Year 2012 Review Part 2

My husband and I really love traveling. We love discovering what else South Korea can offer to foreigners like us. We travel not only for leisure but also for educational purposes. Traveling allowed us to learn and understand more about this country's history and culture while enjoying its beauty.
My next trip was Dorisa Temple. Dorisa Temple is the oldest Buddhism temple of  the Silla Dynasty, which was built by the Monk Ado. Vince had to go to a tournament so he was not able to go with us.

The next trip we took with our Chinese Art and Calligraphy class was the Jeonju trip. Jeonju is famous for its Jeoju Bibimpap and other fermented food. The largest paper factory is located in Jeonju also. We were lucky because when we went, there were festivals going on. There, we tried Jeoju bibimpap.  To be specific, I tried the 육회비빔밥 ( raw beef marinated with pear juice ). First I was hesitant, but when I started eating it, I found out it was quite good. I liked it. After that, we went to Jeoju Hanok Village. There, we experienced making and drinking Makgeolli and Moju. Makgeolli is a kind of wine made from rice. Moju is more like rice juice because there's only 3% alcohol in it. On our 2nd Day in Andong, we visited the Hanji Museum at Hansol Paper Factory. There, we experienced making our own Hanji paper. On our way home, we made a stop in Jinan. On the way there, we passed 99 ridge mountain road. We saw the coloful Autumn tint. When we reached Ma-i-san, Horse's Ears Mountain, we hiked a little bit and there we saw the awesome temple. It was a very unique temple. A lot of totems surrounded the temple.

육회 비빔밥 (Cheonju Bibimpap)

Makgeolli

Hanji Museum

A lake on the way to the temple.

A Temple in Ma-i-san.

The next few weeks, we didn't travel so much. But we explored the city where we live. We hiked Cheonsaengsan, we visited the Gyeongbuk Environmental Research Center in Geumosan, and walked around Geumo lake. We just enjoyed the autumn tints of trees and some chrysanthemums displayed at the Cheonsaengsan Chrysanthemum Festival and at the entrance of Geumo lake.

Cheonsaengsan (천생산)

The summit of Cheonsaengsan. Geumosan is the mountain visible behind my left shoulder.

Then my husband organized a trip to Gyeongju's Golgulsa Temple because he wanted to try the Buddhist martial art called Seonmudo. So we went there with our friends. There, we saw some awesome autumn sights again. :) We also did some meditation and ate with monks.

Statues of traditional Seonmudo movements.

The place we visited the following week was Daegu Arboretum. We visited there because we heard they were having a Chrysanthemum Festival. We went there with our new friend Mira. There, we saw a lot of figures formed using chrysanthemums. They were really beautiful. I didn't want to leave the place. hehe..

There are still a lot of things that we did last year, but since this blog is getting too long, I can't put them all here.
I was so blessed to have experienced all of these things. I thank God for everything...:)