Still kickin it in South Korea!
I’m here just a few more days, but I’ve spent most of this lovely (and very cold) Saturday working on my laptop catching up on email and downloading images. So, I’m going to post a brief update for everyone and share with you a selection of more images from the trip. Again, I feel it necessary to say that these are not edited and not color corrected – so please forgive me if they look a bit off.

Since the last post we’ve been through about three other cities and I’m now back in Yeongtong-gu, near Suwon… back where I started. We’re going to be chilling here and doing a few local things. We’re at that point toward the end of the trip where we’re trying to save a bit of cash. Traveling around the country has been fairly cheap… But, I’ve been on an extremely tight budget these two weeks. So, tomorrow we’re headed back to Seoul to see the Seoul Tower and Fortress there – and that’s the end of my trip.

I’ll likely write a lengthier blog Tuesday after I return to the States and have some time to really sort through images that I haven’t shared yet. So, until that time… enjoy these images from the last five days or so!

Just got off the bus for a little more caving. This one, however, was supposed to be much larger and much more impressive. Those mountains I’m pointing at… we’re about hike into those.

It was really pretty for the hazy November weather… can’t imagine what it must look like in June.

Gettin closer to the top!

Made it! That’s one HUGE entrance…

They had all these lights set up. It wasn’t this bright though… My camera is resting on the beam with a 3 second exposure.

This is a bit more accurate as far as lighting. The cave was awesome though. Took quite a while to see the whole thing.

This was one of the best tasting meals we’ve had… and we bought in the markets. For the roll, and a FULL plate of each type of noodle… we paid about $2.75.. so we got seconds on each noodle dish. The total was under $5, how awesome is that?

Wandering the markets a bit more around Samcheok before catching our bus out of town.

Dried fish anyone? The large ones handing on right are stingrays.

Hahaha!
Shortly after this we boarded the WRONG bus to Gyeongju. We had to take two more connections with the help of the drivers who made sure we moved to the right bus at each stop. The Korean’s are so nice, it was really amazing of them.

Rooms here are so cheap! This one also has TWO computers with internet connections in them for you to use. This is nicer than most college students dorms… and they only charge about $30 a night.

Some of the Royal Tombs here in Gyeongju.

One of many stone pagodas we’ve seen on this trip.

Starting our hike up the mountain to see a stone Buddha… ended up being a very loooong hike.

Little did we know that this was at the very top of the mountain. But, we made it up in time before sundown.

Beautiful sunset with all the blues and purples on the surrounding hills and mountains.

This is outside the Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto the next day. I’m bummed that they didn’t allow photography there… so sad. The granite Buddha there is one of the worlds most important religious antiquities – which is probably why you can’t photograph it…

At least the walk down the mountain was pretty.

I’m actually making into some of the photos this trip!

Me again! Having Colleen here to take a few shots means I don’t come home with just one-armed photos of me during this trip. Yay!

Decided to try one of these corn dogs on the way back to the bus. It’s dipped, cooked, dipped again, cooked again.. then has sugar and ketchup on it. It was actually pretty good… except for the ketchup, I can’t stand ketchup.

The next day we wandered around more Gyeongju. They have some really pretty parks right there in the downtown area.

One thing I find interesting is that people farm every available area they can… even right here on the side of a creek.

Wandering around Anapji Pond. They were doing construction/rebuilding so there wasn’t a ton to see.

But, it’s me again! Have you guys noticed how little I broke out my strobes on this trip? I’ll probably regret it later… oh well.

Whoaaaa. Wild, huh? Anyone hungry?
We watched the guy gut and clean one in preparation for sale, too.

Not even sure how to caption this one…

Here’s the most American thing I’ve had on this trip. Went into a Dunkin’ Donuts to sit and warm up… so I needed to buy something. The Vanilla Mocha thing I got was awesome… just too much whipped cream.

Waiting for the train! Heading back to Suwon.

So, that wraps this update. I’ll be heading home in two days. I have a ton of work waiting for me when I get back. Well, a wedding to finish and a calendar to wrap up. Excited for Thanksgiving, too! I’ll be in the Bay Area… so if you’re going to be nearby, be sure to call me up so we can catch up on life!

Peace!