Most of my family was in Korea for three weeks prior to my arrival. I travelled with my parents and my oldest daughter. My younger children attended elementary school while in Korea and generally were treated very well. Since we were travelling with my parents and only in Korea for a short period of time, we wanted to do as much sightseeing as possible. We started our tour from 여수 and worked our way back up to 서울.

While in 여수 my parents did a separate tour while I took care of some dental work. I am not that fond of dentists and generally have pretty good teeth but I did have to get a crown two years ago. It cost a small fortune and didn’t last all that long. I fell out two days before I left for Korea. I did not have time to get it fixed before leaving so seeing the dentist was a priority when I got to 여수. My wife knows a dentist who came highly recommended (although I have to say that just about everyone that there that found out I saw a dentist had their own to recommend) so I let him fix my tooth. He did a great job. He told me that Korean dentists are more skillful and have smaller hands than their American counterparts; I’d say he was right. By my best guess I would say dental work is about 25% of the cost in America for comparable work. I wouldn’t be worried about seeing a dentist in Korea again but I wouldn’t wish for it.

We toured the sights in 여수 briefly and then moved up to 순천. We toured a landscaped garden with a 예식장 and a 찜질방 as well as a 찻집. The day was very cold and windy and place was empty. We then took a hike to see 서남사, a small Buddhist temple. It was being renovated but despite that and the cold weather there were many people there. My parents were able to be driven to the temple despite the many people on the trail. (My mom doesn’t get around that well.) After that we went to a folk village (낙안읍성 민속 마을). It really was getting too cold, however. We didn’t stay very long. On our way back to 여수 we took a driving tour of the 여천공단. This is an area comprised of chemical and petroleum factories. At night each factory is lit by a different colored bulb that I believe signifies the type of chemicals produced there. It is quite a sight.

Here 일숙 and Luke try their hand at 널뛰기.

When we were in 부산 we rented a driver and a van to take us on an all day tour of 경주. It was a long day, We saw four main sights: 석굴암, the sight of a sitting Buddha in a cave, 불국사, a large and famous temple, 왕릉, the kings burial sight, and 경주 박물관, the national museum in 경주. It was a lot to do and see in one day. We found a tour similar to this that cost about 345,000원 per person (times that by eight!) but we did it for about 300,000원 altogether. If you aren’t a complete tourist it really pays.

We did a similar thing is 서울, we rented a car and driver and were able to see the palace and the nearby museum as well as 인사동 and 동대문. We really didn’t have enough time to see everything we wanted to but we didn’t have to much time to rest either. That is typical of any vacation though, especially one that is for touring: you need a vacation once you get home.