Bus Tour - Day 1

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HAPPY 24TH BIRTHDAY CATE! Sorry we're not there to celebrate. But we're thinking of you! XOXOXOXO



Very early start as we had to be at the Hana Tour (name of tour company) bus pick up location by 7:30a or bus would leave without us - not really, but you never know. Halahbujee arranged for a 7 day/6 night bus tour of South Korea. There may be places where we get the name wrong or mix up order of stops and perhaps not refer to all stops and just the ones that we remember. Please forgive us as the days are very long ( today our day ended at 8p) and bus tour involves sometimes 30 to 1.5 hours of driving and then hopping off and hopping back on to go to next location, and again everything is in Korean, imagine that!

Our first day brought us to a Iksan Jewellery museum. Then back on bus to head to Miruksa, a large Buddhist template built in 602 by King Mu. There are 526 (as of 2015) historic sites in South Korea. Miruksa is #150 and has significance as it shows the growth of craftsmen moving from wooden pagodas to stone pagodas. PLUS, we learned that if you see temples in Japan with the pointy pagoda tops, they were built by Baekje Korean craftsmen.

Stop for lunch which consisted of a lot of "ma". Not sure exactly what this is other than it is a root vegetable that's very good for you. The restaurants on the Hana Tour are all above average rated restaurants with a reputation for excellence in local cuisine. This Ikan and Jeonju area of Korea apparently is known for "ma" so restaurant served "ma" raw, fried, marinated, in a wrap, in chili, etc. In fried form, it was like potato. In raw form, like crunchy Korean pears without the sweetness. Halahbujee really liked everything on the menu.

After lunch it was on to Jeonju Hanok Village with its traditional Korean houses and many shops selling all kinds of food. We made some traditional potpourri pouches and then strolled the streets while sipping cold beer and chilled fizzy lemonade. Halahbujee wanted to get his caricature done - so cute!

Since we're so near the coast, dinner consisted of "gejang" which is raw crab marinated in soya sauce. Halahbujee had this. It was Halmonee (mom's) favourite. Robb and Ann opted for crab stew - spicy COOKED crab soup. JoSo had "donkatsu" which is deep fried breaded pork cutlet. Everyone was full after.

Close of long day brought us to Gusan Best Western, which is actually a really really nice hotel. With the exception that it is quite remote so other than a small 7-11 store nearby, there's NOTHING around other than the Yellow Sea which was visible to the west.

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