Our day yesterday started fairly ordinary but ended a bit unusual to say the least.
We left Seoul city early morning and headed for the east coast. Very quickly after leaving the city, you side the rural country emerge quickly before your eyes. We saw rice paddies, farms and then finally the beach along the east coast. Then we headed a bit inland up the mountain to visit the Hwanseon Cave.
The cave is pretty spectacular. Here are two links that describe the facts of the cave site. It is very large and we explored it for over an hour. It was amazing how cool it was inside, probably 10 degrees Celsius.
Afterwards we drove another 3 hours or so to Andong City. Andong with 500k residents is quite small compared to Seoul. We are told this is one of the most conservative parts of Korea. There is a massive Confucian academy here as well.
By dinner, we explored the small streets of Andong and found a place that serves the local noodle dish speciality. They only had traditional floor seating and my dad needed a chair. So we left the rest of our family at that traditional place and me and my dad explored Andong .
The two of us found a more modern place nearby. Unfortunately I forgot the name but we met the very kind owner who spoke fluent English. We had a nice meal and left.
As soon as we left the restaurant I received a text message from my friend Rick asking if were safe and okay.
I didn’t know what he was referring to so I checked Twitter and discovered that North and South Korea had exchanged fire just an hour prior. Not far from our DMZ location the previous day!
I went back to the restaurant and asked the man about the news to get his reaction. He seemed complete unfazed. I asked two more people on the street. They were uninterested as well.
We met up with Lauren and the rest of our family as their dinner ended and I showed Lauren the news on my phone. I saw her eyes stare in disbelief at the screen.
After the kids went to bed I did some more research and it looks like we are quite safe as we far from the border at this time. My relatives in Seoul sent me a Kakao message also saying there is nothing to worry about.
So at this time our travel plans remained unchanged. But it does feel a bit weird to be here right now if I’m being honest.
This morning Lauren and I went for a run through the local farm area. It was slightly drizzling and fog was covering the tips of the green trees. It was so calm, peaceful and beautiful.