Summer Vacation!
Tomorrow morning I leave on a six or seven day trip through the southern provinces of Korea. It’s going to be a bit of a whirlwind; I generally like to travel in a deeply relaxed fashion, but since I’m not sure I’ll be traveling within Korea again, I want to try and see several places I’ve heard a lot about.
So, the tentative itinerary! 
I’ll be starting in Daegu, the capital of Gyeongsangbuk province. Depending on how early I arrive — I’m catching a bus from the Express Terminal in the morning — I’ll either spend the afternoon doing museums and get an early start on Monday, or head straight for Haeinsa Temple. It’s supposed to be one of the more spectacular Buddhist temples in Korea, surrounded by stunning foothills and ancient stone monuments that miraculously survived the endless succession of invasions and torchings that have plagued the rest of the country’s historical sites. My hope is to spend the night at the temple itself, as I’ve heard great things about temple stays, but the templestaykorea website is down, so if there’s no room I’ll just find a place in town or something.
I’m then planning on spending two to three days in Gyeongju, a town about 75km east of Daegu. It has amazing national parks in every direction, and the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Korea, a library containing what are supposed to be the oldest surviving woodblock carvings of the original Korean Buddhist teachings.
Then I’ll be heading west — possibly back through Daegu for an afternoon, to see Jikjisa Temple — to the Gwangju province, in the southwest corner of the country. The town of Mokpo is the gateway to a huge group of little fishing islands just off the coast, so I’m hoping to hop around by ferry for a day or two before making my way back up to Seoul.
It’s been a very long time since I traveled completely alone, and I’m really looking forward to it. Seoul was weird tonight. Everybody is either gone or packing, and it feels very… filled with potential. I can’t wait to hear about everyone else’s trips, they’ve gone to some sweet places: Jen, Trish and Kate went to Vietnam, flying into Hanoi and out of Ho Chi Minh City; Doug went to Busan [might run into him down south, speaking of which]; Christina went to Bali, taking a ferry to Lombok [which is actually a really cool place; the fairly short ferry ride between the two islands marks the biogeological line between the very different Indomalayan and Australiasian ecozones]; Linds and Denise are leaving early tomorrow for Jejudo (“The Hawaii of Korea”, they call it… I’m skeptical); Cat is leaving for Daejon on Monday; Andy and his girlfriend are off to Shanghai on Tuesday; Elgiz is already in Turkey, has been there for almost two weeks, but will be back at the end of vacation. It’s pretty cool how convenient the lifestyle here is for massive diaspora come vacation time.
Anyway, I’m all packed and ready to go, so wish me luck!
July 27, 2008 at 8:24 am
Isa tonight and read back through about 15posts. Being terribly distracted by the goings on with th younger and older generations in my world I kind of forgot about your pages. Having a lovely catch-up-on all conversation with your mom to celebrate Z’s 21st, she reminded me of your journeling for our entertainment, education, and enlightenment…so tonight, with Lucas busy at Comic-con (eat your heart out), Amanda setting up her new nano, and Unclemikey somewhere prowling about, I thought I would ignore the dishes and the fact that I should be makng dinner and get caught up. I am particularly fond of the mud festival pictures…it brings back memories of hours at the beach spent buried in the cool goo, happy childrens’ faces (including yours- sorry even as a man you are still a nephew and therefor remain a childish category), and your positive dental adventure. At this point you may be on your solo quest, and I look forward to the pictures of temples, parks, and other scenes. Your embracing everything around you is wonderful and I sense the people you have met, taught, and otherwise shared this experience will be better for your part in their experience. Please save the name and address of the dentist, I am due for x-rays myself and since it has been a while since I have needed any extensive work done and since I dropped the second insurance policy (I figured out that the premium over 5 years cost about twice the benefit) I may need his services…with frequent flyer miles – it may save me a bundle. If you get this before you go, I would love to see some photos of the wildlife…describing a part of korea as the hawaii of mde me think of the hours we spend there lookin at birds, lizards, varments, and fish. cheers and happy trails!
July 31, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Hey Patty, it’s great to hear from you! I’ve been following Lucas’ flying exploits of late, creepy-older-cousin-ly enough, through his facebook status; it sounds like he’s doing really well. Perhaps if I can get the timing right enough, I could skype you all sometime; you are, I think, 16 hours behind me, which makes it a bit complicated, but I’ll see what I can do as I’d love to say hi to Luke and Amanda. My vacation isn’t quite done; I’m still in Gyeongju, probably heading back to Seoul tomorrow late afternoon, but it’s been fantastic so far. I’ve seen a metric crapton of temples, and eaten endless kimchi varieties, and it’s generally been really good to get away from everything for a couple of days. I’ll get an update on the “Hawaii of Korea” theory tomorrow as well, and let you know; where I am, the vegetation is gorgeous but the wildlife leaves a great deal to be desired. Pretty much all I’ve seen is bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. Some of them attractive and interesting, don’t get me wrong, but bugs nonetheless. Ah well.