The first stop was the Odaesan National Park (in the Gangwon-do province). Being spring, everything was quite green and pretty.

The entrance to the National Park, inside of which there is also the Woljeong-sa Temple.

These two kids came with us during the whole trip. On Children’s Day (which is a national holiday in Korea) many parents go on trips with their children, and many families from Seoul choose the west coast.

Jiwon on a bridge with Buddha’s birthday‘s typical decoration.

All Buddhist temples have this kind of fountain where people can wash their hands and refresh themselves.

Another view of the lanterns on the bridge.

In Gangneung Station (강릉역), there is a train that goes all along the east coast. As opposed to other trains, in this one the seats are oriented to the windows on the sea side. This puppet was greeting children as they went onto the train.

And what could be seen during the trip? Well, at least during a great part of it, this is what you could see. A fortified coast with netting and guard posts. The proximity to North Korea can be felt specially on the coasts and on the North part of South Korea.

According to a sign, this North Korean vessel was intercepted when it was coming “too close” to the coast. Now they expose it as if it was a trophy.

One of the beaches without netting.

Even on children’s day, this poor kid had to work.

Basically, he had to watch that nobody got too close to the boat while the pushed it towards the sea with that forklift truck.

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3. Gyeongbok Palace (Gyeongbokgung) in Spring

This is the place where the king used to rest in summer. It’s completely open and surrounded by this lake so that his majesty could be really cool.

I guess it’s on this small boat how you get to the palace on the lake.

His majesty’s throne.

Detail of the columns.

Another of the palace’s lakes whose aspect had improved a lot with the arrival of spring.

I thought this was a nice picture, don’t you think? (UPDATE: It’s funny who this picture differs from these other from Kirai. Korean and Japanese cultures, while being similar, have quite a lot of differences: while in Japan he is the one and only king, in Korea she is definitely the princess.)

Another couple enjoying the good weather at the palace. I couldn’t tell whether the guy is dressing as a tiger or as Pikachu… in any case, he could have more style

Already outside of the palace, we found this temple with the typical buddha’s birthday decoration, the same that we saw during our trip to Yeoju.

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1. Gyeongbok Palace (Gyeongbokgung)
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A sample of what you can see at the festival. All kinds of ceramics from tea cups to object I couldn’t even tell what they are…

One of the activities that you can do is ceramic painting. You can choose the object you want to paint and after paining it, they will finish the work (it has to be in an oven for some hours) and send it to your home for 10,000 KRW.

Right next to where the festival was being held, there is the Buddhist temple (called Silleuksa Temple). As Buddha’s birthday was close, it was decorated with lots of lotus lanterns. You can see this decoration at many temples and typical streets of Korea when Buddha’s birthday is close.

Another nice view of the decoration.

Children were also having a good time and taking pictures with their cellphones. It’s interesting that in Korea cellphones seem to have replaced compact cameras. People who really like taking pictures use reflex cameras. Those who really don’t care, just use their cellphones, which at daylight can get a very similar quality than that of compact cameras.

This buddha is what that child was taking a picture of.

The festival poster was flying in the air like this.

And of course, the mandatory group picture.

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1. Boryeong Mud Festival
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On the way to Gyeongju, we drove by Pohang (포항)… where is all this? Right here:

In Pohang, we went to the Bogyeong Temple (보경사, Bogyeongsa) and spent the first night at a resort called Ocean Views at the Wolpo Beach.

Woman praying to Buddha at the Bogyeong Temple.

Coincidentally there was a Buddhist funeral going on at that moment. I was surprised to see a black hanbok as they are usually very bright and colorful.

From left to right, Jairo, Alex, Ciro, and Itzíar.

Jairo, Alex, and Ciro at the river. There were also some waterfalls, but they were a little far, and it was getting dark:(

After visiting this temple, we went to eat raw fish. Being Pohang a coastal city, it is popular for its cheap and fresh raw fish. Next day, we left for Gyeongju:

In the island in this picture, Munmu King is buried. He was the first king of Korean Unified Silla period.

Korean Countryman at work (what you can see on the background are rice fields).

At the beach you can buy fresh and cheap seaweed…

…and also dried squid (those things hanging).

These ayummas were having fun drinking soju and makgeolli.

Under these tumulus there are some old Korean kings (their corpses actually).

We also went to the Bulguk Temple (불국사, Bulguksa). These stone piles are supposed to be made by monks when they pray (I think they put one stone every time they pray). But being this such a tourist temple, tourists were the ones who put the stones.

After four kilometers climbing on foot from the Bulguksa, we arrived at the Seokguram. This is the view from the top.

Seokguram Buddha, one of the most popular buddhas in South Korea.

An this is where we stayed in Gyeongju, a mini-ville in the middle of nothing (this is their website).

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