Suncheon Bay Ecological Park
/ Roxy Hutton
Suncheon Bay is most famous for it's huge expanse of reeds which grow so tall that one can get lost walking through them. The reeds are incredibly beautiful to watch swaying in the breeze. Suncheon Bay is widely known for attracting a large number of rare birds such as the hooded crane, white-naped crane, white stork, black-faced spoonbill, and the Eurasian Oystercatcher, as well as other birds designated as natural Korean treasures.
We didn't explore much of actual Suncheon, but rather headed straight for the Eco Park. There is lots to do there, from wandering around and enjoying the views to grabbing a coffee to enjoy on your walk through the reeds.
This time of year (Autumn) is particularly beautiful at the Eco Park as all the trees are slowly loosing their leaves, dropping red and yellow leaves all around. The light is also spectacular
Directions
Suncheon bay is at the very bottom of Korea and is easy enough to get to – take any bus heading for Suncheon. Once you get to the main bus terminal, cross the road and head left. Once you get to the end of the street turn right.You need to take the 67 Bus (a 20 minute ride to Suncheon Bay).
After a second visit to this delightful burger place in Gwangju, I am 100% convinced that this will be one of the best you'll eat while in Korea. I'm talking real, homemade, grilled patties with plenty of extra toppings that will leave you with a very full stomach and a happy heart.
Burger Bridge is a small restaurant located on the other end of downtown Gwangju, near Mudeung Mountain 무등산. It's in the Chosun University area, a place filed with the trendiest cafes, bars and restaurants. It's quite nearby to Florida Cafe and Hertz Guesthouse (one of our favorite dog-friendly places to stay).
The best part about this place (apart from how good their burgers are and what good value for money they are) is their opening times! Most restaurants open closer to midday in Gwangju, which is a real pain if you wake up early like us. Burger Bridge is open from 10 am! The restaurant itself is small, but oh-so-charming, and the guys who run it are super friendly. You can tell they are proud of their burger joint!
I have been wanting to visit the Enrogel Teapot Cafe ever since reading about it on Seoul State of Mind. When my friend Sam from There She Goes Again (you might recognise Sam as the stylist behind a lot of my styled photo shoots) recently took a trip there and I saw her photographs, I knew I had to make a plan to get there. Most of the weird and wonderful places to see in Korea are in Seoul. As I live way down south in a tiny little town called Buan, getting to Seoul is only really possible on the weekends.
I was delighted to find out that the teapot cafe is a mere 40 minute drive from Buan, and so I was able to go visit it one afternoon afternoon after school.
The cafe itself is actually just outside Jeongeup, which makes getting there quite easy as you can catch a train to Jeongeup and then from there a local bus. I am not sure of the exact route to take via public transport as I have a car (having a car in Korea is a real game changer especially if you have a dog here like we do).
The cafe is located in just outside Jangseon village , which is between Jeongeup & Gwangju and is actually quite near the famous Baekyangsa Temple in Naejangsan National Park. Naejangsan is particularly famous for its display of Autumn leaves, and Baekyangsa temple is a very special place to visit during Autumn.
We visited the teapot cafe at the end of Spring, and must have just missed the cherry blossoms. We were able to catch a glimpse of the end of the blossoms, but from the little we could still see of the blossoms, it must have been magnificent during full bloom. The drive itself from Buan to Jangseon is beautiful, and well worth an afternoon drive if you have a car.
It only took us 3 years, but we finally found the perfect little wooden cabin in the mountains here in Korea. And the best part, they are dog friendly (not just in the cabin, but in the surrounding campsite too!). I am always looking for get away places here in Korea, and even before having a dog and needing to worry about places that would allow him, I hadn't found much in terms of 'western style' cabins that didn't cost the earth. Stumbling upon Art In Island was one of the highlights of our stay here in Korea, and the place itself exceeded all of our expectations.
Art In Island is a delightful little corner of the Korean countryside, surrounded by mountains and a river (great for fishing!) and great for hiking and exploring too. As you can see from the photos below, we headed to the cabin in winter (the snow made everything magical) but I can tell that this place would be just as wonderful in all seasons.
The cabin owned by the most friendly man, Hao, who was great to communicate with before and during our stay. He replied instantly to all my messages and both him and the local manager went out of their way to make sure we had a comfortable stay. Hao speaks perfect English and really was wonderful to communicate with, even though he lives in Seoul, he often visits the cabin and is a great guy to hang out with and get to know. And the fact that he was so friendly to our dog, Shadow, made us like him even more!
If you own a dog here in Korea, you'll know just how hard it is to find dog friendly accommodation, especially if you own a 'large' breed dog. This cabin was everything we hoped it would be and will definitely be going back before we leave Korea.
If you're from the US, chances are you're not a big fan of these furry creatures. You probably have visions of your rubbish being riffled through and your pets being harassed. But to us South Africans, this funny little creature is a complete novelty.
We don't have racoons in South Africa, the only thing we can compare to the US 'racoon' in terms of how much havoc they wreck around your house is the vermit monkey. Most South Africans (at least those from Kwazulu-Natal) have at least 1 story of a monkey (or even a troop of monkeys) breaking into their house, causing complete chaos with the dogs and cats and stealing any food they can get their hands on.
I'm not a big fan of monkeys, so I can understand some of my American friends and their aversion to these so-called 'pests' but I was quite taken with these two racoons that we spent time with at Blind Alley Cafe near Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul. Obviously, these racoons are pets and so tame, I wouldn't advise anyone running up to a wild racoon and try and give it an affectionate scratch (ouch...you'll be in for a nasty surprise).
These two racoons were very entertaining (especially the white one who was the braver of the pair).
To celebrate the start of 2016, Farmboy and I headed to Gwangju with some friends. We spent New Years eve having dinner at the popular First Alleyway (good burgers and board games!), and then headed for a few drinks and festivities at Speakeasy.
We spent New Years day relaxing and recovering from a full night of dancing (why I insisted on wearing heels, I'll never know) and then found the most AMAZING authentic burger place (one of the only places was open on New Years day!) called Burger Bridge (blog post to come soon).
We then spent New Years day evening at Florida Cafe. I can't wait to share with you the photographs of this beautiful, modern cafe in downtown Gwangju.
Owning a dog in Korea is so much harder than people realise. Korea is not very pet friendly, and although this is improving, small dogs (or rather teeny, tiny handbag size pooches) are far more accepted and approved of than big dogs.
I own a 'big' dog, although he would be termed medium size in any other country.
Shadow, my 1.5 year old Korean Jindo, is a rescue dog whom we found on the side of the road in September 2013...you can read more about him by clicking here.
But, after lots of trial and error, I have found some great places that allow 'big' dogs that don't cost an arm and a leg and are near the popular areas of each city. It's no fun having to stay miles and miles away from where you want to be, as having a dog shouldn't be a huge hinderance.
This post is about Hertz Guesthouse, an awesome place to stay right in the heart of downtown Gwangju.
Farmboy and I visited Jeju Island over the Chuseok holiday here in Korea (September 2014). This was our second trip to Jeju (click here for info on our first trip) and we enjoyed it just as much as the first time. The first time we travelled by public transport, waiting for buses and taking taxis, and this time we decided to hire a car and camp for the 3 nights we were there. We went with two friends which really brought the costs of the car hire down and it worked out to be incredibly cheap.
You may be thinking of heading there soon (or sometime in the future) so to help you plan your trip, I have put together a rough budget, as well as some tips from our stay.
If you've been following this blog for any time at all, I'm sure you'll know have come across a post or two sharing my love for the Innisfree brand.
Innisfree is known as the first, original South Korean all-natural brand, and is one of the few Korean brands that use organic ingredients certified by France's ECOCERT organisation. All of it's packaging is recyclable, and the ingredients in it's products are natural and not filled with a million and one chemicals.
What I love most about Innisfree is the fact that their products are reasonably priced, and they WORK! There are so many amazing Korean skincare and makeup brands, but a lot of them look a lot better than they work. Korean packaging is incredibly cute and will have you buying all sorts of products just because they will look pretty on your dresser.
You can imagine my delight when I found out that Innisfree has it's own cafe! There are two locations, one on Jeju Island (the home of Innisfree) and on in Seoul.
During the last weekend we spent in Korea (in case you're new around here, my husband and I spent 3 years living in South Korea and have only just returned home to South Africa) I was able to pop into the cafe and experience the beauty of Innisfreein it's 'cafe' form.