WHO traveled WHERE?? Part 2

Papa and David come to Korea

Last post, we finished on our last night in Daegu. Haven’t caught up yet..? Here’s the link: WHO traveled WHERE?? Part 1

Day 8: Daegu – Andong – Jeongseon

On Friday, we packed up our car, and headed on our journey north. Our first stop was the Hahoe Folk Village of Andong (하회마을). The drive took approximately 2 hours, and -after parking the car- we visited the Mask Museum, which featured masks from multiple countries. We next entered into the folk village (~$5 per person). Unlike my first visit in June 2021, there were no golf carts available to rent *ㅠㅠ*. Instead, we were boarded onto a bus, and shuttled into the village. 

It was a vastly different environment, comparing the village in February and June. There were not as many people around, and the rice fields were lacking their summery green. Regardless, I believe Papa and David enjoyed roaming around the folk village, seeing the traditional houses, some for wealthy scholars, and others for the poor farmers.

We ate Andong’s special meal of spicy** braised chicken (찜닭 “jjimdak”), just outside the entrance of the village before heading 2.5 hours further north to Jeongseon, in the Gangwan-do Province.. 

Our Jeongseon Airbnb sat in a mountain valley, 15 minutes from any convenience store or restaurant. There was, however, a very comfortable massage chair, which we all took advantage of. 

Friday evening consisted of driving to the nearest ski resort town, and grabbing dinner at a fried chicken restaurant. It was not up to par with Papa and David’s first “KFC” experience in Seoul, but we left full, grabbed some snacks and water from the convenience store, and headed back down to the valley to rest.

Day 9: Jeongseon

On Saturday, my university friend H and her family were to join us. In the morning, while they were driving 3 hours from Bundang (just south of Seoul), we walked around the quiet village where we were staying, and then headed into Jeongseon’s big town, where there was a traditional day market to explore. We also stopped by a disappointingly small skywalk to get an overlooking view of the valley and river below. 

In the market, we sampled local traditional snacks, and grabbed some tea at a local coffee shop hidden in an alleyway, to tie us over before our late lunch with H, M and Y. 

Finally, around 1:30pm, H, M, and Y arrived at the restaurant and we were close behind. As per usual, H and M had done an excellent job finding a traditional, unique Korean restaurant with delicious food. The tables were filled with side dishes, grilled fish, rice and soups. We spent the next hour talking about observations Papa and David had made throughout the trip, and learning some Korean phrases. It had been nearly 14 years since H had visited the family at Christmas time.

After the delicious meal, we went to the Jeongseon Gariwang Mountain Cable Car (가리왕산 케이블카), to the top of Gariwang Mountain, where we had a panoramic view of mountains meeting sky. A one way climb lasted nearly 20 minutes.

On our way back to the house, we stopped by the grocery store to grab last minute ingredients for the evening’s dinner. We then winded along the mountain roads back to the house, H and family set up their room, and tried out the massage chair. Y and David played a few rounds of chess.

In the evening, M began preparing the grill for a nice varietal Korean BBQ. Y and I wrapped and prepared the MANY sweet potatoes for Papa to cook in the fireplace, and then I helped H with side dishes in the kitchen. 

H and M served grilled eel and pork belly, homemade kimchi from their families, and the typical accompanying beverages (beer, soju and makgeolli). This was Papa and David’s official Korean BBQ, and could not have asked for a better first experience for them! 

Eventually we wound down for the night, after cleaning up the table.

Day 10: Jeongseon – Suwon – Incheon

On Sunday morning, we all began packing up and preparing for our 3~5 hours respective drives (H, M and Y to Bundang, Papa, David and I to Incheon). We went our separate ways by 1pm, and I drove, for my first time, across Gangwan-do into the Gyeonggi-do Province. We had consistent traffic, but rarely did we have stopped traffic, thankfully. 

We decided to stop in Suwon, a city south of Seoul, to see an ancient fortress and grab dinner. It was a popular attraction for many, it seems, as it took a while to find available parking. Once parked, we walked along the fortress walls, and then walked into a more trendy area to grab burgers. After dinner, I walked back to the car, fought through traffic to where we designated for pickup, and then headed on our way to Incheon, another hour and a half away. 

Incheon is an island west of Seoul, and has 2 main bridges leading on and off the island. We were lucky to go across the longer bridge, at the exact time as the sun was setting. It was picturesque and amazing, and all I wanted to do was stop on the middle of the highway bridge and take a billion pictures. Obviously, I couldn’t do that *roll eyes*.. So I kept commenting to my passengers how amazing the sky was, and they just said, “Uh huh”…”Sure”… “Yup”…*Siiiiigh*

We finally arrived to the Airbnb, without any entrance code from the host. Once in the parking deck, and finally receiving the very long code, we still could not enter the building. Thankfully, someone was kind enough to let us in. I was so stressed out about the incorrect code, along with being exhausted from the drive, I didn’t want us to leave the apartment to grab snacks or anything, in case we couldn’t get back in. Of course, I should  have planned ahead and purchased said snacks before we’d arrived (Come onnn Kate!!!) Thankfully, David and Papa were patient with my entrance code issues. We opened our bottle of soju, and took a few shots.

Papa’s flight was the next day, so it was time to rest, and pack up.

Day 11: Incheon – USA / Jeonju

On Monday morning, David and I decided we would brave the entrance code and figure it out so we could all go out to grab brunch before packing up and heading out. Turns out, the host had missed a vital button in the very long code *roll eyes and choice words*. 

After successfully reentering the complex, we all walked down the street for a very American brunch: waffles, sandwiches, salads and coffee. It was a positive way to start Papa’s last day in Korea!

After breakfast, we returned to the apartment, packed up the car, and headed off the island towards two points of interest we had found earlier.  One was a fairytale street, with fantastical murals and colorful side streets… nothing appeared open, and it did not seem like a hot spot for anyone under 10 years old… thankfully, we continued down the street and were at our second point of interest: China Town!

We walked along the streets, observing the different styles of buildings and decor, based more in red and black. We decided to have a light meal before dropping Papa off at the airport, so we found a restaurant serving a Chinese-influenced Korean noodle dish with a slightly sweet black bean paste sauce: 자장면 “ jajangmyeon”.  

We also purchased sweet, round breads, filled with various sweet jams or chocolate, because Papa had been fascinated by the process. They tasted like pancakes with filling, but definitely an interesting preparation!

We drove back along the long bridge into Incheon, and dropped Papa at the airport. David and I waited at the edge of security, just in case there were any issues, and then headed out, driving 3 hours south to Jeonju. 

In Jeonju, David and I were staying at a hanok, on the very edge of the hanok village, where we would sleep on the floor, a very Korean way to vacation. After arriving, and parking just outside (lucky us!!), we rested briefly before walking 1.5 miles to our chosen dinner spot to enjoy 막걸리 (“makgeolli” Korean rice wine) and a meal, a specialty in Jeonju.

The menu is gradual, meaning you can only order the dishes in their respective sequence, and you must finish the first before moving on to the second… but each meal came with two bottles (or one kettle) of makgeolli. We ordered the first dish, with pajeon, stew and meat. We finished the meal, and our kettle of makgeolli, and decided we still had room for a second entree, which included grilled fish. In total, we drank 2 kettles (4 bottles of makgeolli), and made a large dent on that second entree, then we began our walk back to the hanok. 

As this was my last night with David before he would return to solo travel in Seoul, I decided we should finish the bottle of soju (there was perhaps ¼ left), at my favorite Jeonju spot: the wooden bridge, Cheongyeonlu (청연루), which happened to be just outside our hanok. 

We stood in the cold, sipping out of the soju bottle, looking over the stream and hanok village, talking about memories, both recent and distant. Then… it was time for bed.

Day 12: Jeonju – Seoul/Daegu

On Tuesday morning, David and I grabbed breakfast at a buffet across the hanok village, and then roamed about the area for a while before going our separate ways. I was driving 3 hours back to Daegu to finish last minute packing, cleaning, and organizing, while David was going to take a train back to Seoul and explore more of the largest city in the country. 

This concluded the family in Korea trip of 2023. Let’s see if I can bring more family over in the future 😉

Thanks for traveling with us!