A Tour of Suncheon 순천!

 
 

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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.

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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.

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Our next stop was Naganeupseong Folk Village (낙안읍성민속마을),  is 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 day. 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 torturous devices they used to use in the old days, and we even got to see a cute pony ^_^ 

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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.

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