Blogs from Jeollanam-do, South Korea, Asia

9a Departure from Gusan. First stop was Gusan Modern History Museum. Tour was entirely in Korean so Halahbujee followed the tour group and RoAnJoSo chose to do self-guided visit of the museum. From what we could gather, Gusan or Gunsan is a very fertile area where rice grows in abundance. This made it a very attractive target for Japanese pirates, and during the Japanese occupation of Korea, it served as a major rice storage and distribution area. Still touring along the coast so lunch was seafood congee (Sophie picked out the clams and mussels) and a huge seafood pancake (Sophie ate the edges which didn't have any seafood). Food was very good. Stop number two was Naesosa Temple. This Buddhist template was established in 633 CE (CE = common era = AD). There were two temples ... read more

I had arrived late in Gwangju the night before. We were staying in a hostel that was about a ten minute walk away from thr bus station. We had a private room at the hostel and it was small, but clean and cosy. Breakfast was included, so we headed up to the kitchen to make that, eggs, bread, plastic cheese, hash browns and hot dogs, it made a nice change from the usual hostel breakfasts of eggs, jam and bread. We headed to the bus station and used one of the machines to buy tickets. I love those machines, no need to interact with a human. I can't remember how much the ticket was, but it was less than a man won. We had a bit of a look around the bus station before boardung our ... read more

15th Aug: We left late the night before from Nambu Bus Terminal in Seoul at 11:30 pm. We were on one of the posh buses only three seats in a row and we were in the first row, so we had loads of leg room to dump our stuff in. The traffic was good, an we arrived in Tongyeong very early, around 3:30 am. We had a lot of time to kill, as we weren't catching the ferry until 7:30. The bus terminal was pretty tiny and ghetto. It was pissing down with rain, so we sought refuge in the only place that was open a 24 hour McDonald's. We all ordered a meal, I had a 1955 burger, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We managed to stay there until about ... read more

23rd Aug: We left Seoul just before midnight for the long drive down to Jelloanam-so. We are heading right to the bottom of Korea. I scored a double seat to myself. It's a shame it wasn't comfortable! Also as we headed south the rain started to pelt down. 24th Aug: We arrived at Wolchulsan National Park around half four in the morning. After Warren handed out torches and muffins, we were off up the mountain. It wasn't raining at this point, but we all grabbed a poncho, just in case. It was 5 a.m. We walked a little way through the national park to the start of the trail. It was pitch black still and I'm glad I had the torch. We came to the start of the proper hiking and there was a temple there. ... read more

This was mostly written in the Yeosu bus terminal so I am on my way outa here (to where? You will have to wait and see). Spent two nights in Yeosu cos getting here was such a trial – what could go wrong did go wrong (the trials of travel – one of worst ever but you have to just grin and bear it sometimes). Had got some info at main Busan station just up the road from hotel but I think only the fast KTX services. Was directed by station staff there to go to Bujeon train station (10 mins away on same subway line) for train to Suncheon, change to Yeosu. So far so good there. I got there and had about 8 mins to get a ticket but the old pensioner dear in ... read more