The Jindo Moses Miracle

The Jindo Moses Miracle is one of the world's most amazing natural phenomenons happens twice a year in Jindo island, the third largest island in Korea next to Jejudo and Geojodo island. It's nearly the end of February and mid of June, during low tide, a land path of 2.8 kilometers long and 40 meters wide is revealed, connecting the islands of Jindo and Mondo for about an hour before being submerged again. This amazing phenomenon resembles 'The Splitting of the Red Sea' in the Book of Exodus in the old Testament, that's why this event is called "The Miracle of Moses".

A festival called The Yeongdeung Festival is dedicated to celebrate this natural wonder. During the festival, original folk plays of Jindo are performed and would draw tourist from aroound the world into Jindo island.

(Picture courtesy of : Korea Tourism)

For local transportation from Jindo-eop bus terminal, take a bus to Jindo island or Heodong-ri

You can read the full history and the legend behind this amazing natural phenomenon on Visit Korea web. (Source: Visit Korea)

Shop till you drop in Dongdaemun!

It was my last night in Seoul when I jumped on the subway then got off at Dongdaemun station and strolling around the huge Dongdaemun Shopping Mall.

Dongdaemun Shopping Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul, is the largest shopping centre in South Korea. Opened for the first time in June 1905, the market has become one of the most popular markets in Korea especially for clothing and its accesories. With more than 25 shopping malls and 30,000 speciality shops you would find anything you need to dress your head to toe. When you get tired from shopping you would easily find eateries both inside and outside the mall where 'Pojang Macha' stalls lining up along the street and enough to satisfy your craving for Korean food.

The main street divides Dongdaemun Market into two section.

Section 1 is more for retail shops where the atmosphere designated for young people and the facilites such as information desk and money changer make it easy for the tourist. This section open from 10 am till 5 am the next day, you can say that this market is also a night market as well.

Section 2 is more for wholesale and since mostly for wholesaler there are no facilities such as dressing room, the market in this section open about 8 pm till 8 am the next day.

Dongdaemun

Across the shopping complex, you'd find one of Seoul's famous landmarks: Dongdaemun Gate (East Main Gate). Originally called Heunginjimun, this National treasure was built by King Taejo in 1396, renovated by King Danjong in 1453 and its present structure was built by King Gojong in 1896. Although the gate is generally known as Dongdaemun Gate, many people still call it Heunginjimun with the intention of preserving its old heritage. The easiest way to get to Dongdaemun is by subway line no 4 and get off at Dongdaemun station, take exit no 4 and walk for about 5 minutes.

(Source: Korea Tourism)

(Picture courtesy of : Korea Tourism)

Nami island

Nami-seom or Nami island is another 'romantic spot' in Korea, located in Chuncheon City this beautiful tiny island attracts 1.5 million visitors on average year. According to wikipedia, its name originated from General Nami, who died at the age of 28 after falsely accused of treason during the reign of King Sejo, the seventh king of Joseon Dynasty of Korea. Also known as 'Naminara Republic' since 2006, it's an imaginary country that has invented its own passport, currency, stamps for promoting its tourism. Naminara Republic is fully equipped with facilities including Tourist Info Centre which provide currency exchange for the tourist.

Famous as the shooting place of 'Winter Sonata', a famous Korean Drama by KBS in 2002, the beautiful forest path of pine trees is a must see spot in this island.

(Some snaps in Naminara Republic)

We opted to get to this island by bus from Dong Seoul Terminal headed to Chuncheon, after one and half hours ride we got off at Gapyeong bus terminal. Staff from our hotel suggested to take taxi from this point to Nami-seom wharf which would cost about 8,000 won, just say "Nami seom ga juseyo" he said, but we decided to take our own adventure riding the local bus from Gapyeong station, it took us only 10 minutes to the wharf where we boarded the ferry for another 10 minutes to the island.

If you'd rather take the train, you can take train from Cheongryang-ri station to Chuncheon and then take taxi from the station to the ferry wharf.

Enjoying the beautiful Naminara Republic for about 2 hours wasn't long enough for us but we had to rush back to Seoul for our last day visit in the city and yet to visit another places on our list.

(Our mode of transport: local bus and ferry)

(Nami seom's map, courtesy of Chuncheon City)

All In House

Jeju is the best natural shooting place, many famous Korean drama series or movies were filmed in this island, just name it: Jewel in the Palace (Daejanggeum), All In, My Girl, Goong and the list still goes on.

Our trip in Jeju was quite short so we only managed to visit Seopjikoji from All In and the other one was Daejanggeum shooting place. All In House is more like a museum that provide everything about the drama. The All In House opened its door on June 3, 2005 and it's the first drama memorial hall in Korea. The House located in a beautiful shore of Jeju's southern district called Seopjikoji.

(All In House in Seopjikoji)

As for Daejanggeum shooting place, it's hidden in untouched coastal scenery, the beautiful ocean and stunning view of cliffs and surrounding rocks is simply breathtaking, if you are visiting Jeju island, it's one of must see destinations.

(Daejanggeum shooting place)

Submarine Tour in Seogwipo

Still in Jeju island, Seogwipo is a port city located in the southern part and is the second largest city on the island after Jeju city. It's much smaller compared to Jeju city but you would be amazed by the view from both above and under the sea.

Seogwipo port

There are two options to enjoy the underwater scenery, either scuba diving or submarine. Submarine is the easy way and who would go for scuba diving in winter time? We went down to the very end of the harbour to find the submarie tour desk in a building shared with the cruise tour. The 'feeder boat' took us to the submarine docking are, where the crews escorted the passenger one by one to the submarine boat, given times to take picture nobody missed this chance to pose with the submarine and surrounding rocks. Stepping the ladder all the way down the bowel people settle down in small benches facing the glass windows on each side of the boat. The excitement begun when we saw a diver swimming through followed by a huge group of fish. It really was a unique experience enjoying the beauty of coral reef and colourful underwater life. With the minimum lighting we couldn't take good shots but it really was an enjoyable trip we would love to go back.

The beautiful sea of Seogwipo

The underwater view from Submarine

Jeju Folk Village

Jeju Folk Village is a place where you can see and experience the native's culture of the island as well as species of native trees. Jeju Folk Village has a range of tradtional folk collection from around 1890's, more than 100 traditonal houses and over 8,000 pieces of folk articles are also displayed. The houses on display comprises mountain village, hill-country village, Jeju old administration office, and fishing village including the women diver's house. You can also find the traditional marketplace like restaurant, convinience store, and souvenir shop.

(Jeju Folk Village)

As we joined a local tour, lunch was included so we didn't bother what's on the menu for our lunch. The traditional Korean dishes served on a long table, including the local famous Jeonbokjuk (abalone porridge), fried fish, hotpot and not to mention a range of Banchan (Korean side dishes) including kimchi, fried anchovy, and potato salad. Don't expect for a big portion of abalone porridge considering the price, but I was quite happy with a small bowl of this healthy and yummy soup. Lucky that we mingled very well with a lovely family whose daughter speak English fluently so we didn't get lost in translation. This time I didn't manage to take good pictures so no food pictures to share for this post.

Admission fee is 6,000 won for individual, open from 8:00 to 17:oo in winter, and open a bit longer in summer (18:00). Jeju Folk performance can be enjoyed 3 times a day, but better check the schedule beforehand.

Jeju Love Land

Jeju Love Land or Sex theme park is an adult only theme park, the only park of its kind in Korea, featuring 140 works of arts created by 20 artists from Hongik University in Seoul. Opened for the first time on November 16, 2004 the park has become one of top tourist spots on the island. The park is only 10 minutes from Jeju International Airport, open from 9 am till midnight and costs 7,000 won for admission. I do recomend to visit this park in the evening when the naughty yet humorous sculptures lit up by beautiful lightings. The official website describes the park as 'a place where sexually-oriented art and eroticism meet, breaking the traditional taboos surrounding love, and is a place where visitors can appreciate the natural beauty of love'.

Jejudo (Jeju island)

Jejudo or Jeju island, formerly called Cheju island, is a volcanic island located in the southern part of South Korea. This relatively small island has many beautiful and unique tourist spots across the island. If you are Korean drama or movie lover you will find many 'romantic spots’ where many popular Korean drama scenes were taken such as All in and the famous Jewel in The Palace (Dae Jang Geum). This island with its fantastic and mysterious spots indeed is a perfect place for honeymoon.

(Night view from Yong Duam Rock)

Here are the spots list from my Christmas holiday in Jeju:

• Korean drama shooting places (All in and Dae Jang Geum)
• Mysterious road (a road where you can feel optical illusion)
• Osulloc tea plantation
• Lotte Hotel Garden
• Tangerine and mushroom farm.
• Seongeup Folk village
• Seogwipo sub-marine cruise
• Mongolian horse show
• Pony horse riding
• Hapy Town (Chinese circus)
• Dragon Rock (Yong Duam Rock)
• Dongbokri woman diver, a village where you can try all kind of fresh seafood.
• Love Land (Sex theme park)

I am very happy to rate Jeju island as the most beautiful island in the world! During my 3 days only visit, I had tonnes of stories to be cherished and treasured with hope that I'd make it to this island again someday.

Almost forgot, you definitely should try the sweet tagerine of Jeju when you visit this island!

I couldn't fit all my stories of this island full with beautiful nature in one post so I'l update this post in some separate posts later.

Gyeongbokgung (경복궁)

Seoul - second installment: Gyeongbokgung Palace

Gyeongbokgung Palace literally means 'Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven', is the main and largest palace of the Five Grand Palaces built by Joseon Dynasty. The palace was originally constructed in 1394 by King Taejo, the first king and founder of Joseon Dynasty (source: wikipedia).

Gyeongbokgung Palace is also known as 'Northern Palace' since it's located more toward the north while Changdeokgung known as 'Eastern Palace' and Gyeongheegung as 'Western Palace'. The National Palace Museum of Korea is located south of heungnyemun gate and the National Folk Museum is located east within Hyangwonjeong.

The ticket pass for Gyeongbokgung Palace can also be used at National Palace Museum and National Folk Museum.

The 'must see' attraction at this Palace is 'Changing guard ceremony', but unfortunately we missed this so I didn't have any picture to show, furthermore I didn't manage to shoot proper pictures only got a few pictures of my wife with the couple. Talking about these buddies, we just met for the first time in the morning but ended up hanging around together all day exploring Seoul, squeezing ourselves in the huge crowd at Myong Dong and dropped dead tired on the busy buzzing streets packed with people enjoying the city's illumination of Christmas eve!

This Palace is open from 9.00 - 18.00 during summer and 9.00 - 17.00 during winter, closed every Tuesday. Address: Seoul-si Jongno-gu Sejong-ro 1.

Admission fee is 3,000 won for 19+ and 1,500 won for 7-18 and free for age 6 or under.

For detail information about Gyeogbokgung Palace you can visit the official website here.

Changdeokgung (창덕궁)

Seoul-first installment:Changdeokgung Palace

As a I mentioned on my previous post, one of my 'must visits' in Seoul was Changdeokgung Palace, at that time I only knew that this Palace is one of the shooting places for the famous series of 'Jewel in the Palace' or 'Dae Jang Geum'.It was my first visit of the day since it's only a stroll walk from my hotel.

Changdeokgung Palace (literally means 'Palace of Prosperous Virtue) is one of Five Grand Palaces in Seoul built by Joseon Dynasty. Located in a large park in Jongno-gu, Seoul, this UNESCO World Heritage site can be reached by subway line 3, get off at Anguk station and take exit 3.

Accompanied by three friends from Japan and a new couple friend from Seoul, we decided to take our own walking tour instead of waiting for the next English guided tour. We explored this beautiflul Palace for about 2 hours before heading to another palace called Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Here are some snaps we took in the Palace:

Here are some useful information about this Palace:

	- Address
	1, Waryong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul
	- Tel : 82-2-762-8262
	- Admission Fee
	Ages 19~64 : 3000 won Ages 7 ~18 : 1500 won Ages 6 and below, Ages 65 and up : Free Closed: Mondays For full information of this Palace you can clik here

Seoul

Korea Trip - Seoul day 1

After several years dreaming of visiting this Ginseng Country finally we made it in winter 2006. Touching down at Incheon international airport early in the morning on December 24, located 70 km from the city of Seoul, this modern airport has been consecutively rated as the best airport in the world and received the full 5-star ranking by skytrax.

Upon our arrival we made our way to the airport coach service and after one and half our ride we got off at Anguk Dong station and took a stroll walk to Seoul backpackers hotel located at Iksun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. The hotel has now reopened as Banana backpackers with a new face-lift. Conviniently located within walking distance to some tourist spots like Insadong and Changdeokgung Palace, the hostel offers affordable rooms with friendly staff, great hospitality, free breakfast and free internet service, which is very important for travelers who needs to find information online.

(Incheon airport-Seoul coach transfer)

The coach was very convinient and the staffs were really helpful, made it easy for us to find the right bus even we don't speak Korean.

(My wife in front of the hostel)

My list for the first day in Seoul was visiting some historical Palaces, there are five Palaces in Seoul:

- Gyeongbokgung.

- Gyeonghuigung.

- Deoksugung.

- Changgyeonggung.

- Changdeokgung.

Unfortunately, we managed to visit only two Palaces: Changdeokgung and Gyeongbokgung. I will write about these two palaces on separate posts.

For some 'must see' spots in Seoul you can visit the official website here.