Gangwon-do Weekend 2박3일 Part 6 Last Day

We woke up pretty early and got on the road. We headed to a 5 day travelling market. Basically, this market moves from town to town and comes back every 5 days. There were lots of interesting things to be seen and I am so pissed that I did not get a photo of the dried frogs. We left the market and started on our way home. Troy with his eagle eyes found the sushi restaurant that specialized in the sushi that he really wanted to try. It was a local trout like fish that was grown in a pond in front of the restaurant.

Ginseng??

Working hard

Squid and Fruit
Fishing on their vacation

Korean Turnip Greens

Random Field

Troy taking it easy

We also ended up stopping at a great fruit market where we picked up some fresh seedless grapes. All in all it was a great trip and I look forward to going back. I would really love to be able to go back and hit all the good photo spots at the time with the best light.

Gangwon-do Weekend 2박3일 Part 5 Moonlight Dinner

We left the cave and found a small market to buy some meat, soju and beer. Troy and Joanne took care of the meat and JJ and I went in search of some beverages. There was a really cute miniature pincher that was sitting on a sofa with the owner of the small store. He let me pet him, but when I stopped to take a picture, he suddenly forgot that he was a miniature.Bad ass Dog

We got back to the pension and rested for awhile. I went out to try and grab a couple of HDR photos.(seen below)
Cornfield HDR
Right outside our door. I wish I would have gotten more of the field and less of the fence.

and then the pension owner, Troy and I got everything ready for our cookout. Again, I loved Gangwon-do kimchi. We had some great meat and had an enjoyable evening under the moonlight.

Firing it up

JJ chomping down

Great Kimchi

Troy grilling it up

Troy posing

Eating and cooking at the same time

You can see that the temperature at night was definitely lower. After eating and drinking too much, it was way too easy to fall asleep. Sunday was a very busy day, but I didn't take too many photos...Only one more update to go!

Gangwon-do Weekend 2박3일 Part 4 The Cave

Walking to the ticket office to find out about the 1+ wait.

A dish special to the region. Muk. The name is actually longer, but I really can't remember or spell it.

Finished with a great meal

The Monorail

We left the creek and went to Hwa Am Cave. There was about an hour wait for the monorail, so we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a restaurant near the cave monorail ticket office. Troy and I had a jug of Makgeolli just because we could. There was a pretty cool park near the restaurant, so we walked around and relaxed while waiting for our monorail trip.

Fountains in the park.

Troy resting after our meal and drinks.

When it was time for us to board the monorail, it felt like I was back at Gangnam station. About 40 of us all crowded into one of the cars and of course because I am slow and don't elbow people, I didn't get a seat, but it was a really short trip up the mountain, maybe 15min. We entered the cave and it felt wonderfully cool inside. The first section of the cave had some Disney World like figurines showing the history of the mining. They also had sections of the cave covered with glass and magnifying circles, so that you could see the gold veins running through. The last section of the cave was for kids and it really reminded me of It's a Small World.

Reflections on the Monorail

Walking down a hellacious staircase

Formations

More formations

Snowbunny

A shaky view of one of the caverns

Lion Rock

Welcome to .....

Yes, God indeed has a sense of humor.

We left the cave and went back to the pension for a great moonlight barbecue. Part 5 tomorrow!

I also wanted to say thanks for the messages about my mother. She is doing much better and should be getting out of the hospital sometime this week.

Gangwon-do Weekend 2박3일 Part 3 The Creek

JJ pausing to take a shot

Joanne and JJ getting ready to go to the creek

Troy posing

Taking a break

Stopping for a break

So happy

Look what I got

Digging under the rocks

Crowded

Catfish?

We left the convenience store and made our way to small creek that was supposedly well known for its fresh spring drinking water. I was going to try the water, but heard it tasted strange, so I passed. We walked around this area for awhile and started watching people try to catch these catfish like fish. I think the fish were released for people to catch, but regardless people were having a great time. They were searching under rocks, diving under the water, and generally just having a great time. We walked down the creek and then took a trail on the other side of the creek to make our way back to the car. We then made our way to a great cave which will come in part 4.

Gangwon-do Weekend 2박3일 Part 2

We got up late on Saturday morning and had lunch at the pension. The area is famous for a certain kind of rice dish called gondre. I had mentioned on Facebook that I was in the mood for some turnip greens, well I got the Korean version for lunch that day. I also have to mention that Gandwon-do kimchi is unbelievable, a little spicy, but wonderful.

Gondre Bap

Cooking us some great lunch

We spent some time just hanging out in the pension's restaruant which we had to ourselves. The family that ran the pension also lived here, so it was more like sitting in a huge den with sofas and a TV.

The eating area

Taking it easy

Our Courtyard

A view of our pension from above

The weather was awesome. I could have really just sat outside all day long. We were very slow to get started and really just took our time lounging around.

Before he was scared to death

Troy got a little hungry

We started to make our way to Hwa Am Cave in Jeongsong. We stopped to pick up some supplies at one of those great little convenience stores in the middle of nowhere. There was a small creek that flowed nearby the store. We quickly picked up some snacks and headed on to the cave.




The weather was so nice. It was so nice to see pure white clouds in the sky. This is probably one of the biggest things that I have missed about being away from Mississippi.


Part 3 Trip To The Creek will come soon....