During Seolnal (Lunar/Chinese New Year), I decided to go on my last major "Goodbye Tour" through Korea. I got to see a few friends and spend time with them before I left. Others, I was not able to see. That made me sad. However, the moments were precious; so much that I just lived them and didn't take any pictures . . . almost.
The bulk of the pictures I took were in Daegu. Let me share them:
Bus timetable.
Ok, this one is not from Daegu, but from Hoengseong's Bus Terminal. This is where my journey began.
About 3 hours later, I made it to Daegu and tried to get around. Only 1 problem: my T-money charm was virtually out of money. Can I use it in Daegu? Yes. Can I recharge it in Daegu? No. Why? It's just not used in Daegu . . . huh?
Well, I needed to use the subway, so I went to the single-trip machine and got my token:
1-way subway token.
I was annoyed that I needed to use cash, but then I realized; this was a 1st-world problem. I had plenty of small change, that paying for the bus would be no problem at all. There really was nothing to worry about, I was just so accustomed to using my T-money charm that it annoyed me that I couldn't recharge it there.
Calm down and use cash. It's not the end of the world. Boy, was I spoiled . . .
So the next day, my friend and I go to a lake called "Suseong Lake" and explore it. After getting something at the local Starbucks, we went off to explore (and I took pictures of what I saw).
Being half-Cuban, of course this place was not going to go unnoticed!
I don't remember seeing this kind of duck before; do any of you know it?
Panoramic view of the lake.
Map and small info.
Asymmetrical steps.
Swan/Duck boat parking/docking.
Hold up . . . say what?
That's a restaurant/café . . . inside that airplane . . .
Whatever works.
It was a really nice day.
They keep their ducks in line here.
A path/walkway along the lake. Can you imagine how breathtakingly beautiful this place must be in the spring? Or the autumn?
The bus stop.
Pretty easy.
And those are the 2 bus numbers that will get you here.
We eventually made it downtown and were walking around. She was going to show me something when this caught my eye:
A bar that consists of buses (I saw 2 more inside from the street, peering in).
What will they think of next?
It came time to say goodbye, and I had to go and find my hostel. Got a taxi, showed the driver the address on my confirmation letter, and within 5 minutes I was there.
There were 3 ladies in the lobby, 1 being German. I was so excited to practice German again, even though I knew my German was pretty rusty. These ladies were sooo nice, they even shared their dinner with me--for free! This was not just a sandwich-half here and 2 slices of gimbab there, but a full balanced meal! It was soo good too.
The guesthouse pets.
Both were strays picked up and taken in. Amazing how both get along with each other (seriously, they were playing. No screams or any kind of noise).
The steps to the rooms.
A bit daunting, but not too bad.
Something wonderful about this guesthouse is that the owner is actively involved in volunteer services to help North Korean defectors, both in Daegu and not. There's a table in the lobby with different items for sale, half of them by North Korean defectors hiding in China. Also, 20% of the guesthouse's proceeds go to helping North Korean defectors. They offer classes for North Korean defectors and offer lots of volunteering opportunities to any interested.
For more information on what they do, you can click here.
KTX Train information.
This was when I left Daegu to continue on my tour to Cheonan, then Seoul, then back to Cheonan, on to Daejeon, back to Wonju, and then back to Hoengseong. (whew!)
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