defaced with graffiti by the local teenage population.