Korea -Janghang-Eup, Gunsan, Daejeon (West Side)
I wanted to visit the country side but there wasn’t much information in the travel books, except for the very popular places. We decided to go and~4 hours later we ended up in Janghang-Eup, a fishing town. I am so glad we did, we met Shin and his kids at the estuary near the town! Shin, was a post doc. in the US, helped us check out bikes so we can bike near the river, he showed us Gunsan, the reclaimed land project, took us to the best knife cut noodle (homemade noodles) and dumpling place, and bought us Choco Pies from a famous bakery (Choco pies is like Moon Pies in the US). Shin thank you for a wonderful day, your generosity, and time! I hope your kids did not mind spending time w/ strangers! It was so funny, his son asked his dad if Kris and I we were going to stay at their home that night and it was obvious that he did not want us to follow them home. It was so cute, we told him were were going to stay in his bedroom and play with his toys (~10 years old are so adorable, he was trying so hard to communicate with us in English)! Bye Shin! Thank you!
This is a interesting article on Choco Pies: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/11666825/North-Korea-launches-Choco-Pie-counter-strike.html
Janghang – Eup: This is a working fishing town. There is not much information on tourism here. We went to the estuary and found a museum, free bike rentals, and Shin and his kids!
- Fishing Town:
- Museum: The museums are a great place for kids. I love the bird refrigerator. Hey we both like persimmons! I will probable be in Japan during persimmon season! I will skip eating the bugs.
- Estuary: They have free bike rentals! The weather was great! We didn’t make it to the famous film location (JSA – another film on my list of things to watch). Next time I will remember to bring snacks for Kris, so we can bike a little longer vs turning around to find food. Wow, lucky I didn’t book a rice tour in Bali. There are tons of rice fields along the bike route.
Gunsan: We drove around the wharf and visited a Japanese temple. You can see Shin, his son, and Kris in the background.
Saemangeum: This is a re-claimed land project and the longest seawall ever built (~34 km).
Iksan train station: Bakery that makes the famous choco pies! This is supposed to go into the Forgetful Foodie blog – but not sure when we will get around to update it! Too busy eating!
Daejeon: We visited the Modern Art Gallery, Symphony Hall, Arboretum, and the Expo Complex. Carol L. you would love the cafe at the arboretum. They grow their own plants for the cafe. They had a lot of different mints (reminds me of your backyard), lemon thyme, and korean mint. The owner gave us a short tour since I was already tasting the different plants. We cut a small section of mint to see if Kris can grow it at this house. This reminds me of my friend Holly in college, everywhere we went she would cut a small branch of a plant to try to grow them.
We also got free lunch – I think it is Kris, I never get this many free meals traveling! We were at the expo park at the end of a race (5K, 10K, 1/2 marathon) and we got free buckwheat noodles soup!
