Korea2

Republic of Korea
East Coast

If you leave Seoul on the main highway south and then take the main highway to the east, you'll reach the coast at Kangnung, where they found the beached North Korean submarine in 1996. To the north, you'll find beautiful Mt. Sorak just before you hit the DMZ. (By the way, I happen to know of a site that has pictures of North Korea, if you're interested). All along the east coast the mountains nearly reach the sea, affording some of the beautiful views you'll find below. Sorry about the dithering, but I tried to keep the load time down on these pages.

	Many people may not realize how many Christians there are in Korea, but it seems most every village (and in Seoul, every block) has its church, its spire rising prominently over the brightly colored roof tiles of the local farmhouses. This was taken in the winter, as you can see by the barren fields, from the window of a speeding bus.
I stayed in a hotel near Mt. Sorak in the spring. I used a telephoto lens out the window to catch this shot of the spring plowing, traditional style.
	Heading down the east coast you will come to some colorful fishing villages. At least the fishing boats were very colorful.
Tahiti? Bora Bora? Think again . . . Korea (those aren't palm trees, after all). I took this shot with a polarizing filter, so it lets you look right down into the water. Did you ever imagine Korea to look like this? When I took this, I wasn't into snorkeling, but I'd love to go back and try it now.
	On this trip down the coast I was driving, so I was able to get out and go down to the water to watch some Korean "ajahmah" gathering seaweed.
This lady brought the seaweed in on a sled. Afterwards, she dried it in the sun on the concrete walkway paralleling the beach. From there I'm sure it ended up in soups or wrapped around rice balls.