Road Trip part 1

From December 26th-January 4th, I went on a road trip all around Korea. I went with 3 others, none of which I knew before going, but I was in need of adventure, so I went and it turned out to be an amazing trip. Though there were 4 of us for the long haul, we met many people in the different places that joined us for parts of the trip. I think in all, we traveled with about 15 different people at one point or another. It was really interesting to see how it all worked out and fun to meet so many different people and see so much of Korea. I have a TON of pictures from the trip, so I decided I'd write a 3 part blog about the trip. This is part 1!! And this picture first picture is the car we lived out of for the trip.

We left Seoul on the morning of the 26th and the first stop was Gyeongju to see Daereung-won Tumuli Park that is full of ancient burial mounds. There were tons of the mounds that were especially big. There are smaller mounds all over the country side. Every time we went hiking we would see more.

Next stop was Golgul Temple where we did a temple stay. We stayed the night at the Buddhist temple and did what they did for a day. We learned how to meditate, do some of the Sunmudo moves (the martial arts that this temple is known for), and even had to wake up at 4am to do there ceremony which included bowing, chanting, and more meditation. It was a really interesting experience. My favorite part was that they food. Buddhists are vegetarians, so I could eat everything they served!! The video is from a little demonstration they put on about the Sunmudo.




After a night at the Temple, we stopped by the Bulguksa Temple before heading to Busan, the second largest city in Korea. Me and Se-Jeong are rubbing the boar because it's suppose to bring us wealth.

In Busan we met up with more people, while also bringing 2 along from Gyeongju. We walked around the city a bit, took a ferry tour ride to see the coast better, and enjoyed the ocean.

Because Busan is on the coast, they are known for seafood. They eat some really crazy stuff! The seafood market was really entertaining! The other picture is from a restaurant we ate at for lunch. I thought while I was on the topic of food I should add this one. There are so many side dishes that I usually just don't order anything and I eat the side dishes, since the main dish is usually meat, and the side dishes are mostly vegetables. It's incredible how much food they give you.

Just on the outskirts of Busan is Haedong Yonggungsa. It's a Buddhist temple on the cliffy shore. It was a really beautiful place, a bit touristy, but still cool. They had statues of all the different Chinese animals that represent the year you're born in. I'm the year of the rat.