Gangneung: A Home of the Great Mother and the Prominent Scholar

Vince, my husband, has been wanting to witness the Gangneung Danoje Festival.  The Danoje Festival is a festival related to shamanism celebrated by the people of Gangneung.
Gangneung is aroung 6 hours away from Gumi by train. We left home at around 10:00 P.M. and took a train from Daegu at 12:02 A.M. I was glad that I was able to sleep on the train. I woke up around 5:30 A.M. As soon as I opened my eyes, the beauty of nature was revealed to me. I  saw the river flowing with crystal clear water and the mountains were covered by verdant trees. I didn't close my eyes again because I was afraid to lose any of the beautiful scenery.  The train passed by a farm covered with golden brown wheat. Then I saw a creek with sparkling water. Along the creek there were bright yellow one eyed Susans. I enjoyed watching them from the trains window.

About thirty minutes later, the train stopped at Jeongdongjin Station (정동진 역). I saw the sun rising over the ocean. It was a very beautiful view.  Actually, one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen. I would certainly go back there to watch it.

After a few minutes, the train left and then it stopped at Gangneung Station. We got off and then we looked for the bus stop. We got on bus #202 and got off at Ojukheon Entrance (오죽헌 입고). It was still very early so we decided to walk around. There was a paved walking path near the bus stop. There were colorful poppy flowers on the side of the walking path. We spent our time taking pictures of the poppy flowers and the bees.

This is one of my favorite photos.

Aside from poppy flowers, there were yellow cosmos...

and blue cornflowers there too.

I was like the bees transferring from flower to flower. I couldn't get enough of them. They were so lovely and attractive.

Then it was time to go. We headed to Ojukheon. My husband bought the tickets.

Vince buying the tickets....

We entered the gate. The place was very quiet. There was a few visitors. The first thing we saw inside the compound was the statue of Yi I (이이). His pen name is Yulgok, in which he was often referred to. He was one of the two famous Confucian scholars of the Joseon Dynasty. He is the man on the South Korean banknote, the 5000 won.

Yulgok Yi I

I searched online for a picture of the old South Korean banknote, the 5000 won. Here's what I found.

My husband and I found the exact place where the picture at the back of the 5000 won bill was taken and we tried to make our own. Here's the picture I had taken. 

We explored Ojukheon and found the building where Sin Saimdang gave birth to Yi I.

We also found a seated bronze statue of the notable Joseon Dynasty artist, calligrapher, poet, and most of all, a great wife to her husband and mother to his son, Yi I. She appears on the South Korean banknote, the 50,000 won. One of her paintings appears on the back of the South Korean banknote, the 5000 won.

The sun was already high when we finished walking around Ojukheon. We decided to go to a coffee shop nearby.

Then we headed to the beach....

Discovering Korea's Gem in the South Coast: Gacheon Daraengi Village

My husband and I have always wanted to visit the Southern part of South Korea. But because of the distance and a lack of adequate time, we couldn't go there. We were so excited when we learned that our friend was organizing a camping trip to Namhae. What made us more excited was the fact that the camping was scheduled on a 3-day weekend. Thanks to the Korean War Memorial Day.

It was our first time to go camping together here in South Korea. And the camp site is right next to the beach! How awesome is that! I was imagining lying in our tent, listening to the sound of the waves while my eyes were closed. I couldn't wait for the day of our departure.

Then that day came.We got on the bus and started enjoying the scenery along the way. We stopped at Hanam Rest Area to pick up some people coming from Busan. After around a 3 hour bus ride, we arrived at our first destination, the Daraengi (Terraced Rice Field) in Gacheon Village. Gacheon Daraengi was featured in Korean Dramas such as KBS 2 Television series 'Cinderella's Sister' ( 신데렐라 언니) and TV Chosun Weekend Dramas 'Saving Mrs. Go Bong Shil (고봉실 아주마 구하기, and Bride of the Century (백년의 신부). It is also a filming location of the movies  Indian Summer (인디안 써머) and Barefoot Ki-Bong (맨발의 기봉이).

I saw a few houses, small restaurants, and a coffee shop. Some of the houses' roofs were embellished with flowers painted on it.

We walked down the paved road and the ocean greeted us with its soft breeze. It felt so refreshing. The view of the green terraced rice field and the  blue ocean was a marvelous combination.

Then the sky kissed the ocean......looking at them makes me feel calm.

The blue water was inviting me to walk down and dip my feet into it.

The rice plants danced as the soft breezed blow. They seemed to be waving their tiny blades happily as if their welcoming me.

My Husband photographing the rice plants..:)

We continued exploring the village and we found this wooden path way that led us to one of the small gazebos there. I kind of like how the railings led my eyes to the gazebo and then to the blue ocean. That's why I took this picture.

I wanted to stay a little bit more but this plant reminded me of the time and I realized that it's almost time to go back to our bus. People there called this plant a shigye chu (시계 초) because of it's features. It looks like a clock with it's three needles. I searched it and I found out that it is actually called Fassifloraceae or Passion Flower.

Passifloraceae or Passion Flower

Known in Korea as 시계초 (Shigye-cho) or Clock Plant

 Since we almost ran out of time we decided to hike up back to where the bus was parking. When we get there I felt horrible. I didn't thing it would be that hard to hike back up. I felt like I was running out of oxygen. I was very thirsty. But looking back to terraced rice field and the ocean made me feel accomplished.