boseong

last weekend i took a two-day trip to the southern part of south korea to visit boseong, home of the green tea fields. 70% of the country's green tea is grown in this area. my trip was full of small, hmmm, mishaps? it made for an interesting little adventure! again, if you can't see these pics, here's the link to the facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=115569&id=795438834&l=092a3b10e6

i set my alarm for 6pm instead of 6am, so by the time i got to the bus terminal i had missed the morning bus so bought a ticket for the 3pm bus. it was a 5 hour bus ride, and when i arrived at the first bus terminal the lady who didn't speak english tried to help me get to my final destination - a seaside town called yulpo. long story shorter, i took another bus then a taxi and finally got to a motel in yulpo where 3 doors down from me there was a yelling couple (luckily i couldn't actually hear them in my room), and a lady out on the street that was lividly irate and screaming who woke me up 3 times. fun! seriously though, i don't mind experiences like that because it makes it all more memorable. and this lady, wow. i've never heard anyone scream at someone like that.

i woke up in the morning and went walking down to the sea. it was pretty and i found 3 shells that are keepers. all the things in the water are docks, or something similar. obviously seafood is a big cuisine item here.

whenever i go into the country i see cranes in the rice fields and would love to catch a picture of one. imagine the white against the green, it would make for a beautiful photo. this guy is on the shore and will have to do for now.

i took a bus back to boseong and on the way got so excited by this sneak peak. i've really been looking forward to seeing these green tea fields.

waiting at the boseong bus terminal were dozens of elderly people, mostly women. when i got onto my bus i snapped this pic from inside the bus so as not to be so obvious. so many of these ladies are about my half my height, literally. several of them have big packages, and when they're walking they carry them on their heads.

on both of my buses 99% of the riders were elderly. they were going to or coming from flea and farmer's markets. so cute.

ta-da! i finally arrived and the path going up to the main fields was lined with these pine trees. oh my land, i was in such heaven. living in seoul i'm always sucking in pollution and car exhaust and the wonderful smell of sewage. oh and of course cigarette smoke. walking on this path smelled so good i couldn't take enough deep breaths. i was in heaven!

this is one of the first fields and kept my excitement rising. i love the trees, tea field, bamboo fence with roots hanging out from something, moss covered rocks, and the pine tree borders on the sides of the pic.

laaaaaa! imagine the angels singing. breathtaking in real life and still makes me so tickled happy when i look at the pictures.

the three mounds in the middle of the picture are burial sites, graves. they also dot the country side and i actually really like how they look. i've decided that i want to be buried under a small mound too.

don't you love the curving?

i like the small contrast of the red leaf trees in the back left.

this is the second set of steep millions of stairs. i was the only white gal around, but i wasn't totally white - my face was plenty red. :)

at the top of the stairs when i could finally tear my eyes away from the fields, i looked up and realized that there were layers of mountains and water out there! must be the sea. oh my goodness, so gorgeous. you know a picture can't accurately capture these kinds of things, but this gives you an idea.

kimchi pots!! i love them and would love to have one in my home when i grow up. but instead, i opted to buy a mini one at the gift shop.

"i heart noke cha" "i heart green tea"

the last mishap was the scariest. i got back to the bus terminal with the strong feeling that i should go early, just in case. well, following the feeling paid off. i tried to pay for my ticket with a card, but out in the country i guess they don't use card machines, only cash. i didn't have enough cash, by half, to pay for the ticket and no one spoke english! i know the word for bank, so i said, "bank?" now imagine lots of korean talking and motioning out the door. not helpful. after a while i came back to the bus depot and asked again, and a guy was there that knew enough english to draw me a map to a bank that would hopefully have an open atm and would accept my card. i booked it down the street (i had an hour to find cash and get back) and luckily and amazingly found an atm in a grocery store. phew! i was supremely relieved. if i didn't get cash in time i would have missed the only bus going back to seoul that afternoon and would have missed a day of work. man! i also would have had to sleep in the dirty old bus depot because i didn't have enough cash to get a motel either. now that it's all done and everything's ok, i think it was a great experience! adventure!

today i'm off to the northeast part of the country. i have to use every weekend now that it's warmer again because i leave so soon! goodbye! have a beautiful day and fabulous weekend!