3 days on Jeju Island, Korea travel vlog: cafes, museums on Day 1 | Where's Anne Travel
3 days on Jeju Island, Korea travel vlog: cafes, museums on Day 1 | Where's Anne Travel
Welcome to this travel vlog series, where we'll be exploring some of the best and unique destinations on Jeju-do.
Jeju-do is known as the "Hawaii" of Korea! While it was raining for most of the trip, I still was able to visit some cafes, museums, and restaurants on day one of my trip!
Jeju-do is an island located in the very southern part of South Korea.
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyJQN-nEqBM
โญ๏ธ Have you been to Hawaii or Jeju-do, Korea? Let me know in the comments!
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Travel vlog: We Hiked Seoraksan National Park โฐ๏ธ saw waterfalls, a cave in Gangwon-do, Korea
This hike is why I hike.
Waterfalls, temples, a massive sitting Buddha, unique rocks, a cave, and more can be found at Seoraksan National Park. Located in the northeast of South Korea, my friend and I took a long-weekend to visit Sokcho ๐ฆ and hike Seoraksan โฐ๏ธ.
Hope you enjoy watching!
They say South Korea is 70% mountains, so why not hike them?
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NJtTUBwvtPg
โญ๏ธ Have you been or are you planning to go hiking in Korea? Let me know in the comments!
We Hiked Seoraksan National Park โฐ๏ธ saw waterfalls, a cave in Gangwon-do, Korea
How to get to Seoraksan? 00:29 We took a bus from East Seoul Bus Terminal, Sokcho Bus Terminal, bus stop, Seoraksan, then get off at the last stop! Use Kakao Map or Bustoago to find the exact routes!
ABOUT SEORAKSAN: Seoraksan Mountain (์ค์ ์ฐ ๊ตญ๋ฆฝ๊ณต์) is one of Korea's most famous tourist destinations that stretches across several areas including Sokcho, Goseong, Inje, and Yangyang in Gangwon-do province. Seoraksan is listed by the South Korean government with UNESCO as a tentative World Heritage site. The government designated the area as a nature reserve in 1965 and UNESCO designated it as a biosphere reserve in 1982. Its main peak, Daecheongbong, Seoraksan has a total of 30 imposing peaks spread across its territory.
The city near Seoraksan is Sokcho -- watch my travel vlog of Sokcho:
Where to See Cherry Blossoms + Flowers ๐ผ๐ธ in Jeollanam-do (์ ๋ผ๋จ๋) Spring in Korea
Spring in Korea is so fun as cherry blossoms and other spring flowers start to bloom. Here are some of my top favorite spots to see the cherry blossoms and flowers! ๐ผ๐ธ
Jeollanam-do province is located in the very southern part of South Korea, so it sees signs of spring before the rest of Korea!
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyJQN-nEqBM
โญ๏ธ Where are your favorite spots to see spring flowers in Korea? Have you been to any of these spots in Jeollanam-do? Let me know in the comments!
Best of Gwangju: My Top 10 Favorite Things to do in Gwangju, Korea (๊ด์ฃผ์ฌํ)
Best of Korea series continues! Best known for its music, art, and modern Korean history, Gwangju city has plenty to offer for a day trip. Here's my favorite things to do in Gwangju.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jMrF_ApShhM
10+ Places mentioned in this video:
Asia Culture Center (๊ตญ๋ฆฝ์์์๋ฌธํ์ ๋น) + Library Park (๋ผ์ด๋ธ๋ฌ๋ฆฌ ํํฌ)
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From the travel archives, here is a travel vlog of the main destinations in Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do province. Gunsan is a small port city known for Japanese-style architecture from the Japanese colonial period.
Check out the travel vlog and let me know in the comments:ย Would you want to visit Gunsan? What Korean cities have you visited outside of Seoul or Busan?
Last year, I took a one-day trip to Gunsan, a historic port city in Jeollabuk-do province. Similar to Mokpo (๋ชฉํฌ์) and Naju (๋์ฃผ์) cities, Gunsan has modern historic vibes โ because of the Japanese-style architecture from the Japanese colonial period.
Gunsan is a small and lesser-known Korean city with plenty of interesting things to do, places to go for a day trip or a short weekend trip.
Use KakaoMap or Naver Maps to bookmark and find these 10+ places mentioned:
Gunsan Train Station ๊ตฐ์ฐ์ญ has tourist guides/maps available
Gunsan Gyeongam-dong Railroad Village ๊ตฐ์ฐ ๊ฒฝ์ ์ฒ ๊ธธ๋ง์
E-Mart is good for parking or renting a bicycle! ๐ฒ
Gunsan Modern History Museum ๊ตฐ์ฐ๊ทผ๋์ญ์ฌ๋ฐ๋ฌผ๊ด
Former Jeil Feed Corporation Factory ๊ตฌ์ ์ผ์ฌ๋ฃ์ฃผ์ํ์ฌ ๊ณต์ฅ + Cafe196
Museum of Modern Art ๊ตฐ์ฐ๊ทผ๋๋ฏธ์ ๊ด
Jinpo Marine Theme Park ์งํฌํด์ํ ๋ง๊ณต์
Honam Customs Museum ํธ๋จ๊ด์ธ๋ฐ๋ฌผ๊ด is a popular photo spot
Chowon Photo Studio ์ด์์ฌ์ง๊ด
Lee Sung Dang ์ด์ฑ๋น is known as the oldest bakery in Korea and was opened in 1945.
+ Japanese House in Sinheung-dong (Hirotsu House) ๊ตฐ์ฐ ์ ํฅ๋ ์ผ๋ณธ์๊ฐ์ฅ(ํ๋ก์ฐ ๊ฐ์ฅ)
+ Dongguksa Temple ๋๊ตญ์ฌ
+ If you have extra time, check out the Chaeseokgang Cave in Buan-gun ๋ถ์๊ตฐ์ฑ์๊ฐ
Moving to Naju to teach English with EPIK was one of the most unexpected adventures I could have ever experienced.
Before moving to Naju, Jeollanam-do province, however, I couldnโt find much information online about what itโs like living or working in Naju. Admittedly,ย I was a bit worried about transitioning from working in NYC to living in โrural Korea,โ so I kept my expectations low.
After spending two years living and exploring the small city known for its delicious pears, I can promise you that I know a few things about Naju. If you find yourself visiting or living in Naju, I can also promise you that it isnโt as โruralโ as you might think!
And here are some pros and cons you can expect living in Naju.
I have written some blog posts, shared tens of photos #AnneLovesNaju on Instagram, and recorded many videos of my travel experiences in Naju on YouTube. In summary, here are some things you should know about living in Naju, Jeollanam-do, South Korea.
What is Naju known for?
Among Koreans, Naju is best known for its delicious Asian pear โNaju baeโ (๋์ฃผ๋ฐฐ), the Naju Gomtang beef-bone soup (๋์ฃผ๊ณฐํ), flat plains along the Yeongsan River (์์ฐ๊ฐ), and the new Naju Bitgaram Innocity (๋น๊ฐ๋๋) featuring KEPCO and 15 other big Korean corporation buildings relocated in 2014 from Seoul.
According to Wikipedia, Naju is also known as the โlittle Seoulโ since it has the local Yeongsan River stretching throughout the tiny historic city.
First, I will share with you some of the cons of living in Naju which you should know and consider.
Cons of Living in Naju, South Korea:
Thereโs a very small expat community.
If youโre planning to move to South Korea and about to start teaching in Naju, you should know that Naju doesnโt have a huge expat community. It can be lonely at times. On the weekends, you may realize that most English teachers leave Naju and take the local bus or train to Mokpo or Gwangju for shopping, a bigger social life, etc. I heard Koreans used to go home to their families in Seoul on the weekends and only work on the weekdays in Naju Innocity.
Between the EPIK/JLP Programs, TaLK Program, local universities, restaurant workers, factory or farm foreigner workers, I would guess that there are about 100 to 200 foreigners living in Naju. You just have to find them!
Join both the Naju (๋์ฃผ) and the Gwangju (๊ด์ฃผ) Facebook Groups to find out any local events, communities, resources, etc. Both of these groups are good for meeting people, discovering whatโs happening, or selling/buying items in the Naju area and Gwangju city.
Locals speak less English and see less foreigners compared to Seoul.
Since there arenโt many foreigners living or exploring Naju, the local Koreans will likely stare or give you attention and might even attempt to ask you what youโre doing in Naju!
Pros of Naju:
Naju is located on the Honam Line.
The local Naju Train Station (๋์ฃผ์ญ) connects all the way up to Seoul if you want to visit Seoul within two hours.ย
Naju has a new Innocity.
Public transportation is good and makes it easy to travel to other cities.
The cost of living in Naju is affordable.
Naju has flat plains, perfect for cycling or easy hiking.
Behind the local Naju High School and Dongshin University, the Geumseongsan Mountain (๊ธ์ฑ์ฐ) is the tallest mountain in Naju, where you can also see views of the local historic โOld Naju Cityโ with views of the new Bitgaram โNaju Innocityโ on the other side of the river.
There are two local airports with budget flight options.
In neighboring city Muan (๋ฌด์) and local airport in Gwangju, which both connect to other airports throughout Korea and internationally to other Asian countries.
Air pollution isnโt a big issue in Naju as Seoul.
The air pollution down in Jeollanam-do province is still an issue, but not as high or concerning as it is in Seoul. In the recent years, thousands of families have relocated from Seoul to Naju Innocity for the promise of cleaner air.
Naju has one of the largestย K-drama filming siteย in Jeollanam-do.
Naju is not Seoul
Naju is definitely not the big energy of Koreaโs capital city. While many expats hope and dream of living and working in Seoul, living in Naju gives a chance to see other parts of authentic Korean culture.
After all said, living outside of Seoul in Naju, Jeollanam-do was a secret blessing in disguise.
Watch my video sharing what itโs like living in Naju on YouTube:
Still interested in life in Naju? Then read my postย โTop 5 Best Places to Visit in Najuโย
Here are some 15 locations throughout South Korea where Iโve visited and also used as filming locations for Korean movies, shows, or music videos!
Do you recognize any of these locations from your favorite Kโdrama?
Gwanghwamun Square (๊ดํ๋ฌธ๊ด์ฅ)
Find King Sejong in Gwanghwamun Square, Seoul where the Korean tv series โCity Hunterโ (Korean: ์ํฐํํฐ) was filmed in 2011. Itโs where Lee Min Ho arrives in Seoul for the first time.
Bukchon Hanok Village (๋ถ์ดํ์ฅ๋ง์)
Visit the neighborhood in Seoul, where 2013 Korean drama โThe Heirsโ (์์์ ๋ค) filmed a scene. Itโs where Lee Min Ho finds Park Shin Hye at the dream catcher shop.
N SEOUL TOWER (N์์ธํ์)
Overlooking the city from the top of South Mountain, Namsan Seoul Tower has love locks and cable cars. Featured in โBoys Over Flowersโ, โMy Love From Another Starโ, โRooftop Prince.โ
Seongsu Station (์ฑ์์ญ)
Find this wall mural off of Seongsu Station, Seoul where โGoblin: The Lonely and Great Godโ of episode 3 was filmed.
Graffiti Tunnel Sinchon (์ ์ด๋ฒฝํํฐ๋)
In Sinchon, Seoul, walk through this tunnel where the popular Kโdrama โGoblinโ was filmed. Itโs the scene of Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook walked through the Tunnel after buying green onions for Kim Go Eun.
Into the Storm (ํญํ์์ผ๋ก ์ธํธ์ฅ) in Uljin (์ธ์ง)
In Uljin County, Gangwon-do, you can find the 2004 movie โInto The Stormโ (Korean: ํญํ ์์ผ๋ก) movie scene. (Source: AsianWiki)
Jumunjin Beach (์ฃผ๋ฌธ์งํด๋ณ)
I havenโt visited here yet! In Gangneung, Gangwonโdo, one of the most iconic scenes from the show โGoblinโ is when Eun Tak first summons Kim Shin to the beach on her birthday.
If you like films enough, be sure to see BIFF Square or visit the Busan International Film Festival in October in Busan city. Similar to the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, US, you can see handprints of famous directors and actors when the BIFF Square premiered in 1996. Today, the square is a popular destination for shopping, food carts or reading the handprints.
Busan Gamcheon Culture Village (๋ถ์ฐ ๊ฐ์ฒ๋ฌธํ๋ง์)
An episode of โRunning Manโ (Korean: ๋ฐ๋๋งจ) tv series, which has been aired on SBS since 2010 and aired over 500 episodes, filmed a scene in the famous Gamcheon Cultural Village in Busan.
Gunsan (๊ตฐ์ฐ)
In Wolmyeongdong neighborhood (์๋ช ๋) in Gunsan, Jeollabukโdo, visit the Chowon Photo Studio.
Also in Gunsan, the Binhaewon Chinese Restaurant (๋นํด์ ์๋น) was used for the โCrash Landing on Youโ in episodes 11 and 12; itโs where Jeongโhyuk faces a large group of gangsters and Seโri buys the restaurant with the request to the tenants to locate Jo Cheolโkang. I loved this k-drama!
Most recently, the Netflix zombie apocalypse movie โAliveโ (Korean: ์์์๋ค) released in 2020 was also filmed in Gunsan.
Damyang Bamboo Forest (์ฃฝ๋ น์)
In Damyang, Jeollanamโdo, the Juknokwon Bamboo Forest has posters throughout the forest where kโdramas were filmed.
Naju Film Theme Park (๋์ฃผ ์์ํ ๋งํํฌ)
In Naju, Jeollanamโdo, has a variety of new and old buildings where kโdramas were filmed:
My Country: The New Age (2019); The King In Love (2017); Goblin (2016โ17); Jang Youngโsil (2016); Moon Lovers (2016); Jeon Wooโchi (2012โ13); Iljimae (2008); The Legend (2007); Jumong (2006โ07)
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Suncheon Seonamsa Temple (์ ์์ฌ)
In Suncheon, Jeollanamโdo, majority of the drama โDamoโ was filmed at the Seonamsa Temple.
Boseong Greentea Plantation (๋ณด์ฑ ๋ น์ฐจ๋ฐญ)
In Boseong, Jeollanamโdo, see the green tea fields to live out the scene from โLegend of the Blue Sea.โ Itโs the scene where Lee Min Ho meets Jun Ji Hyun in the past.
Aqua Planet Yeosu (์์ฟ ์ํ๋ผ๋ท ์ฌ์)
Multiple scenes of โLegend of the Blue Seaโ were filmed at the Yeosu Expo and Aqua Planet Yeosu in Yeosu, Jeollanamโdo province.
Cheongsando island in Wando (์๋๊ตฐ)
Visit Wando, Jeollanamโdo, to see the village for โPinocchioโ of yellow fields and petite houses.
And this concludes this mini guide of some places in South Korea where k-dramas, movies, or music videos were used as filming sites. If you want to visit any of these locations or if youโve already visited a location, be sure to comment below and let me know!
Spot a mistake or new information? Feel free to contact me. Thanks for reading!
For my summer vacation, I visited Busan to enjoy its beautiful coastline of beaches, the BIFF Shopping Square, Busan Tower, and a few other places on my Korea bucket list. Check out the travel vlog and let me know in the comments:ย What's your favorite thing to do in Busan, Korea?
Places in Busan mentioned in this video:
Oryukdo Skywalk ์ค๋ฅ๋ ์ค์นด์ด์ํฌ
BIFF Square ๊ด์ฅ
Busan Tower ๋ถ์ฐ ํ์
Yongdusan Park ์ฉ๋์ฐ๊ณต์
Haeundae Beach ํด์ด๋ํด์์์ฅ
You can use Kakao Maps (or Naver Maps apps) to go to Oryukdo Skywalk; it's walkable and has pathways for bikes or wheel-access for hikes or bikes. BIFF Square is a 10 to 15-minute walk to up to Busan Tower, located in the center of Yongdu-san Park ์ฉ๋์ฐ๊ณต์. Message me if you have questions about this trip!ย
You can enjoy other Busan videos:
โฐ "Colorful โMachu Picchuโ of Busan, Sea Life Aquarium ๋ถ์ฐ์์ฟ ์๋ฆฌ์ Travel Vlog" https://youtu.be/C6NRiu0l_fM
โฐ "Korea's most beautiful temple along the sea, cafe hopping, Haeundae Beach" https://youtu.be/NSCSZi5I-fA
โฐ New videos every Wednesday and sometimes Sunday โฐ
Colorful โMachu Picchuโ of Busan, Sea Life Aquarium Travel Vlog
On day 2 of my summer vacation in Busan, I traveled to the Gamcheon Culture Village (๋ถ์ฐ ๊ฐ์ฒ๋ฌธํ๋ง์) and Sea Lifeย Aquarium (๋ถ์ฐ ์์ฟ ์๋ฆฌ์) with my Korean family.
You can watch more Busan travels and life in Korea videos onย โWhereโs Anneโ on YouTube.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Summer in Naju (๋์ฃผ ๋๋ฌ์ง ์ ๋ผ๋จ๋์ฌํ)
This land looks like the Korean Peninsula, do you see it?
New video now on YouTube:ย
It has been rainy season here in South Korea, but I still adventured out to see the Korean Peninsula (ํ๋ฐ๋์งํ) shaped land and purple hydrangea flower path in a rural part of Naju, Jeollanam-do.
It's located on the border of Naju, Muan, and Hampyeong along the Yeongsan River. You can ride your bicycle here or I recommend taking a car.
There are two other popular locations similar to this one: 1) Okcheon, outside of Daejeon (์ถฉ์ฒญ๋ถ๋ ์ฅ์ฒ๊ตฐ ๋ ์ฃผ๋ด) and 2) Yeongwol, Gangwon-do (๊ฐ์๋ ์์ ํ๋ฐ๋์งํ)
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Anya is LIVE right now
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Naju Hyanggyo (๋์ฃผํฅ๊ต) is a Confucian Academy in Naju city.ย
This local Confucian school was founded in 1701 (the 27th year of King Sukjong's reign), and the layout of the royal palace is very different from that of other local schools.
According to theย Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, during the Joseon Dynasty, Naju teachers taught students with land, records, and labor, but after the theological system was implemented, the educational functions were removed.
Today, it is a recognizable tourist spot in old Naju city, near the Gomtang Street and Geumseonggwan ๊ธ์ฑ๊ด historic buildings.