The Sixth Largest Island in Korea, Anmyeondo

During our recent visit to Taean County for the Tulip Festival, we were given a chance to visit another large island in Korea. The name of the island is Anmyeondo. Anmyeondo is a part of Taean county. It is originally a peninsula connected to Taean. But during the time of  Yeonguijeong Kim Yuk ( Prime Minister Kim Yuk ), the area between Anmyeon-eup and Namyeon was flooded to protect the tax sent to Hanyang, present day Seoul, from Japanese pirates. Then in 1970, Anmyeondo was reconnected to the mainland through a 208.5 meter Anmyeongyo Bridge. 

Anmyeondo is a beautiful island. During our trip we visited the Halmi (할미) and Harabi (할아비) Rocks (바위) at Kkotji Beach( 꽃지해변). We were lucky because when we arrived, it was low tide, so we were able to go near the rocks. After seeing the rocks, we decided to walk along the coastline, where canola flowers were in full bloom. They added beauty to the place. I heard that the sunset in that area is really beautiful because the sun sets right in between the two rocks. I wanted to see it but we had limited time. 

Halmi and  Harabi Rocks

Canola Flowers by the beach

After walking on the beach, we decided to cross the bridge to look for a store. On our way to the store, we passed by a camping ground, an ATV renting place, and a coffee bus. 

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We left the place at around 2:15 P.M. We then moved to Anmyeondo Recreation Forest and Arboretum. Since we had a limited time, Vince and I decided to got to the arboretum only. At the arboretum we were able to see a lot of flowers. Here are some of the pictures I took. 

Landscape of the Arboretum

Maple trees and Azaleas

Purple Magnolias

Muscari

Wooden staircases

Pine trees at the entrance of the Recreational Forest

Walking around the arboretum gave me a feeling of freedom. It made me feel so blessed.  The sky was so blue.  I felt like I was given another chance to enjoy the beauty of spring. It was a great experience for me.

My Best Spring Experience: The 4th Taean Tulip Festival 2015 (2015 제4회 태안 튤립 축제)

South Korea is a very beautiful country in spring. The mountains are covered with verdant trees. They come in various shades of green: neon green, yellow green, green with shades of pink or red. And of course, dark green. Every time I travel, I find myself looking out the window, amazed by how beautiful Korean mountains are. 

But trees are not the only reason why I love Korean spring. What I love the most about Korean spring is the flowers. Korea has a lot of flower festivals, such as Cherry Blossom Festivals, Canola Flower Festivals, Apricot Blossom Festivals, and many more Spring Flower Festivals.

Yesterday, the 25th of April, my husband and I went to the Taean Tulip Festival. We were able to book a trip with a Korean Travel Agency, 대구여행자 클럽( Daegu Traveler's Club); knowing Korean language helped us a lot. The tour bus left Daegu around 6:20 in the morning, and we arrived at the Taean Tulip Festival grounds around 10:00 a.m. The entrance fee for adults was 9,000 won and 6,000 won for young people. They offer discounts for big groups. 

The Festival Ground's Main Gate
"Taean Flower-Light Festival"

As we were entering the main gate, we were greeted by some tulips in pots and a cute trolley. The trolley transports those visitors that don't want to walk around. 

Festival Trolley

The next thing I saw was the viewing deck packed with excited visitors. We headed to the deck, I still didn't know what to expect. And....surprise...surprise... All I could utter when I saw the view was, "Wow!" 

"The Tulip  Korean Flag"

Tulips were everywhere. I felt like I was dreaming. I couldn't explain the happiness I felt the moment I saw the tulips. Our tour guide said that tulips are originally from Turkey, and a long time ago, only very rich people could have them (i.e. royal families). He also added that growing tulips was very hard back then.

My husband continued walking around. We saw tulips of various colors, sizes, and petal designs. I am happy to share what I have seen. Here are some of them: 

Aren't they lovely? I think the money we spent for this trip and the time we spent sitting on the bus was all worth it. We paid 45,000 won per person for this trip. That includes the transportation fee from Daegu to Taean Tulip Festival location, KKotji Beach,  Anmyeondo Recreation Forest and Arboretum, and back to Gumi. 

Taean Flower and Light Festival runs from April 17th - May 10th. The Tulip (Flower) Festival is from 9:00 in the morning through 11:00 at night, while the light festival starts from sunset until 11:00 at night.

If you want to see the Taean Tulip Festival, please follow this link (How to Get to Taean County?). From Taean Intercity Bus Terminal you can take a city bus to the festival location. If you can read and understand Korean, this site can be very helpful (Navigation Search).

If you want to see more of our travels and adventures, please feel free to follow and like us on GIK Photography Facebook Page.

Island Hopping 2014 #1 - Bigeumdo (비금도) and Island with Kind Old Folks and Beach Police

Traveling in Korea in summer can be very difficult. Beaches and camping grounds are packed. My husband and I love traveling but we hate being on a crowded beach. We planned to go island hopping but we didn't know which islands to go to. We've been to Jeju Island, Dokdo, Ulleungdo, and Ganghwado.  And we didn't want to go back to places that we've already been to. We planned to go to Somaemuldo and some other islands nearby. Our plan changed when we learned that When in Korea (WinK) was having a trip, "Island Hoping Trip Off the Beaten Path". We decided to do that instead. So, on the night of July 25th, my husband and I found ourselves on a train to Daejeon to meet the group. Around 1:00 AM we left for Mokpo. The bus ride was long but since I fell asleep, it didn't seem so long. We arrived in Mokpo at around 4:00 AM. There were more than 25 people on the bus but most of them were going to Jeju Island. Only four of us were on the island hopping trip. The weather that day wasn't very nice. The ferry was delayed. Our group leader decided to change the course. We were able to get a ferry to Bigeumdo Island at 1:00 PM. As we left the Mokpo Coastal Ferry Terminal, a group of seagulls followed us. I bought a bag of shrimp crackers and started throwing the crackers to them. I always enjoy doing it. My husband and some other passengers did the same thing.

The long voyage wasn't boring at all. We arrived at Bigeumdo Port at around 3:00 PM.The place was very quiet. The first thing that caught my attention was a big sculpture of a bird. I'm not sure what bird it was.

We walked towards a small store where our group leader asked the owner to call a taxi for us. A few minutes later, the taxi came. While on the taxi, I kept looking outside, trying to see everything along the way. I saw a series of paddies but those paddies weren't for plants. Those were paddies used for salt evaporation. I wasn't able to take pictures though. :(

The taxi dropped us off at the beach. We found a few big tents near the beach. The tents were next to the beach police's  (coast guard) station. Since the weather was hot, we rested there and then walked to the store. We know our stuff would be safe since there were 6 beach police there. On our way to the store, we saw a few old folks.  Some of them were working on their vegetable farms, while others were resting under a small hut. The store wasn't so big and there weren't a lot of stuff in it. There's something interesting about the store though. We saw birds' nests in the ceiling. There were little birds in some of the nests.

On our way back, the old folks invited us to join them under the hut. They then offered us fermented rice liquor (soju) and crabs. The soju was very strong. The crabs were pretty good though. The old folks were really nice. One of them adopted us. :) I think this experience was one of my favorite parts of our trip. I will never forget those old folks.

Pyungnim Maeul is the name of the village we were at.

It was dark when we returned to our tents.
The next morning, Vince and I woke up early to see the sunrise. We were greeted by the cold breeze and thick fog. It was so foggy that we could hear the sound of the waves but we couldn't see the ocean.

Empty tents...

My Husband taking a picture of the sun through the thick fog.

Beach recliners, the beach police's patrol jeep, and jet ski..:)

We walked around and found a lot of interesting insects and some huge frogs.

small spider

a tiny dragonfly

a baby snail

a huge spider

a brown praying mantis

We went to the beach and found out what made all those holes on the sand, the CRABS. We watched them come out of their holes. We saw how they carried and kicked sand balls far away from their holes. It was fun watching them run quickly as soon as they saw us move. Some didn't go all the way in their holes. They stayed in the mouth of their holes and watched us. It was funny how their long eyes turned around while their bodies weren't moving.

Photo credit to my husband..:)

Photo taken by my husband with his telephoto lens...

While we were enjoying the company of our little friends, one of the six beach police came and gave us a cup of hot coffee each. It was really nice of him..:) Later that day, he gave us cold Powerade.

It seemed like we didn't do a lot at Bigeumdo but we had so much fun. Simple things made us happy. The kindness of the people and the peacefulness of the place made our trip a very meaningful one.