We really weren’t sure what to do at this point. We wanted to go to Boseong to see the Green Tea fields but it was still early. We decided to just take a cab to the fields anyways and rest somewhere close by. The cabbie drove over a hundred miles per hour and we arrived about 45 minutes later by the grace of God. There were already around 30 people there in hiking gear unloading bags, cameras, and tripods. We followed them into the park and realized we could catch the sunrise over the fields then find a place to sleep. We climbed the fields (which was quite hard at five in the morning without any sleep) and stopped about 3/4 of the way up. We had an amazing view of the Green Tea Fields and the sunrise over the mountains. It was beautiful and we were actually glad we didn’t find a place to sleep and came straight here.
After sunrise we slowly made it down the hill and found a pagoda to sleep under. We slept for several hours, then had another walk through the fields, and had green tea ice cream. We grabbed a quick brunch of bibimbap and ramen and hopped on bus to Yulpo Beach to try out the Green Tea Baths. It was only about a 15 minute bus ride and the baths were great and relaxing and the perfect way to relax after being up for almost 36 hours.
After the baths we got another bus and headed to Yeosu, where we would be staying for the remainder of the weekend. The relaxing bath, and lack of sleep finally caught up with us and we all slept on the two hour bus ride to Yeosu.
We found a cheap hotel for only 25 bucks a night, Ondul flooring, unfortunately, but for the price we couldn’t complain. One couple splurged (40 bucks) and actually got a room with a bed and it had a balcony with a great view of the city. We had a nice seafood dinner (it actually wasn’t too bad for me) and then called it an early night since we hadn’t slept in almost two days.
The next day (Saturday I think) we woke up to a gloomy morning. We stopped and got coffee and umbrellas and made our way to a temple in Yeosu. Jinnamgwan is the oldest existing single-story wooden building in Korea. We stayed for about 30 minutes taking pictures and looking at the small museum about the temple. We wanted to take a ferry to some islands off the coast but with the gloomy and rainy day we decided to go to Hyangiram hermitage which is a huge temple built into the side of a mountain overlooking the coast.
Even with the rain, the temple was beautiful. After walking up way too many stairs, we reached the top. The temple consisted of several buildings of different sizes, shrines, memorials, and turtle sculptures everywhere. Apparently the temple caught on fire in November and many buildings were destroyed, but it was amazing. They had wishing stones, wells, walls, and rocks everywhere. The wishing wall was basically a stone wall that you made a wish in front of and then tried to stick a coin on the side of it. If it sticks, your wish will come true. Derek and I both made wishes that stuck, and no, we can't tell you what they were!
We made the long trek back down the mountain and stopped at a cute restaurant because it had a sign that said French Quarter New Orleans on the outside. Derek and I immediately start talking about how we wanted Po’Boys and thought it might have some western food since they had signs from New Orleans, New York, Vegas and some other U.S. cities. Of course, it was a traditional Koran restaurant but we were able to get steamed crab that was pretty good, along with Pajeon (Korean pancakes). Dinner was great and we eventually got the bus back to Yeosu.
By the time we got back to the city it was pouring rain so we went to our rooms dried off, then met up later for some flavored soju and a night on the town in Yeosu.
The next morning we woke up and took the 11:00 o’clock train back to Gwangju where we would spend the day, then take a train to Daejeon then take the KTX train to Seoul (confusing I know).
We arrived in Gwangju and went to a nice Arab restaurant in the downtown shopping district of the city. Derek and I were tired, so we opted out of going to see some monument to a massacre that occurred in the city in the 80s and had some coffee and walked around the city instead.
When we arrived in Daejeon, I was really excited about taking the KTX to Seoul. We rode first class on the train (only tickets we could get). We traveled at 300 kilometers per hour and we made the 100 mile trip in less than 50 minutes.
We finally arrived back on the island, after a long day of traveling and with a little confusion from a cabbie in Seoul, but at 12:45 we finally walked through the door and crashed. It was a great holiday with great friends, and we have to thank Buddha for the extra day off!
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