I (Paul) joined Chris, Shinyoung, Alice and Eliot while they were visiting South Korea from Paris. This was my fourth visit to the country, the last being in 2018 when Lois and I cycled from Seoul to Busan. This time I learnt a lot more about the countryside, culture, spirituality, history and culinary heritage of the country. Shinyoung and Chris were indefatigable guides. The children are versed in the language and food and eagerly visited towns, museums, restaurants, a national garden and wetlands. The weather was hot and humid as is expected in the summer, but we had sunshine at times, some rain and warm evenings.
Incheon to nr Cheongju – Chuncheanbuk-Do
It was delightful to be greeted by the family at Incheon Airport and we then drove south towards our first Hanok, stopping, on the way, for cold buckwheat noodles, a summer speciality. Ordering and payment was done from screen at the table and the food was delivered by robot. This, ...
Chaong-ju to Jeonju
South Korea (Republic of Korea) , is still technically at war with North Korea and 18 – 21 months of military service for men is compulsory. They can choose when to do this between the ages of 19 and 35. Shinyoung’s eldest nephew, M, elected to do military service while at university and ...
Jeonju
Jeonju has a long history, including as capital of one of the eight provinces of the Joseon dynasty The dynasty considered the city their ancestral home when they ruled the unified country for 500 years from the late 14th C. The city was occupied by Japan from 1910 to 1945, when all the city walls ...
Joenju to Naesosa
I had expressed a wish to do a temple stay and we chose Naesosa as it was possible to stay for one night only and is small in size. The temple is located at the base Mount Naebyeongsan and was established in 653 CE and rebuilt in 1633 during the Jeosan Dynasty after ...
August 14th, 15th and 16th, 2026
Naesosa to Naganeupseong
We drove from Naesosa to the sea at Ducheong-ri where we had another great lunch which included cold noodles with a boiled egg and fermented soy bean soup, doenjang-jjigae. As with every meal there seemed to be an infinite variety of fermented, pickled and seasoned small side dishes (banchan) of, for example, greens, ...
Gurye and Incheon
After we arrived at our Hanok the night before, we visited a friendly local coffee and tea shop.
Note: When Lois and I cycled in Korea we always looked for a Paris Baguette, a chain which sold coffee, pastries and cheese cake. Now it is possible to find coffee shops everywhere. On this trip ...
Seoul and Incheon
We spent the next day in Seoul, heading first to the National Palace Museum, seeing, notably, the displays of scientific achievements of the Joseon Dynasty; clocks and devices to measure and plot astronomical events. In the grounds of the palace there were many visitors, Korean and others, dressed in Hanboks and watching reenactments ...