Natalie Dacey
April 10th, 2024
The second major trip I’ve taken so far was in March to the Boseong Tea Fields and nearby Yulpo Beach. I was with my roommate, a couple people from the church she attends, and two new students. The tea fields are particularly famous for being a filming spot for a few K-dramas, and there are some signs that point out specific locations that were used. You can walk around and through the trees freely, and it smelled really nice even though we went before the trees were really blooming. Most of us decided to take the hiking trail that took us to the top and we could see the ocean from up there. It was a gorgeous view!! There is also a small waterfall on the way down which can make the rocky path a bit slippery so be a little careful if you ever visit. I fell and while I was fine, it made all of us walk more carefully until we passed the rockiest part.
There is more to see than just the tea fields though and there was plenty to explore. Some of us tried the famous green tea ice cream and all of the souvenirs were either made from green tea paper or featured green tea motifs. There were more trails that took us through different kinds of trees like the pine forest, but our favorite was the bamboo forest. It was so peaceful and quiet there.
After this, we all piled into a taxi (which was a trip with four people in the back seat!!) to go to Yulpo Beach near sunset. It was low tide when we went so there were plenty of people out even though it was chilly out being early March. There were some people who were hunting for…something in the sand. We couldn’t figure out what it was, though I assume it was clams. We spent a good while just walking around and enjoying the breeze and sunset at the beach, people-watching and digging in the sand ourselves.
It was a peaceful day despite the cold, and we enjoyed exploring our surroundings. It was a relaxing time for all of us and we loved getting out of the city to see more natural parts of the country without all of the city noise. I highly recommend visiting both of these places even if they might be a little out of the way.