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EunYoung and I went on a one day tour to southern Suncheon. For 35,000 won (~$35) we visited three different sites. The first site was Seonamsa Temple (선암사), a temple located on the west end of Mount Jogyesan. With a packed tour bus, we climbed out and took a morning hike to the temple.
We climbed down to the bottom and took pictures under Seungseon Bridge. Unfortunately, once we were down there and had crossed the stream, there was no way we were going get back unless we got soaking wet. I like to imagine I’m cool enough to cross rivers and climb things like some kind of action hero (which is how I was able to cross in the first place), but no … I’m in my late 20’s and definitely not agile and thus we were stuck.
From the distance, a Korean gentleman called out to us and asked if we needed help. Like in a drama, he slung his DSLR all dreamily to his side and directed us on how to climb the rock and he took our hands and caught us when we jumped. Haha we told his girlfriend that he was such a hero, and she giggled.
Our next stop was Naganeupseong Folk Village (낙안읍성민속마을), located in Jeollanam-do Province. There’s a castle and about 100 families still live there! Their laundry hangs outside, you see vegetable gardens being grown, and people are going about their every day life. I had never seen straw roofs before on Korean architecture before, it was quite pleasant! The castle walls are well preserved, it’s so beautiful from up there. EunYoung showed me the torture devices they used in the old days, and we even got to see a cute pony ^_^
We then went to the Suncheon Bay Ecological Park. The reeds are beyond beautiful, gorgeous against the bright blue sky.It is the biggest colony of reeds in Korea. There are about 140 species of birds including the snipe, wild duck, and wild goose. I saw none of them hehe.For lunch we had deep-fried cockle (Kkomak Tangsuyuk 꼬막탕수육), which was deliiiiiiicious! We then walked through the reeds and then hiked Mt. Yongsan Observatory. It took us 40 minutes to hike up there, and as we watched one of the most beautiful view I have ever seen, we realized we had just 30 minutes to get back on the bus. Friends, I have no idea how I made it down that mountain in 10 minutes without breaking some bones. Suncheon was amazing. I would have loved to stay there for the weekend rather than rush through everything in just one day. Go to Suncheon, it is beyond amazing and a perfect place to live the last days of autumn.
From Korea With Love 
I loved Suncheon! I met some really nice ajummas who gave me some snacks and I met this retired professor who actually taught in America for a while. Her husband didn’t speak English but was very kind. I actually ran into them in Yeosu the next day, it was quite funny. I, too, wish I could have stayed longer. I went there before I left for backpacking, it was the last week in March I believe, so it actually looked quite similar I did different things there than you did but I did the ecological park. I haven’t blogged about it yet I don’t think but Ill let you know so you can see what it looked liked at a different time of year :).
That’s so nice meeting random pleasant strangers! I still dont know how you traveled alone through out south east asia. You are one adventurous chica!
There are advantages and disadvantages to both ways of traveling. If you are alone you get to have more interactions with other people because you are forced to be more social plus you can do whatever you want but it does get lonely. Doing things in groups is nice because you are building layers in a friendship and you are never alone but you do by accident get closed off to some things. It wasn’t always necessarily by choice to go it alone but I got to see a lot of things I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t done stuff on my own :). You are just as adventurous in different ways, for example I freeze on stage and forget all my lines :). Looking forward to the next post girl! 😀