Days 1 and 3 of our 5-day, end of summer road-trip
My wife and I spent a few days in Hwangdo, a small island to the east of another, larger island called Anmyeondo, on the west cost of Korea, about 2 hour’s drive south of Seoul. On the way, we dropped by an Emart to stock up on food for our evening meals and breakfasts.
We stayed at a place called Mar Castle Pension by a little harbour on the north east side of Hwangdo. The room had a view of the sea and a balcony for our barbecue later. The garden out back had a swimming pool, perfect for the humid weather. The garden was grassy and offered more views of the sea and over the houses in the village. It was quite busy there if the cars in the car park were any indication, but we didn’t really see lots of people around apart from a family and a few couples.
Once settled in, we used the pool for a bit, then we wandered off and explored the island. Hwangdo is basically populated with holiday homes, some more luxurious then others (private pools, hot tubs, etc,…). Frankly, there isn’t much to do here except eat and relax. It’s an okay spot to make a base at and explore Anmyeondo from, although it takes longer than you think, so you might want to consider staying on Anmyeondo instead.
Our BBQ was fantastic. I was cooking in my underpants due to the heat and humidity! It was al worth it once we were eating and drinking.
After that, I went for a little nigh stroll back at the harbour as the moon was quite bright. The iPhone 6 isn’t great for night photos unless you want them super grainy…
The next day, we went to Sambong Beach, the Daehan Raw Fish Centre (대한회센터) and Anmyeonam (a temple near-and in-the sea 안면암) which I write about in another post.
After our day trip we were pretty exhausted (and sun burned…) and had an early night to be ready for our next trip to Gyeryongsan. On our drive out, we went to a great coffee shop we’d seen on the first day. It had a huge terrace with views all over the mudflats and to the Korean mainland.
Our last stop in this area was a crab soup restaurant before we started our drive to Gyeryongsan, the next adventure on our mini road trip.
I’ve actually been to Hwangdo a few times, once with my mum and another friend for BBQ and drinking, and again with a bunch of friends for more BBQ and drinking.
Badaboda – Sea View cafe 바다보다카페: