Wed. night, the Volvo is loaded, road atlas in hand and ready to explore Korea.
Making a stop along the way and enjoying a cold Tiger at the foggy service station...
two Tigers down!
Cheap DVD's for sale...you can buy 4 illegally cpoied movies for about $10.
Well, it's thurs. morning...and just waking up. We drove from Seoul to Jirisan National Park, arriving around 3am. We ended up sleeping in the Volvo, due to the chance of rain and alongside a country road.
Enjoying some coffee and bread with Nutella and homemade Italian Peach Jam...
Hotel Volvo....
Luca looking a bit disappointed with the water level....way too LOW!
Contemplating what to do....
Beautiful area.....
Dragon flies galore....
cool close~up....
Terrance Rice Fields.....
Mirrored image....
A little bit of water where the rivers gorged up...but not enough to make it worthwhile....
2 ladies...2 umbrellas....
Resting spot....
The empty river bed.....Where is the water?!?
Nearby a Buddhist temple....
I kayaked this a month ago with the Korean Kayakers....Was hoped to show Luca, but nothing but a sunny hot day today!
cool clouds....
You would think we are professional swimmers with these torso's....funny mirrored image...
Map of the Jirisan National Park....very nice area....
trying to take a picuture of the red peppers drying on the ground, but the Volvo is a bit too quick....
Watercraft for sale!
The road patrol...don't mess with this Ahshama.....
Fruit and corn for sale....looks like this guy should be on the beach, but we are in the mountains along side a creek!
Swimming in a creek, many city people cooling off on this hot summer day....and we are about to join them, not enough water to kayak..so we may as well still play in the water....
Capturing a flower....
Very orange....
Watch out for the river whale!
Cabin on the stony beach...
Time to have fun....
We will definitely come back to kayak this creek!
Under water shot with my Olympus 790 or maybe Luca's 1030.....
Different look on the rio!
Chillin'
Chillin'
Enjoying some Asahi beer.....
Kiddos having fun....
Not sure how this one came out...but kinda cool....
Rafting the creek, R-1 style....
Time for some Korean BBQ....
Locals spot....
About to slice up some pork!
Just another Thursday afternoon in the country...
Roadside peach stand....Now, that's a short lady...!
Terrance rice fields....
Many Traditional Korea style buildings...Everything was so lush and green!
Buddhist Temple sign....
It's the time of year for drying out the red peppers....very common pepper used in almost all Korean food!
Colorful Daegu....well not SO colorful....
Daegu
At another rest/service station....those are some big fish....
Downtown Andong....trying to find a place to eat and drink!
That's not a motorcyle......
That's a chopper...baby!
Some tasty Leffe beer......
The notorious Korean Love Motel....they are cheap and usually clean....although we decided to bring in our sleeping bags.....
Downtown Andong.....
Heading towards Taebaek Mountain region....
Time to stop for Diesel Fuel... $95 to fill up...YES...Fuel is expensive here in Asia.....
Along the way we Dosanseowon Village....
Outside furnace as a heating source in the old days....
Inside one of the hanooks......wood with paper made doors and windows for privacy and light...
Nice view....
Stairway into the village....
Lotus flower....
Time for breakfast....Kimchi and coffee...The owner of the area offered us some kimchi, it wasn't too bad...but first thing in the morning...a bit hard to digest....
So..we decided to stick with the coffee, bread, nutella, and jam.... :)
View of Lake Andongho....
Flowers along side the country roads.....
Looking down at the Nakdonggang River....
There used to be tigers in Korea....and we noticed that there are a few still around....
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
Woman carrying her groceries.....
Two tigers in the water......
Goofing around, since the water was too low to kayak....good looking creek for the future!
Yes....Luca is Italian...hence the Speedo!!
Cool Mountain Water chair massage....
Ahhh.....
Oh no my hair is floating in the water....
Not quite Michael Phelps style.....
Launching out of the water.....I'm alive!
The quest for new creeks....
Looks good.....we'll be back!
That one looks like a big rapid.....hmmm.......
Trying to get a closer look!
Beautiful looking....
Another temple...we decided to take a tour....
One of the larger temples I've been to, Buryeongsa....located near the East Sea in a beautiful Valley....
Gate to the temple....
the tea cup water fountain....
Buddha's inside the main temple....
It was nice to relax and hear the chants from this monk.....
Drum and Bell....
After the temple we drove toward the East sea through the beautiful Buryeong Valley....
Mother / daughter preparing the bean sprouts....
We found a nice lunch place....it was nice to be inside...the temperature was 39`C....really hot!
Well, they mainly had shellfish and my allergy allowed me to only have some tofu soup on a hot day... :(
The beach at in between Uljin and Wondeok on the East Sea....
Boys having fun......notice the guy buried in the sand....
Girls enjoying the water....
My first time to the East Sea.....would be nice if there was some surf.....
yep...that's me!
Checked out a possible first D Creek.....We'll be back....!!
Korean Mountain Cabin....
An interesting rusty "something".....
Not sure if this was a cemetery or what...kinda bizarre and creepy......if you look close to the sticks, they are wooden looking birds.....
Scouting some drops....just needs H2O...
Doesn't need much H2O, so hopefully one day Luca and I will test is out...
Now..this one below looks good!
Luca checking out the landing zone....giving the thumbs up! Again, just needs H2O! I think on the map...we gave this a double smiley face.... :) :)
Check out this luxury car camping set-up.....WOW!!
oh~Yeah! Some more of the goodness!
Cool mirrored image by Luca....
On our drive towards our next destination...we saw a sign for a waterfall.......some more of Korea's natural beauty....
And another Temple on the hike to the waterfall....
Nice view......
Meat shop in Taebaek.....
Little kiddos noticing us foreigners.....Luca and I were at a pub having some beers and bar food to start off our wild night in Taebaek!
Rome.....I think the Italian feels at home... :) Luca actually was living in Rome before moving to Korea...so this shot was perfect! but a bit blurry....
The hallway to the next drinking spot...
Luca found his love and displaying some Italian MOJO! Maybe she's having a drink at the pub....
Welcome to TWO.....
What's up?!?
Well after a good night in Taebaek.....luckily we had some nice homemade peach jam...
Unusual view in Korea....what are those colorful things on that there car?!?
Leaving the 2nd "Korean Love Motel"...definitely the way to go when not camping...A cheap place to stay.....
This guys is ripping it up in the trees.....Luca, is that "Big Wave on skis?"
And some MTB riders.......nice paintings on a wall in Taebaek....
ALWAYS Taebaek! We'll be back....
Interesting looking hot dog treats....actually they are pretty disgusting!
the streets of Taebaek....
Billboard for a Moto Race Track....would be cool to check out some racing...
On a quest for a new kayak run.....a little land slide from last weeks heavy rain...
Luca noticed a log jammed on the top of the bridge pillar just below the road....WOW...that is a high water mark....rivers can really rage around here....we we'll definitely be back to run this section...a road follows it this run for a while, then it becomes more wilderness....looks like a nice 25km III-IV run depending on water level......
Good size riverbed. I wonder what it looked like last week at flood stage....?!?
Cabbage field....Kimchi heaven......
The Volvo.....notice the signs of this bridge being under water.....
Luca accidentally ran over this snake....I had to get out and take a photo....not sure if it was poisonous...I got pretty close until it started to slither towards me....
Alley in Taebaek....
Another scenic waterfall....
Roadside service area near the waterfall, and some coffee in a can.....
Not a bad place to hang~out!
Our first rainy day on the trip....YES...the water should be rising some where......
Check out the family and there colorful umbrellas...
My first driving experience in Korea....after 11 months.....WOW!
Another cool mirrored photo by Luca.....
This is probably the best gem we had come across! Looks like a really fun creek! Luca and I promised to come back to this one!
This section would be fun......really doesn't need too much water....!
Thinking...this is my kinda creek!!!
The most interesting Frog that I've ever seen!
Check out the red/orange tips on it's toes.....Very Cool!
Well, we kayaked the Odaechon....fun run..here's Luca stylin' one of the drops....
The double Korean photo gesture!
Good time on the rio.....
Some socializing and BBQ.....
A simple tasty morsel.....
The rafting crew of the Odaecheon.....
Wooden Figures...
Map of the area.....river and mountain trails...I image there is some good MTB riding around here....
the Odaecheon....
Eating some BBQ on a Saturday night....
Talking to Kookin..a Korean Kayaker...it's raining heavy and the rivers are raging.....and not too mention...it's at the end of our Tour.....I wish it would have rained a few days ago...Nevertheless, we had an incredible time checking out different parts of Korea...
Happy to know that we picked a popular place......
Luca enjoying a Negro Modella before making the drive to the Misan Valley.....
Hotel Volvo....when we arrived to the put~in it was raining heavily, so we slept inside....
yes....giving the Korean pose....with the peace sign.....
A farmers work is never done...
Low hanging clouds....
This was the highest we have ever seen the Misan section of the Naerichon....
Unfortunately we did not paddle it today....Luca wasn't feeling up to it and for a second I thought of soloing it, but i didn't.....although next time we/I will kayak it at this level....
We ran it together last month at about 2-3ft. lower.....
The water was coming down the mountain sides....and when we checked the level it was still on the rise and hadn't peak yet..... :) This is the top of triple drop.....
Trip Drop looked pretty big......
Side creek....Actually looks runnable....
Definitely a beautiful day......
Driving back into Bundang, where I live....this is a new city going up next to Bundang....due to be completed in the next year....
Outside my villa.....And the end of a very nice 4 day tour of Korea....
The two foreigners and a bunch of foreign beers.....Korea just doesn't have tasty beer....one thing they are lacking.....Sorry Koreans....but I had to mention it......
Until the next time......Enjoy life!!!
2 comments:
AMAZING photos! I see why you wanted to stay another year!
see you soon.....
love ya!
H
Wonderful Photography Karl
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