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Published: February 21st 2013
Having spent two years in this architecturally-ugly/mountain-pretty city, I thought I'd share some lists I made for people newly arrived to Daegu. Regular readers can just skip ahead to the next entry. Most pics are from other blogs--I just wanted to advertise the places a bit ~~
My Favorite Places in Korea:
-Ulleungdo (Ulleung Island)--really steep hills, awesome rocks, and beautiful views and water colors
-Tongyeong and Bijindo (Bijin Island)--Tongyeong itself is kind of a port city, but it has a replica Turtle Ship, cool mural-covered neighborhood up a hill, outdoor art museum, and lots of ferries to nearby islands like Bijindo, where you can camp on the beach (semi-illegally)
-Upo Wetland—nice day-trip to nature; good place for bike riding or a stroll
-Waterfalls near Bogyeongsa (Bogyeong Temple)--easily the best small waterfalls on mainland Korea that I saw; nice, pretty-easy hike/walk, and if you go far enough you may have some privacy to swim in the creek
-Hiking everywhere: Apsan, Palgongsan including Gatbawi, Gayasan, Seoraksan
-Jejudo (Jeju Island)-- “Hawaii of Korea”; see next post for info about Jeju
-Jinju Lantern Festival—the best festival I went to in Korea
-Gyeongju—nice historical town where
you can rent bikes and cycle in the country; also beautiful at cherry-blossom time; and there are restaurants famous for delicious sundubu jjigae (soft-tofu stew) there
-Temple stay at Haeinsa—learned about Buddhism and had an insightful weekend
-Haeinsa and walk down the hill along a river in Gayasan in the fall
-Jeonju—nice historical city with huge hanok (traditional Korean house) neighborhood; most important is that they're famous for bibimbap and makkeoli; people there were also pretty friendly
-In Seoul, my favorite area is Bukchon
-Gangwon province in general is a really pretty part of Korea. Inje rafting was exciting and the areas near Samcheok and Yeongdeok were also pleasant.
Wish I would have:
-Kayaked near Jinju
-Hiked Dinosaur Ridge at Seoraksan
-Hiked in Jirisan
-Visited west coast islands like Seonyudo
-Explored Paju pottery/art village
-Done more camping and more going to the beach + combo of those two
-Visited Busan more
Top places in Daegu:
-Bullo-dong Tomb Park
-Daegu Art Museum
-Daegu Arboretum
-Palgongsan
-Apsan
-Neighborhood near Hyeonchungro and Anjirang towards Apsan—nice older houses and good
restaurants and coffee shops
-Any of the thousand or so cafes
Helpful websites:
-Buying food, toiletries, etc. from the US with cheap shipping: www.iherb.com
-Daegu bus information in English:
http://businfo.daegu.go.kr/ba/index/index.do?locale=en -Trains all over Korea: http://info.korail.com/2007/eng/eng_index.jsp; unfortunately the bus system is not well organized in English. You'll have to do some research for buses.
-Facebook groups: In Daegu, and Daegu Info Guide
-The Korean version of Amazon is Gmarket and there's an English version—good for buying toaster ovens or microwaves, because delivery is cheap and fast (1-2 days usually)--http://english.gmarket.co.kr/
-For teachers: www.waygook.org—lesson plans, materials, powerpoint games, and forums about life in Korea
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