https://www.scmp.com/rss/327027/feed Matthew C. Crawford is a Canadian writer with a mania for mountains. He's climbed trekking peaks in Bolivia, India and Nepal and is still working away at the 7,715 mountains of his adopted country, South Korea. He has written on travel for the BBC, Singapore Airlines and other titles. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Living in Seoul, it’s easy to tune out thoughts of North Korea, a rogue state just 50km away yet completely sealed off from the outside world. However, a bike path that runs along a stretch of the demilitarised zone (DMZ) near the South Korean capital has piqued my curiosity. The Pyeonghwa Nuri-gil (“peace country path”) was opened in 2010 and is currently split into seven sections, running east to the border of Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces, close to Baekmagoji station, which is serviced by... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3189426/summer-bike-ride-skirting-koreas-dmz-offers-bucolic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3189426/summer-bike-ride-skirting-koreas-dmz-offers-bucolic?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Aug 2022 05:15:21 +0000 This past May, representatives of Slow Food International paid a visit to an unassuming rice farm in the rugged hinterland east of Seoul, drawn by the prospect of ancient Korean rice rising from the mud and rustling in the breeze again. The operation, Woobo Farm, reached the milestone this year of growing about 450 Korean heirloom varieties, virtually all that have survived into the 21st century. Better yet, the farm’s harvest is all organic: pesticides and fertilisers are traded in for ureong... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3188929/heirloom-rice-has-huge-potential-korean-chef-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/3188929/heirloom-rice-has-huge-potential-korean-chef-and?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Aug 2022 23:15:17 +0000 Nervous figures stand about in the spectral gleam of street lights, some shyly glancing about, some conferring quietly. One grey-bearded fellow looks like a hermit in tights. Another is shuffling his feet, eating a samgak kimbap (rice triangle) under the kaleidoscopically painted beams of the Mount Buram Hundred-Year Gate. I train my headlamp on the road passing through the wooden structure. Cherry and black locust trees disappear into the darkness. The cool night air carries a spring fragrance,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3180986/south-koreas-40km-trail-running-race-across-seouls-highest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3180986/south-koreas-40km-trail-running-race-across-seouls-highest?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Jun 2022 09:15:10 +0000 It’s difficult to think of a better way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Children’s Day in South Korea than by taking my four-year-old son, Theo, to the Legoland Korea Resort, which has timed its grand opening for this day (May 5). The new attraction is on Hajung-do island, in the mountain-enfolded city of Chuncheon, which is a 75-minute train ride east of Seoul, and at 11am there is a daunting queue of families stretching a kilometre or so along the new road leading to Legoland. The sky is... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3177660/trip-south-koreas-new-legoland-resort-and-beyond-chuncheon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3177660/trip-south-koreas-new-legoland-resort-and-beyond-chuncheon?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 May 2022 23:15:19 +0000 South Korea is known for its breakneck pace of life, but the culture has a slow side, too. Witness the innumerable jjimjilbang or bathhouses scattered across the country. While the word means “a room for soaking in warm water”, the key feature of these home-grown facilities is their lounging spaces – from baking-hot sweat chambers to wide-open common spaces to dens stocked with Korean comics booklets. We review Lush’s vegan-friendly spa, a luxurious Ayurvedic-inspired treatment to release... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion-beauty/article/3006388/5-luxury-bathhouses-or-jjimjilbang-perfect-pampering?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion-beauty/article/3006388/5-luxury-bathhouses-or-jjimjilbang-perfect-pampering?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Apr 2019 06:00:10 +0000 Start watching a well-made South Korean television drama and you may soon find yourself cancelling weekend plans to indulge in binge-watching sessions. From there, the next step is booking a flight to Seoul, Busan, or Jeju Island to see where the on-screen magic unfolded. Happy birthday Solar – K-pop girl group Mamamoo’s real shining star Given that the Korean entertainment industry has been putting out blockbuster shows for the past 20 years, there’s no shortage of K-drama pilgrimage sites to... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/travel-food/article/2187682/nami-island-winter-sonata-and-4-other-must-visit-k-drama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/travel-food/article/2187682/nami-island-winter-sonata-and-4-other-must-visit-k-drama?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Feb 2019 05:01:31 +0000 “If your crops have been ravaged by water deer or wild boar, call this number,” reads a flier posted on the wall of a small waiting room for passengers. The bus I’ve arrived on lets out a hiss as the driver releases the brakes, then it circles a roundabout and lumbers uphill, back the way it came. I’m in Busan, South Korea’s second city and Lonely Planet’s Best in Asia pick this year for its “stunning confluence of scenery, culture and cuisine”. We hike South Korea’s 71km Ultra Baugil trail in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2177225/beaten-track-busan-lonely-planets-no-1-place-asia-visit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2177225/beaten-track-busan-lonely-planets-no-1-place-asia-visit?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Dec 2018 10:45:50 +0000 It has been quite a year for the two Koreas. After nothing but threats and bluster, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un did a U-turn, deciding to give peace a chance (or so it seems). Several summits filled with handshakes, hand-holding and hugs between North and South Korean leaders have followed, along with a flood of joint measures, declarations and trust building processes. North Korea’s grand plan to become the ‘next Singapore’ This is good news for travellers. Currently, a trip to the Democratic... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2170800/north-korean-holidays-may-become-easier-and-cheaper-here?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2170800/north-korean-holidays-may-become-easier-and-cheaper-here?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Oct 2018 12:01:08 +0000 The air around me ripples with heat as I peer down at a brown wooden rectangle planted in the gravel of a massive, open-air courtyard bounded by a low stone wall. “The spectator / rolls up / does not come in,” it reads. I stand there for a while musing upon this Zen riddle, before realising that it means “no entry” to the monks’ quarters beyond. I have travelled south from Seoul, soon after the birth of my first child, to tour one of the seven sansa – Buddhist mountain temples – that have... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2161694/buddhist-mountain-temple-south-korea-unesco-world-heritage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2161694/buddhist-mountain-temple-south-korea-unesco-world-heritage?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Aug 2018 00:46:43 +0000 Visions of ticket touts, camera crews and flag-waving fans are still fresh in my mind when I arrive at Gangneung’s railway station on an early summer evening. Just a few months ago, Gangneung was hosting the ice sports of the Winter Olympics such as ice hockey, curling and ice skating. But now, the snow on its mountain backdrop has melted. The good, bad and ugly sides to South Korea’s Jeju Island This is the first summer that the coastal city is benefiting from a new high-speed train line from... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2151408/hiking-ultra-baugil-south-korea-gangneungs-rugged-mountain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2151408/hiking-ultra-baugil-south-korea-gangneungs-rugged-mountain?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Jun 2018 00:38:15 +0000 Stepping onto the dock at Godo Island, I half expect to see at least one nod to British influence – perhaps a fish and chips shop. Instead, I’m confronted by a rack covered with sea bass. Split along the bellies and folded open, they are drying nicely in the spring sunshine. Further along the harbourfront, which is lined by a hodgepodge of low buildings and stretches inland like a muddy canal, a heady waft of jeotgal (fermented fish paste) clears up any lingering doubts about where I am. It is... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2144740/geomundo-koreas-forgotten-british-outpost-and-its-unique?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2144740/geomundo-koreas-forgotten-british-outpost-and-its-unique?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 May 2018 23:46:36 +0000