Stop Ciovo

Hahoe Folk Village (안동하회마을) is probably the most famous Korean traditional village, preserving Joseon-style architecture. It's located about 20km West of Andong downtown, but it's really easy to reach by bus. The village is situated in the Hwacheon Stream, tributary of the Nakdong River, in a really nice landscape. After buying the entry ticket (2000₩, a little bit more than 1€), I suggest you to go to the village using the small path on the right instead of the main road: there will be a big surprise for baduk lovers! The village is really pretty, you can visit it walking in two hours, but I suggest you to take your time and visit almost every path. A not-to-be-missed tour is to cross to river with the boat, climb the hill and enjoy the wonderful view.

Back from the trip at Bongjeongsa Temple, even if it was still raining, we decided to look at Andong, which is quite famous in all Korea and also abroad for being a folk traditional area. We walked in the downtown, in a market close to the train station, Andong Gu Market (안동구시장),  and across the railroad in the Southern with some poor areas where it's possible to see the Nakdong River (낙동강), the biggest river in South Korea, crossing the city.

Before visiting Andong, we decided to take a look at the Bongjeongsa Temple (봉정사), far about 17km North-West from the city. It's quite easy to get to the temple, you have to take the bus no. 51 which is just in front of the very big Elementary School on the opposite site of the street of the Bus Terminal. If you want to get there from the Train Station you just have to turn left (you'll also find a tourist information center with english speakers) as you get out and walk for 300 meters along the main road. Unfortunately the weather was rainy that morning, but I must say that this visit was really interesting. The temple is in a very green hill, in a quite remote countryside area, and after you get the entry ticket (1500₩, almost 1€) you've a nice walk to reach the temple. The area is not very big, although this is the biggest temples compound in the Andong area, but really amazing. The main building is Daeungjeon (대웅전), National Treasure No. 55, from the early Joseon Dynasty, and the other interesting building is Geuknakjeon hall (극락전), National Treasure No. 15, which is said to be Korea's oldest wooden building.

After visiting Hwanseongul Cave, I and Pedro took the train at the Singi Station and headed to the South to Andong (안동). Luckily the manager of the parking of the cave took us by his car for free to the train station just in time for the last train: I love Koreans! On the way we saw many small towns and nice landscapes, because the railroad passes through valleys. We got to Andong at night, and we walked a bit in the downtown to find a place to eat: the city was really lively and very active, and it was not easy to find a place to eat some good Korean meat!