It's Nice To Have Some Familiar Shoes At Our Door

Well, our friends left Korea last Thursday morning after an almost 2 week stay here. We had an awesome time hanging out with some familiar faces and seeing parts of Korea that we had never seen before. Below is a photographic journal of our vacation.

Day 1: Bukbu Beach in Pohang. Since most people swim fully clothed, we enjoyed taking our shirts off and sprinting into the water just to turn some heads...


This picture is from just 40 minutes of the cumulative 5 1/2 hours we spent in noraebangs (karaoke rooms) across Korea...


Day 2: An early rise in the Motel Hole In One...


Mingling with the locals, waiting for the bus to Sokcho outside the terminal...


On the bus to Sokcho with some tasty dried squid...


Rest stop...


Finally, after 4 1/2 hours on the bus, we are in Sokcho eating "dog mandu" and kalguksu...


Noraebang!!!


Day 3: Seoraksan National Park, with its Buddha statues, temples, and waterfalls...


Shhh... Don't tell anyone we swam here...


The raw fish market in Sokcho. Point to the fish you want, negotiate the price, then watch it get scooped out of the water and bashed on the head with a baseball bat...


Our choice: shellfish smorgasbord...

Day 4: On the streets of Seoul...


Day 5: Walking around Gwanghwamun square...


Changdeokgung, an ancient palace in Seoul. A nice escape from the city in the middle of town...


Day 6: The train ride to Dacheon Beach on the west coast...


We are inspecting a dead starfish we found in the surf...


Waiting on the train to head home, and, once again, mingling with the locals...


In order to save floorspace, Hadden and Will created bunk beds with our air mattresses.


Day 7 or 8: We hiked to the top of Hamji Mountain (the neighborhood mountain). Once at the top, the sun decided to go down, and we had to hike down in the dark, losing Will in the process. We found him a few minutes after getting to the bottom, once again, mingling with the locals...


Having these two here along with our break from work and the chance to see a lot of Korea was completely refreshing. We really loved having them here, and look forward to going home in January. Korea is great! But it's not home.

Peace!
Or, in Korean, "Soju!"