Suwon Hwaseong Fortress.; weekend trip

About 380 km drive from Jisepo, between the 5 and 6 hours,  you can find the Hwaseong Fortress and Hwaseong Haenggung. The original structure is built from January 1794 – September 1796 by King Jeongjo. During the Korean War a lot of the structures have been destroyed and the restoration started in 1975.

It is possible to walk around the town on the wall and this will take at least 2 hours. We enjoyed the views and took some closer looks at special buildings which we haven’t seen at other Fortress, so it took us 3 hours. A nice place too start the walk is close to Paldamun. You start with a steep walk .After de Fortress, walk from Paldamun to the Palace. The combined ticket costs KRW 3500.

To find the place, we put in the following telephone number: 031-251-4435.

The hotel was at walking distance from the Fortress and a local market. The name is Hotel Queen (0312428948).

Personal is very kind, the first morning the waited for us to enjoy the breakfast, we didn't know that it was included, and came too late! The car cabn be parked under the hotel at the parking lot. 

Busanjin Shijang, or "Jin market"

At this place you can find a variety of goods, hanboks, crockery, order food for special occasions (weddings), traditional gifts, fabrics, cloths and a lot more. 

Business Hours: 8.00 am - 8.30 pm.

Where to find?
Take subway line 1 to Beomil station.

Take exit 8 and walk till you see the building below.

Candle House at Sodong (Jisepo); Spa, Coffee, Steak and more

Building along road 14 opposite Daemyeong Resort, before Beverly Hills Waterfront. Take the side road after Big Burger to right at the warning lights. Not allowed to go right at the traffic lights in front of the resort.

You can find in this building the following business:

Two Some Place (coffee shop), 9.00 am – 11.00 pm (3^rd Floor)

With a terrace

Thai Massage Spa; closed from 9.00 – 11.00 am. (3^rd Floor), 

Really nice massage and ambiance. They put you in your own room, there is a good changing room with facilities as a shower and towels, and more..

Entrance

For reservations: 055-681-0036

Fish restaurant (ground floor)

Chicken 678 (ground floor)

Chef Choin New York Steakhouse, 11.30 am – 3.00 pm

                                                         Break 3.00 – 5.00 pm

                                                          Last order at 9.00 pm.

Review Choin New York;

You can choose from set menu’s, or Steak, Pizza or Pasta.

The price quality is good, and the quantity also, you don’t need to order side dishes. After the meal you can take free coffee. (2^nd Floor) Price - quality ratio is good.

Mario del Monaco and Starbucks opposite Cheomseongdae

On a rainy day in Gyeongju, last visit I experienced the same, is it nice to try some coffee shops. This one has a view on Cheomseongdae, the oldest astrological observatory in the Far East.
The coffee and the tea are good, but expensive, KRW 5000 each. It has a unique atmosphere, so I guess that's why.

Past the test.

A little further along the road was a recent opened Starbucks. We had to try some desserts, yummy.
Afterwards we drove a block to see what to visit for the next day.

Geoje Folk Museum; closed

At the map of Geoje Island there is a museum pointed out. So we drove road 5 and then took road 11. After some 4 km at the left, yes, that's the entrance. That looks promissing! 

But a little walk further, a closed kiosk for the entrance fee. Where are the houses?  The lady who was sitting outside, disappeared very fast, so nobody to ask a question. But inspection learned that the museum doesn't exist anymore.
A lot of rubbish every where. But the garden is well kept.

Let's make a call.

Nice kimchi pots and a few statue's outside.

Andong and Hahoe

In a short time I visited Andong twice, once a on a day trip and the second time a two days visit. It’s a four hour drive from Geoje. The easiest way was to put the telephonenumber of the “Mask museum” (054-8412896) in the navigation system. But in Andong the sign’s are very clear.

The Mask museum is near the entrance of Hahoe Maeul (village). You can park your car and there is a shuttle bus between the carpark and the entrance of the village.. The hightlight was the folkvillage Hahoe, Queen Elizabeth also visited this place, where the people still lives. It’s a special place because the houses faces the river instead of the south, and the second reason is that you can find thatched roofs and larger yangban houses from wood with stone. The surroundings are also worthwile if you like nice landscapes.

But the place has more to offer . Next to Hahoe you can find Byeongsan Seowon. You have drive a bit on a dirt road laeding to the shrine which worship Ryu Seongryong a famous Confusian scholar. Very special are the pillars which have the orginal shape (bending) of the tree.

On the way to the Bongjeongsa Temple, we paida visit to the Hanji paper factory. You can still see how they make the paper and they sell a really huge selection with special colored and patterned paper.

The Bongjeongsa Temple is Korea’s  oldest wooden structure and the biggest temple in Andong.

At the end of the day, around 4 p.m. it’s nice to go to Andong’s Folk Museum. They have a nice display of the life in early age. After closing time you can still visit the buildings, or have a walk along the river and cross the wooden bridge, Wolyeong Bridge. In the evening it’s worth to try the famous chicken dish, Andong Jjimdak. The best place is at the traditional market. We stayed at a so called “love hotel”, Goryeo Hotel, but with us, just families were checking in. The hotel is situated excellent near the centre of the town. From the hotel you can easily walk into the new and the traditional center of Andong. They don’t serve breakfast but there are many coffee shops which opens early, recommended is “Mammoth” in the center. For the next day we saved the Dosan Confucian School and the Icheon-dong Maayeoraeipsang or the Stone Buddha or Amitaba Buddha along road number 5 to the north. This sounds easy, but we took some wrong arms of road 5. But look for signs for the village Icheong-dong and you will find it.

There are a lot more things to visit, but life is all about making a choice!

Dish, restaurant

A new restaurant in Okpo. They claim to cook Italian, but according to mine opinion it's a little fusion, but not Korean.
The steak and the Pasta Bolognese were tasty. Think that's value for money. But try by yourself.

Carbonara

Directions: situated along road 58 at the right-hand-side coming from road 14, or at so called "Starbucks street".

Spoons; All Day Brunch

Walking at Chuseok through Okpo to see if there is a place to drink coffee and get something to eat.
It was after a few steps that it was clear that Spoons hasn't closed the doors. It said "all day brunch", so we gave it a try. 
An Americano and a Cappuccino.

KRW 3000 and KRW 4000

For lunch a Ceasar salad and a Pannini.

KRW 15,000, a real meal!

Address: #101 Bokwang Century, 553-4 Okpo1-dong
Business Hour: Weekdays 04:00-20:00
                       Saturday 03:00-15:00

Direction: "Restaurant street" at Okpo
From road 14 coming from the unnels, to the right after Beverly Hills II. 
A little bit further at your left-hand-side.
Opposite "Lemon Table".

B.Bless, Homeware Shop and presents

Two month’s ago a new shop, called B.bless, opened in Okpo.!
The shop sells all different kinds of things to decorate your home, and it also has some nice crockery for your kitchen. !

After all the rain we've recently had in Okpo I decided to buy some colourful rain boots. I don't have a picture of the boots that I bought , but you can go into the shop and have a look for yourself. !

Directions: start walking from Starbucks to GSSupermarket and after the Eider shop and before the Mini-stop go right. 

After Eider to the right.

Walk on a little bit further and you will find B.bless on your right-hand-side on a corner.!





Business hours of the shop are: 10.00 a.m. –8.00 p.m.!

10.00 a.m. - 8.00 p.m.

Yankee Candle at Okpo

Looking for presents? A possible place is the Yankee Candle shop at Okpo.
They have quite a collection with different sizes and smell of candles. If you burn the first time the candle for no longer than one hour, it will burn smooth (not with a whole).
The shop runs a membership program, you can earn points if you spend more than KRW 20,000.

Business Hours: 10.00 a.m. - 10.00 p.m., phone 055-687-6262

Directions; it's at the road which ends or starts opposite  Moms and Pops.
                Or coming from the post office, leave it to the left, walk till the 
                end of the street and turn right. It's at the left-hand-side of the 
                road.
                Or leave the Starbucks to the left, walk in the direction of road 14,
                turn left at the traffic light (jewelry at the corner)  and walk 
                towards Moms and Pops.

http://blog.naver.com/cindy3260

Hanokstay, at All-J Guesthouse in Seoul.

If you like to see a glimpse of a traditional way of living, you can do a hanokstay. South Korea has
several possibilities. We tried two so far.
The All-J Guesthouse in Seoul is situated in Insadong. The house is built in 1930. The owners renovated the rooms, but you wil sit and sleep in the traditional way. At first glance we thought that the bathroom was to small, but we managed to shower and keep all our belongings dry.
The owners are really nice people and it's seems more real then the one which is just new built in a garden. The only real feel is to sleep on the floor, but at this one we had breakfast with the owner.

Door to the room

Directions: with subway to Jongno 3-ga, exit 4. Go to the other side of the road, at your right hand you have a restaurant and left side they sell furniture (chairs). You have to walk in that gil, turn the
first gil to the right and take the one to the left with the roses. It's not possible to reach by car.
With taxi, leave the car at exit 4 from the subway.
Telephone number: + 82.70.7533.8626 or +82.10.8156.8626

Namaste; Indian restaurant, Janpyeong/Gohyeon

If you like to eat Indian food combined with a nice ambiance, try Namaste at Janpyeong. You can find the restaurant at the second floor from a building looking out over the water.

Entrance to the right, in the small street.

The food is nice and the lunch menu has a very reasonable price. We tried some curry's, differents type of bread and different appetizer's. Not in one go but at different occasions.

Mango & strawberry lassi

Directions; from the D-Cube mall, head to the water and turn left in the direction of the Samsung Hotel. Not so far walking you will find this restaurant at the left side.