Destination: Daejeon, South Korea

Welcome to Daejeon – South Korea’s fifth-largest city, and second-fastest-growing city only to Seoul. According to Wikipedia, it’s population as of 2005 was 1,451,792, and is about an hour and a half south of Seoul by train. I came from the south in...

Destination: Hurshimchung / Heosimcheong Hot Springs Spa (Busan, South Korea)

Author’s note: the two spellings above may cause confusion. In each case, the spelling and pronunciation is based on the Korean for the place – 허심청. The former is how the place refers to itself, while the latter is the proper Romanization –...

Destination: Chungnyeolsa (Busan, South Korea)

충 녈 사 (Chungnyeolsa) is a shrine dedicated to a number of Koreans killed during the Japanese invasion from 1592-1599. Imagine a small number of unprepared Koreans attempting to fight off a Japanese invasion force that was armed with matchlock guns – sound like...

Destination: Busan Museum of Modern Art (Busan, South Korea)

Opened in 1998, the Busan Museum of Modern Art has helped enhance awareness of the national art scene. One of the more popular tourist attractions in Busan, and one of the larger ones as well – but all of the space makes the place feel underused or...

Destination: Nampo-dong / Gukje Market / PIFF square – a look at some amazing local culture (Busan, South Korea)

Three distinct things to do within walking distance of each other? This is the sort of thing you can’t plan for – they just sort of happen while you’re on vacation 🙂 Nampo-dong, Gukje Market, and the PIFF Square made my night in Busan two nights in a...

Destination: Taejongdae Park – the sea, natural wonders, and a Buddhist temple (Busan, South Korea)

Insert my usual warning about lots of photos – be patient if you’re on a slower internet connection 🙂 태종대, or Taejongdae, may have won my vote for ‘favorite destination’ of 2008. The time spent here was wonderful, relaxing, and filled with...

Destination: Geoje-do / Oedo Paradise Island – a gorgeous destination in South Korea

거제도 (Geoje-do) is the second largest island of Korea (about 383 square kilometers in size), and home to some spectacular sights along the southern coast of Korea. I’ll give full credit to my Korean friend Hun Ji for planning and getting us around from one place...

Destination: Tongyeong – a southern seaside town celebrating plenty of history (South Korea)

Tongyeong is a small town (population 134,082 according to Wikipedia) about as far south as you can go in mainland South Korea. This town is the gateway to another destination, Geojedo, but we’ll get to that destination in another post. My Korean friend Hun Ji...

Destination: Lotte World – South Korea’s biggest indoor amusement park (Seoul, South Korea)

Imagine Six Flags under a roof. Now make the signs in Korean but still enough English to be tourist-friendly. This is Lotte World. Arguably one of the largest indoor amusement parks in the world, Lotte Worlds outdoor section complements the indoors quite nicely...

Destination: an exploration of Bundang

Bundang is a district in the city of Seongnam with a future. It’s pretty far away of Seoul, though it’s connected to Seoul via the subway system and some of the longer-range buses. Without knowing much more than that, I set off on the subway to explore....