Yechon & Andong

Early in October we headed out of Seoul (finally!) to the countryside--about 2 hours south of seoul to Yecheon and Andong......




Early in October we headed out of Seoul (finally!) to the countryside--about 2 hours south of seoul to Yecheon and Andong. Yecheon is a beautiful town with mountains, trees, and fresh air. With our beautiful and wonderful hosts, we went to a Buddhist Temple, hiked for a view of the switch-back river, and went to one of the oldest "pubs" in Korea. It dated back to the 1500's. We also stayed in a wood cabin that had a Chinese style loft and bedding. Meaning a mat in the attic. It was surprisingly comfortable. Dinner was excellent too. Our hosts provided a Bulgolgi BBQ by moonlight on the balcony complete with a waterfall background. By far one of our best meals in Korea.

Todd, Candy (our hostess) & I also made it on TV when we crossed the Pyeongpyeongtalle (or something like that. It basically means Ping Ping bridge.) It is a tiny, rusty footbridge in the middle of the switchback river that you have to walk barefoot over because it's a couple inches under water. It's famous for being in a Korean drama. In fact, the whole area is becoming more popular due to the successful tv show. Whatever you hear from Todd, though, it was my idea to cross--which led to our two minutes of fame. We haven't found the footage yet but when we do we'll post it.

After risking lock-jaw and tetnis shot from PingPing, we drove another hour to the quaint and quiet village of Andong. It was very peaceful, beautiful yet commercialized. Every inch was kept up to standards you wouldn't see elsewhere. However, keeping it maintained that way preserves the opportunity to glimpse into how it looked a long time ago. The tile roofs of the wealthy houses sitting side-by-side with the thatch-roofed houses of their farmers and servants while crops and flowers grow all around makes us all wish we could leave Seoul and be country people.

Especially when we drive back home. The traffic was fine until we hit the city. What usually is a 20 minute train ride took us almost two hours by car. We almost lost the tranquil rest we gained from the trip. But at last we were home and we truly, truly enjoyed seeing Yecheon and Andong.




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