Hwoingseong Trip. This weekend a friend invited me to visit in the small town of Hwoingseong, south of Seoul in the province of Gangwon-do. The first order of business was to get to the Express bus terminal on lines 3 & 7.From there I had to buy a ticket and catch an express bus to the city of Wonju.
My friend told me that Wonju was a up and coming city drawing residents because of its cheap housing rates and convenient location close to Seoul, it’s only about two hours away.
My bus only had a handful of people on it and the buses departed every 15 minutes which was very nice.
Taking the subway most of the time I forget how sprawling Seoul really is. On the drive out of the city I snapped a few shots.
My friend met me in Wonju and we took a twenty minute cab to the smaller city of Hoengseong.
Hoengseong is the home of the great Beef Festival held by the river and some cozy hot springs which I will have to return to visit.
It really is a small city, but it still has a downtown area with beauty shops, and restaurants, convenience stores, hardware stores, and anything else you can imagine. It seemed as if you could get anything you wanted.
I almost bought a puppy, but I didn’t know if I could take him back on the return bus ride. They were so cute, but it seemed a shame to separate one from his doggie brothers and sisters.
Hoengseong also has a little park where these fabulous bronze statues stand commemorating the great tradition of beef eating! Thank you cows! The park also serves as a hangout for the local teens with too much time and no where to go.
The park is actually quite a beautiful spot. In fact Hoengseong is near enough to the mountain that you can practically hike there and back.
And some luckily folks had cottages right on the river. If I taught in Hoengseong I would plead for one of those river side spots. You could catch your breakfast right in the river.
It was quaint, but give me the hustle and bustle of Seoul any day. However, those hot springs may change my mind.
