Sightseeing Tour

Tour trip

Sunday morning we had to be at the bus at 7:30am to take the tour we had signed up for. Getting anywhere that early with Colin is not easy and since Shelby didn't even get home from work until 7am he wasn't much help either. It was cold and rainy and we weren't sure the trip would even go, but we were happy that it did. It was supposed to be a full bus but a lot of people that signed up must have backed out due to the weather and we ended up with barely a half a bus full of people.

We started off heading down to Byeonsan National Park where we would hike in to see Chickso Waterfall. The park was gorgeous even in the foggy, cold rain. I think the fog and mist actually made it prettier. There was a beautiful lake set in the mountains. I had a great time hiking on the trail since I haven't been in a while. The views were amazing and I got some pictures that look like postcards. The waterfall was very pretty. Colin did great through most of the hike strapped to Shelby in the Jeep harness. Towards the end of the hike on our way back to the bus he'd decided he'd had enough and hollered most of the way back. We didn't mind because we knew he was just being a grump. But try explaining that to the 3,000 Koreans, also part of a sightseeing tour, that we passed on the way back to the bus. With every group that passed we'd get stopped and all the little Korean ladies would smile and make faces at Colin and try to cover him better and touch his face and hands and then look at us and speak. I am not sure what they were saying, though I did recognize the word for cold now that I had heard it a thousand times, but I do know they were probably chastising us both for having a baby out in such dreary cold weather. I personally disagree. He had several layers of clothes and on was perfectly warm and dry. I swear, how do people think little Eskimo babies survive anyway?

After the waterfalls we went to Neso-Sa Temple. It's a Buddhist temple set way in the mountains that happens to be one of the oldest and original temples from back in the old days. Most of the temples and buildings in Korea were destroyed by the wars, so there aren't too many that date back to 1300 such as this one. It was very pretty, but the grounds were gorgeous. There were trees that were starting to flower and bloom and the mountains in the distance were amazing. I got some great pictures there too. We ate lunch at a little market/restaurant area right outside the front of the temple entrance. We weren't sure if there would be a place to buy food (you never know on these sponsored trips) so I had packed my lunch in case. I ate some of my pizza and cookies that I had packed but ate some of Shelby's food that he ordered too. We had a "Korean pancake" and no that is not the official name. It looks like a big giant omelet but instead of having cheese, bacon and veggies in it it is stuffed with green onions, carrots, calamari, octopus and shrimp. It was pretty tasty. We also had some shrimp fried rice, you can never go wrong with that, and some other kimchi kind of stuff that they bring you no matter what you order. I don't touch that stuff, yuck!

The last stop on the tour was Pyonsan Beach. It is a beach on the Yellow Sea (for those that aren't so geography savvy)and is known for it's white sand. The sand didn't look like some of the white sand I was used to in Florida but it was pretty. It was also super super windy and very very cold. We ran off the bus, ran to the beach, took a quick look around and ran back to the bus! I did have to make a pit stop to the bathroom. One place I wished I could have avoided. I have learned something about Korean bathrooms, they are either fabulous or far from it. Most places I have been so far have really REALLY nice bathrooms. I know I commented on this the last time I was here. Even the rest stops on the highways are so clean and they have a fun little potty area with mini sinks and toilets for the kiddies. They have super sonic hand dryers, not those wimpy ones we have in the states. We went to a restaurant that had a bathroom that really belonged in a spa. There were more buttons on the toilet and the seat was heated too! I'd had a little too much to drink that night, hence the need for a trip to the bathroom, and could have spent half the night playing on the toilet, lol. Anyway...at the beach I got to see the other side of the spectrum. I go inside the stall expecting to see a commode and there is nothing but a little porcelain hole in the ground. For a minute I thought I was in the men's room, but unfortunately I was not. Yuck! I hurried up and got the heck out of there!

The beach was the last stop and then we were on our way back to base. Despite the cold and rain it turned out to be a fun day and the scenery was great.