I made it to Korea!
Well, I’m only in South Korea… so don’t worry, haha. And check out this shot of me and Colleen on the bus ride from the airport to Suwon… I look halfway decent after being on a plane alllll night. I left LAX at 12:30a to Incheon and was supposed to connect through Bejing. Well, Bejing was snowed over, so we actually landed somewhere else, waited, refueled, then flew to Bejing, I connected, and then flew to Incheon. It was long… let me tell you.

But, I’ve actually been in Korea for a week. I arrived Tuesday afternoon. As much as I’d love to write a long detailed blog with my experience… I have way too many photos I’d like to share. So, please forgive me as many of these are unedited and straight from camera. I was able to do a light edit, but my laptop screen isn’t calibrated (I bought it two days before my trip). So, they will look a bit rough. I’m sorry, haha.

The markets in Suwon. Really awesome stuff, some of it I won’t eat… I’ll be honest.

We hiked up the Fortress wall and had this amazing view of the city.

Suwon markets at night. It was starting to get chilly… and would continue to get cold as my trip progressed.

Late night Potbingsu (shaved ice) with Colleen, Chelsea, and Frank.

Colleen and I went to the Korean Folk Village. She made friends with this horse…

… I made friends with this cow! He was pretty awesome.

Ninja training at the University here in town… I say training because, obviously, we can see them… and you never see true ninjas.

Check out the library at the school… how intimidating. I bet you feel smarter just walking in…

Dinner! One of many amazing meals that I’ve had on my trip so far.

Wandering the streets of Seoul. Waiting for the sun to go down for the lantern festival that night.

Me and Colleen. Been walking around allll day. Tiring.

You can leave your own messages at the lantern festival on these smaller lanterns.

The Lantern Festival was really beautiful. I’m glad that we caught it on our way through Seoul. I didn’t get to see the Seoul Tower, but we’re heading back at the end of the week to check it out.

If I had a marker I would have left a message or prayer myself…

Bulgogi with June and Colleen late that night.

Check it out! It’s North Korea! Across the water… June took us to the DMZ and we were able to see part of North Korea… crazy to be that close…

Wandering around this little shopping town with colorful buildings and roofs. Such gorgeous weather.

Sleeping on the Subway… if I knew exactly how far we had to go… I would have slept too.

We went to see the palace… and Colleen ended up being interviewed but these college students…

So I went to take photos while she was busy, haha.

On the way back into the subway I was interviewed. They had to take a photo with me, so I took one with them, haha!

Headed back to the subway after figuring out the trains/buses we needed to take that night.

Check out this budget motel!?! Haha, a round bed! Uncomfortable as hell, and my feet hung off it, but the room was nice and warm in the freezing weather.

It was gorgeous at the beach. Don’t get me wrong, it was cold as hell, but still very nice.

Wandering the pier.

We went to Seoraksan National Park to go hiking. It was freezing. I actually had to buy ear cover things cuz it was so windy.

Hiked up to one of the water falls. Gorgeous hike, just cold and windy.

These guys were HILARIOUS! They’re old friends who’ve known each other since Jr. High. They played Rock-Paper-Scissor to see who was going to have to get wet in the freezing weather.

And after a few rounds… one of the guys lost. Poor guy, he had to have been freezing afterward.

The views around the park really were stunning though.

This soup was amazing after hiking in the cold. We still had one more hike to go, too.

This photo doesn’t show the scale of this 40 foot Buddha.

I’m sure it’s even more beautiful during the summer months.

Had to photograph this little dude at temple we hiked to.

I totally meant to crop this photo… damn it. Anyway, this is the bridge in Sokcho at night. Really beautiful colors. I need to do more night photography I think.

This little guy was still moving when he was brought out to us. I’m not going to lie… he was delicious. And he was still moving when we were done, too.

Now this was so cool it was almost creepy. It’s a squid farm/thing where they dry these squid on this poles in the yard. We also stumbled upon it the night before, when it was dark and dimly lit.

I’m not a fan of squid… but I’m sure this is delicious looking for many people.

Wandering the fish markets. Plenty of dried fish for your enjoyment..

Lunch today was made up of three things. One was a simple gimbap. The other was a squid/egg kind of thing. It was fried and tasted a lot like a Denver omelet to be honest. And, of course, soup.

There is no shame here on the streets of Korea… hahaha!

Caving!

The caves were actually gorgeous. We’ll be going to a larger one tomorrow, too.

Pretty sweet room this evening. I actually have internet and can update you all without going to a coffee shop!

Well, that’s all for now. Hopefully you all actually took the time to at least skim these photos. I’m not sure when I’ll be back online next. Probably not for a few days. But feel free to leave any comments or shoot me a message. And check back soon, I may have the chance to do another post sooner than expected.