On Day 6 of our South Korea trip, we went on a DMZ and Ganghwa Island day tour which we booked via the Klook app. When we first booked this trip, we were unsure if this was the same DMZ trip as we had previously booked. Anyway, after booking it, we realised that this DMZ trip is on the other end of South Korea – Peace Observatory in Ganghwa island. Hence we booked another proper DMZ tour.
On this trip, we visited four different areas in Ganghwa island, to see: Bomunsa Temple, Daeryong Market, the Peace Observatory and Joyangbangjik Cafe & Museum. This is a whole day trip and we were back by 7pm. Unlike the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) Peace Tour with Seoul City Tour, we did not need to bring our passports for checking. They are less restrictive, but if you are not a resident on this island, you are not allowed to stay overnight. If they find any unauthorized visitors, they will be prosecuted.
For this trip, many of us met at Myeongdong Station Exit 3 and took a walk to our coach. Then it took 1.5 hours to arrive at our first stop, Bomunsa Temple. The coach parked at the bottom of the road and we all had to climb up a steep slope to reach the temple. It was not very easy as it was so steep and hot at the same time.
Bomunsa Buddhist temple was built on Sangbongsan Mountain in 635, one of three mountains that make up the Samsan-myeon area. This elevated temple has a magnificent view of the ocean. It is one of the five temples in South Korea dedicated to Guanyin Bodhisattva.
As it faces the ocean, there is the Dragon King shrine, which is located right next to the Nahan Temple. The statue of the Dragon King was riding a turtle with an orb in his hand. Nahan temple is a stone cave temple. Inside this cave features many statues.
Near the main courtyard, there are an impressive Five Hundred Nahan, each with a different facial expression, and a stupa of the Bodhisattva of the Three Thirty-Three Buddhas.
If you are brave enough to climb the 425 steps to the top, you will see the Amitabha Buddha statue carved onto the brow rock in the middle of the Mountain Nakga. The size reaches 920 cm in height and 330 cm in width. The seated Bodhisattva Maae is looking out over the ocean and watching over sentient beings. My husband and son took on the challenge and went up to have a look. The steps were steep and with no handrail but the path was decorated by colourful lanterns. Many devoted Buddha followers are willing to climb up there to pray.
We then proceeded to the next location, Daeryong Market for a quick lunch and walk around. Daeryong Market is a traditional back alley market in Ganghwa-gun, and it has a distinctive retro 1970-1980s Korean vibe. This place has many shops that offer a wide range of items, including fresh fruits, groceries, traditional Korean snacks, and household goods. The items all look amazing, however, we had limited luggage space to bring anything back.
Later, we had our lunch at one of the restaurants recommended by our tour guide. Their menu was simple with only four items. We ordered one of each to try. The most expensive dish was the best as the broth tasted superb.
Then we made our way to the Peace Observatory, again the coach dropped us at the car park and we had to walk on a steep road to reach the observatory. This observatory was not as impressive as the one on the other DMZ trip we made. All the exhibitions were in Korean and we had no idea what it was about.
We then took the coach and went to our last location, which was the Joyangbangjik Cafe & Museum. This place used to be a textile factory (built in 1933) and now they have converted it to a cafe and a museum packed with very unusual things and furniture. It is a great Instagrammable place.
The female toilets were very weird, as it was filled with artwork, pictures, pianos, dolls and other random things in a big, air-conditioned room. Each of the toilet doors was very small. I’m very short and I had to crouch slightly to fit through the door.
The atmosphere in the cafe was great and the cakes and pastries were very nice. However, we did not buy any drinks as the queue was quite long and we were tight on time. Later, we all gathered to our coach and returned to Seoul.
I enjoyed seeing some of the countryside of South Korea and the impressive temple. If you’d like to see what life is like outside of the city, this tour will be good for you.