Ode to Spring: More Than Just A Cup Of Tea.

Boseong is at it's most beautiful in Spring time, it's also their peak season. And since they're celebrating the festival also, finding a place to spend the night could be difficult as hell. Knowing this, we left the festival right after dinner to find a place to sleep. We went to the place where we stayed before, an inn right beside a beautiful lake, and luckily they have an available room for us. With the crazy number of tourists who came to see the festival that time, it's almost impossible to get a room.

During the festival, a standard room costs 100,000 won in Boseong, but it's half the price if you go there during the off-peak season. So what do you get in a room that expensive? Well, nothing really, just some basic stuff. No wifi, no whirlpool, not even free breakfast. But it has a balcony with a very good view. It's a good place to have wine in the evening... Stars, moonlight and crickets... Not so bad right?


I was looking forward to see the view when I woke up in the morning. And it didn't disappoint me.. It was beautiful and I love that crisp early morning air that smelled like freshly-mowed grass..

Visiting the green tea plantation was the first thing in our itenerary that day. Good thing the inn is not that far from the plantation.

Like I said in my previous post, Spring is the harvest season in Boseong. It's best to visit there in April, just before they harvest the leaves.. It looks spectacular then.

In Boseong, you just don't get to see postcard pretty places. There are also small villages at the foot of the mountain that will give you a glimpse of how people live in the countryside. I saw farmers toiling their field while their wives harvest the crops. During lunch time, they gather around at some shady spot to have lunch and drink makgeolli.

It's a very rural place and some villagers live in old houses like this.

I love how quiet and peaceful the village is. It's the exact opposite from the city where we live. There are also plenty of wildflowers like this.

Our last stop was Illimsan. The place is known for colorful azaleas that bloom in springtime covering almost every square foot of the mountain. But because the weather was still too cold, the flowers were still trapped in their buds. But flowers or no flowers, the mountain looks pretty amazing! Notice how colorful the trees are...

We couldn't leave Boseong and end our trip without tasting their local specialty. So for lunch I ordered Green Tea Mul Naengmyun. The essence of green tea is infused in this buckwheat noodle dish.

To eat it, just put a few drops of vinegar and mix. The noodle is really chewy and I could definitely taste the flavor of green tea in it. The color might seem a little weird, but I'm telling you.. it's sooo good! I haven't tasted anything quite like it.

This is the last part of my travelogue. I had fun narrating this wonderful, borderline quirky adventure to you guys. I hope you all enjoyed it!

*While writing this, it got me thinking.. I should totally work for Korea's Tourism Department.. I love to travel and share my adventure to the world anyway.. at least then I'll get paid for what I love doing. : )

Wish you all a great weekend!

Ode to Spring: Boseong Green Tea Festival.

Boseong is known as the birthplace of tea industry in Korea. And because of it's altitude and rich soil, teas grown in Boseong is the best you could ever taste in Korea. Spring is their most celebrated season as the harvest this time is the best when it comes to quality and market value. So every Spring, from May 1-5, a festival is being held in Boseong county to celebrate the year's finest harvest.

Chris and I both love drinking tea. At home, we have a cabinet full of teas from different countries bought during Chris's business trips abroad, but our all-time favorite remains to be the one from Boseong. We love it so much that a festival named after it is just too hard to miss. We didn't mind the back-breaking ride of tunnels, mountain roads and zig-zag paths just to be there. *FYI, Boseong is at the Southwestern tip of South Korea and about 6 hour drive away from Seoul.

The festival started around 10 in the morning. Buddhists who took part in the festival started the day with worship and giving thanks at the temple.

Visitors can sample green tea and delicious rice cake served by these friendly hanbok-wearing ajummas. Their hair are all uniformly curled in distinct ajumma fashion. : )

They also show brewing techniques and teach you proper drinking etiquette.

And this is the fun part - the "Hands-on Experience Program". At a small fee, you can experience harvesting the leaves and drying them in large roasting pots. This is especially popular among families and small groups. You could bring home the finished product to brew at home.

For those who are interested to learn the processes and methods of making green tea, there are classes like this that you can attend.

One of the main attraction in the festival is the Exhibition Center. Here you can see different ceremonial tea drinking attires on display, fine tea cups from around the world and photo exhibits of different plantation and produce. There's also an audio-visual area where you can watch and learn about tea making.

There are plenty of things to see and learn that kept us occupied all throughout the day. At night, I got to see a different side of the festival - a celebration of food unique in Cheolla province that is.

People swarm these tents where different foods and delicacies are sold.

It was hard to decide on the menu, but as soon as I saw the roasted pig, I immediately knew what I'm gonna have. This is Korea's version of lechon, and one look at it made my mouth water... and the smell... damn that succulent smell of pig roasted to perfection... it made me forget all about dieting!

Here's what we have for dinner.

Dinner in a place as beautiful as Boseong can't be complete without a kick of alcohol. That milky liquid thing from the left is called Dongdongju (8,000 won) - a mild liquor made from brewing rice and wheat. The dish in the middle is called Nakji Bokkeum (20,000 won) or stir-fried octopus in spicy sauce. The third one is the roasted pig served without the skin (30,000 won). In traditional Cheolla fashion, it's served together with Hong Oh Hui - fermented raw skate that smells like dirty gas station restrooms.. BLOODY eeew! It's a specialty food that only a few Koreans can eat, and Chris being the adventurous type decided to try it. You eat it with a thick slice of pork and kimchi all piled together. I waited till I was drunk before I tried it, and even in that state I can't get past the very strong ammonia smell. It stings the mouth like acid, and it makes your breath smelling like dirty toilet. But it's hell of fun trying all those menu, we could hardly walk after. An experience like this is definitely worth all the hassle.

More adventures coming up!

Ode to Spring: Gokseong Train Village, Revisited.

Nothing peeves me more than listening to metal music. I absolutely abhor it's screechy sound - it reminds me of a cat in labor. During our 1,200 kilometer driving feat, it was Chris's music of choice (he digs it for reasons I could never fathom). Chris probably has the weirdest music collection. From 90's Metal, to Ace of Base, down to Michael Bolton... It's like he's stuck in a totally different era - an era before my first menstruation that is. Hearing that, I bet no one's gonna believe he just turned 30. I would love to educate his ears you know. Give him something current from the likes of Jimmy Eat World, Breaking Benjamin, even Paramore, but we don't have a jack for my mp3 player yet. Till then, my ears will bleed to the sound of screechy Rock Metal and Michael Grandfather Bolton when we travel.

So hours of driving led us to a place called Gokseong - a train village South of Cheolla province. No matter how many times we visit this place, it never gets old and there's always new things to see. Right now they have rail bikes but we skipped that. Our legs were way too tired to pedal anyway. Cheolla being in the Southern part of Korea is warmer by several degrees. I like that it's so much warmer there than Suwon. It kind of reminds me about Manila sans the humidity.

Here's the train that you could ride to tour the neighboring villages. I haven't tried riding this thing though...


Spring flowers are in full bloom in Gokseong. There are flowers everywhere exploding in so many different colors! It looks nice alright, but there are plenty of bugs too.. ^^;

A small crowd gathered while these boys are performing. I'm not sure if they're famous or anything but the crowd loved them. I saw several old people (halmmonis and halabojis mind you) dancing to their music. It's kind of odd since these boys are young and they played alternative music. :p

And here's what I had for lunch... It's a noodle dish in a very bland broth called Janchi Guksu. I only ate half of it...

As soon as I got inside the car, I switched on the radio. Chris didn't like it but Boseong is several hours away from Gokseong and I couldn't bear to hear another song from his collection.

Ode to Spring: 1,200 Kilometer Journey.

Koreans must have done something to please God as He has blessed this country with insurmountable beauty worthy of a thousand mile journey. Beautiful is one word befitting in describing this country I've grown to love. As each season unfolds, senses are titillated with so many different wonders. It doesn't matter how long you've lived here. One can never go weary of it's beauty and time doesn't weaken the anticipation of what the season would bring. The excitement and awe will always be there. It's hard to describe the feeling, but for the sake of being articulate and descriptive, I say it's like when Daddy buys you your first Barbie, and your head is in a dizzying spin thinking of the endless fun possibilities you could do to it.

And like I always say, Spring is my favorite season. It's what I call sugar and spice and everything nice. A time when flowers abound and trees are in their brightest shade of green. The contrast of colors it makes with the pale blue skies is wickedly bewildering! And while Spring is still in full throttle, I got the chance to experience it's full glory when we travelled to Cheolla - a province located Southwest of Korea. The 2-day trip has definitely left it's mark on us. Imagine a 1,200 kilometer drive with no snacks! Just the thought of it could make any sane person lose their sanity. My butt was sore from sitting, while Chris strained his leg muscles from stepping on the accelerator for far too long. But pain was the last thing that occupied our thoughts while driving as the roads there are literally brimming with flowers in so many hues! I can't even count how many times we stopped to take pictures.

And as the kilometers are counting and give-away tissues from gas stations are rapidly accumulating, I wondered... Why on earth don't we have Spring in the Philippines?! While we have beaches and rainforests, Korea has THIS... with maples, snow and cherry blossoms on the side.

Here are some photos taken at random roads in Cheolla province. I gotta say, how can you possibly not fall in love with this place?! And this perhaps would explain why my eyes are tinged with the deadliest shade of green.

This is the first installment of my Spring travelogue. And if for some reason, it didn't bore you and you decide to stick around for the next one, you're in for a wonderful ride. You'll get to see beautiful sights, great food, and lots and lots of quirky behavior courtesy of yours truly.

Have a happy Monday y'all!