Day Trip to Ganghwa Island (Ganghwado), South Korea

My wife asked me if I wanted to join my wife's family for a day trip to Ganghwado, South Korea. I thought it would be fun since I enjoy taking pictures and it would be a great time to get even closer to my wife's family, so I agreed.

My brother-in-law (my wife's sister's husband) drove us. It took about an hour and 15 minutes and the first place we stopped at was a raw fish restaurant. We got there at 11:15am and there weren't that many people when we got inside the restaurant. However when it reached noon, the place was completely full. We realized that that place was very popular and we soon found out that the food was excellent. Here's what we ate:

But that was just the beginning. We also had another huge plate of just raw fish and also fish stew. The fish was very fresh and quite delicious. Here's a picture of my wife's mother, her sister, and her brother-in-law as we were about to eat:

Our next stop was to get some coffee. We drove to Rodem Tree Coffee, which was a cafe that was about a five-minute drive from the seafood restaurant. We got some spectacular views of the Yellow Sea (West Sea) while we were there. Here's the back of the cafe. Notice the sea is only about 50 feet away.

Here's another look with a swinging seat for two!

And of course my wife and I had to take advantage of that!

The coffee was good. However, it was a bit expensive. How about W6,000 for a cup of hot cafe latte? Was it worth it? Absolutely. The scenery made it more than worth the price.

Here's another look from the side of the cafe. Notice how well it's landscaped. You can see the yard, sea, and mountains in this picture.

Here's Rodem Tree Coffee from the side:

What made this cafe even cooler was that there was a fortress called Huae Dondae right next to the cafe. Apparently, it was a fort that monks and soldiers used to protect themselves from other kingdoms in ancient times in Korean history.

This picture will explain what it is in detail:

You can even go inside of it, go up the stairs, and get a great view of the sea.

And if that's not good enough, there's a trail that leads to a bridge, which leads to the sea. Here's a picture of my wife, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law as they look out at the sea:

This is a great place if you have a car. Unfortunately, you won't be able to get here using public transportation. Hopefully you can get a Korean friend that would like to get out of the city and you can ask s/he if they want to go for a day trip to escape the hustle and bustle of Seoul. It's totally worth it. In my next blog, I will show you our last stop: Manisan (the highest point on Ganghwado).

Scott Worden (L.A./Seoul Guy)
Instagram: l.a.seoulguy