So I think my favorite part about South Korea so far has been this road trip. Evan had the brilliant idea of renting a car, which proved to be economical and afforded us the time to move at our own pace on our way to Daegu, and to make some pretty cool stops. Mike took off work for the day to head out to see some dinosaur prints on Saturday. The view from that beach was unbelievable. The water was so warm and clear and there were beautiful rocks and seashells on the shore which I couldn't help but grab a few of. The dinosaur prints looked like little circular divots in the rocks spread out over the water. We were surprised when we turned the corner and saw that one dino was still just hangin around. Little Samjin seemed to be enjoying himself in the water which was cool cause I figured the ocean might scare him.
After walking on the little boardwalk over the prints we grabbed some food at this raw fish joint overlooking the water. No much food for me, but I did get to eat some kimchi and rice. Laura, Evan and Mike ate some pretty interesting fish, some came out in crazy colors like deep yellow and orange. They got to try some octopus as well!
It was getting kind of late in the day at that point so we headed back to Jinju to see if we could catch Ana before she left from work but we missed her and so we were a bit late driving out to Daegu to meet up with her (she had gotten on a bus). The ride was very scenic though and the sun setting behind the mountains was quite a site as well.
We finally found our way to Daegu, the fourth largest city of South Korea, picked up Ana and looked around for a place to eat. We enjoyed some fine burgers and cheese fries, one of the only places we saw at the time that had some outdoor seating so we could keep Samjin with us. They forgot to bring out Evan's order so that was a little frustrating, but all was well once he devoured his mushroom burger. Time to find a place to stay for the night! We bumped into one of Ana and Mike's friends who recommended a motel up the street, and after checking it out decided we might try to find something a little nicer since there were five of us. We looked up and saw the Novotel building and headed towards it. Evan, Mike and I went in to check about prices and were told that one room was only $115. We booked it without bringing Ana and Laura in...sneaky! Ana put poor little Samjin in her bag to sneak him in, and Laura went in with her so as not to be suspicious. The room was beautiful and had to full sized beds so it was perfect for all of us. We were on the 11th floor so the view of the city center was great. In the morning Mike went to the hotel gym and Ana and I went up to check out the spa on the 23rd floor. No one was in there so we had the whole place to ourselves! The hot tub, which we soaked in for about a half hour was about 104 degrees and veeeery relaxing. They had showers up there as well with little water buckets to wash off. It was pretty awesome.
So after checking out we walked around the city and Ana, Laura and I split up with Evan and Mike to do some shopping for a bit. We came upon this cute shop with beautiful dresses that were reasonably priced and all walked out with something. I wish we had found this street earlier cause by the time we got out of that store we needed to get back to the car to meet up with Evan and Mike, but every store we passed seemed to have something I wanted. heh, oh well. Saved me from going overboard.
We got back in the car, stopped to eat some yummy porridge, and then drove out of Daegu in search of the Gayasan National Park which had Korea's most famous temple, Haeinsa as its setting. We arrived just in time to see the ceremony that the monks hold which start around five or six. The weather had cooled down by that point and the mountains made it even cooler. This was my favorite place so far in Korea. It didn't feel so touristy like some other temples and shrines we had visited and the sound of the gongs going off set a very peaceful mood. We walked around the site and watched the ceremony. On our way out we stopped and tasted some pine tree drink that a woman was selling and she gave us some really yummy things that kind of tasted like figs. We got back in the car and headed back home to Jinju.
The following day Ana and Mike had to work so Laura, Evan and I walked around the market area again and bought some fruits and vegetables. Ana and I went out to dinner at a veggie friendly restaurant which had amazing food, and Laura and Evan went out to dinner to celebrate their five year anniversary. Mike stayed home because Laura showed him how to hook up his guitar to his computer to amplify the sound and record music on GarageBand, so he was pretty excited and preoccupied with that, which none of us could blame him for. After dinner Ana and I met up with Laura and Evan to get some drinks at this bar called Bobos. We watched some of the Olympic games there, those women archers were fascinating! Afterwards Ana took us to the Tosta lady who makes awesome egg sandwiches from this cart right outside by the bar we were at. Definitely not the healthiest midnight snack, but delicious!
So now its early the next morning and Ana and Mike have left for work. I think Laura, Evan and I are gonna do a bit of hiking in Jinju, this being our last full day here. Tomorrow we leave for Seoul with Ana around 5ish and stay there until Saturday which marks our last day in South Korea. Jinju has been awesome and quite an eye opener so it's time to make the most of the last day!!
Ciao!
xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment