Last Updated on April 12, 2012 by Nancie
Welcome to another week of Travel Photo Thursday. This past weekend I traveled to the southern part of Korea with the Royal Asiatic Society. We visited the beautiful island of Namhae on Saturday, and a cherry blossom festival in the coastal city of Jinhae on the Sunday. It was a fabulous weekend with fantastic spring weather. For this Travel Photo Thursday I am featuring photos taken on the Saturday; Sunday’s photos to follow in another post.
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Our bus left Seoul at 7:30am on Saturday, but I was not on it. Instead, the bus was stopping to pick myself and a friend up at the Daejeon Toll Gate at around 9:30 am. If you had been looking for me around 9:15am you would have found me playing chicken with the cars racing to the toll gate. We were on the wrong side of the road. Sorry, no photos, but trust me I never want to play chicken on a road way in Korea again! Our first “official stop” was about two hours later at a small temple called Irak-sa. Here, there is monument to General Sun-Shin. He is one of Korea’s most famous military heroes, and credited with inventing the turtle ship.
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Entrance to the monument…the ladies yellow hats adds a little life…I thought..:)
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After leaving Irak-sa we literally ran into our first cherry blossoms…this shot reminds me of an impressionist painting.
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On the road again, an unexpected tulip festival…
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Then it was onto Namhae Island’s Sangju Beach where we took a two hour boat tour. The area has many interesting rock formations, and the sun sparkling on the sea made for a perfect afternoon. For those people who were not interested in the views, karaoke and dancing were available below deck!
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Sangju Beach... ( I wanted to dig my toes in…!)
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Rock formation…reminded me of a lizard…
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Out for a swim…
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A favorite pass-time of the locals is fishing from the rocks in the bay…
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Gulls following our boat to shore…(being thrown food by some tipsy Koreans) 🙂
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A lone gull…
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No day out in Korea would be complete without at least a short hike up a mountain, and we were not disappointed. Our last stop of the day was at Namhae’s Geum-san Mountain where we hiked to the Boriam Hermitage (a Buddhist temple overlooking the bay).
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View of the bay from the Boriam Hermitage…
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Travel time from Seoul to Namhae is approximation 4 – 4.5 hours on a divided highway.
Part 2 to follow later this week…a fabulous seafood dinner, a room with a view, and awesome blossoms…stay tuned!
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Touring rural Korea can be a challenge if you are trying to do it independently. Accommodation is rarely available for booking online, and without a car, getting around can be difficult. The Royal Asiatic Society offers well priced tours out of Seoul. The tours are geared to the more mature traveler and they won’t break the bank. You can find out more here…
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Keep an eye an eye out…a contest is coming next week. I’ll announce the details over at Facebook on Monday.
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40 responses to “Travel Photo Thursday — April 12, 2012 — A Springtime Tour on the ROK–Part 1”
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Gorgeous shots as always. You are right, those yellow hats add a nice splash of color. We are enjoying the last of the cherry blossoms around here and happily welcoming the tulips. I can’t wait to get out and start shooting in the fields.
I still have the blossoms in Daejeon to look forward to. We are 4 hours north of Jinhae, so our blossoms are still not quite there yet.
I missed last week’s TPT because it was my first day in Melbourne and I was severly sleep deprived after my flight here…but now I’m back.
The tour you’re speaking about here is something I’d love to do. I’d love to go back to Korea and explore beyond the capital, but as you said it can be a challenge for foreigners. I’ll keep your suggestions in mind for when I return.
I did miss you last week! Welcome back, and I hope that Melbourne is treating you well.
Yes, rural Korea can be a challenge for English speakers. My experience has been that you definitely have a more pleasant experience on a tour, and I have found the RAS tours to be excellent.
Beautiful shots of Korea! I particularly love the cherry blossoms – I long to visit one of the great cherry blossom destinations someday so that I can see them myself. Our flowers are just starting to pop out of the ground but no blossoms yet – hopefully spring is right around the corner!
Thank you Lisa! Nothing like the spring for flowers, wherever you live!
What a wonderful day you must have had. I love that you did so many things in one day! What beautiful views you had!
What interesting scenery and such a beautiful day for your trip. Love, love the blossoms and I know they’re coming here but when is the question.
Love the tulips fields too – reminds me of the area just north of Seattle.
There are a few blossoms around Daejeon, but still waiting for most of the trees to bloom. I’m lucky, I’ll get to enjoy them twice in one season. I hope yours arrive soon. The anticipation…torture!!!
Very beautiful, Nancie. You’ve got some fabulous shots. That ‘lizard’ is huge!
Fantastic shots, as always, but that yellow tulip shot is breathtaking!
Beautiful!
You really inspire me to add Korea as a destination to my next trips (^_^)
I so look forward to your Travel Photo Thursday, an informative tour around the world. . . not to mention spectacular photos!
Thanks for a pictorial tour of rural Korea. Awaiting the next group of great photos.
[…] These snaps are also this week’s contribution for Travel Photo Thursday (#TPThursday on twitter) hosted by Nancie on her website, Budget Travelers Sandbox. When you have few minutes to browse, check out Nancie’s photos and those of others who take part. You’ll see some great photos and visit some wonderful places. The direct link this week is here. […]
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Beautiful! I wish I would have made it to the south part when I lived in S. Korea.
Love the blue blue sky and the bird shot! I always try to get one nice shot of flying birds but they’re always too high up and my lens is not powerful enough 😀
All photos are beautiful, but I pick the ocean 😀 and cherry blossom! Also, it is unreal how gorgeous the sky looks at Boriam–it looks blue, then transitioning into mint green! Never seen a sky look like that
I love how much I’m learning about Korea from your beautiful shots. It hasn’t really been on my radar but with these gorgeous shots, I’m starting to think of a visit there in Spring. Love the water shots and the cherry blossoms.
Mary…Korea is worthy of a visit. Spring or early fall are the best times. Personally, I would recommend mid-April until about mid-June. If you want to see the cherry blossoms then definitely mid-April. Of course, in May you have the azaleas. The fall colors are lovely too…mid September to mid-October.
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Sangju beach looks beautiful! I would love to lay out there in the sun, jump in the water from time to time, and just lay back and relax.
I could have stayed there all day. One of the down sides of any tour…time is always limited.
Cool pix!
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How did you catch those great bird shots? All wonderful pics. I feel like I could reach out and touch that yellow tulip.
Cathy, I almost never get good bird shots when they are flying overhead. I really concentrated on holding the camera steady, and I waited until the gull was relatively close. It worked!
Love the cherry blossom!
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Your pictures are just STUNNING – it is not at all what I picture Korea to look like. mY husband was stationed there in the early 90’s, and I can’t wait to show him these pictures.
Thank you for linking up with me today! Have a great weekend!
~Becca
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What a beautiful series, Nancie! Korea looks so photogenic!
Spring is one of the best times of the year to take photos here. The water and sky were so blue. Difficult to take a bad shot with all that beautiful color around!
Thank you, Dick!
As usual beautiful photos here. I do love TPThursday, even when I am out of town and down get to view the gallery until Saturday!
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[…] These snaps are also this week’s contribution for Travel Photo Thursday (#TPThursday on twitter) hosted by Nancie on her website, Budget Travelers Sandbox. When you have few minutes to browse, check out Nancie’s photos and those of others who take part. You’ll see some great photos and visit some wonderful places. The direct link this week is here. […]