Fun things to see in Pyeongtaek: Sudosa temple, Simboksa temple, Sopung Garden, Buraksan Fountain Park, Buraksan Culture Park, Agricultural Village Theme Park, Sinjang Neighborhood Park, JeongDoJeon Shrine.
First, a little about Pyeongtaek. Pyeongtaek is primarily an industrial city with two military bases. It doesn't have a ton of touristy things to do and see, but there are some small parks in the area, a small mountain to hike, and a couple temples.
When I first arrived in Pyeongtaek, Korea was under a two week mandatory quarantine period due to COVID. This gave me time to adjust to the time shift from the US. The jet lag in Korea is no joke. If planning a trip to Korea, expect the first week and a half to be mentally crashing around 3 pm, waking up at around 2 am each day, and being slightly nauseous in between until your body adjusts to the new time zone. I would recommend trying to adjust before your trip to maximize on travel time. As I said, I was about a week and a half in before I started feeling normal again.
My first available weekend out of quarantine, I immediately made plans to travel around and explore the immediate area. My car was still being shipped from the US, so I had to make due with an old bike I found around my office. I didn't want to go too far out, especially since I hadn't figured out the subway system yet, so my first day out was out and around my home base, in Pyeongtaek.
It was a beautiful, bright day on my first excursion out with a feels like temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit. There was an extreme heat warning. Not the prime day to go out for a bike ride. Obviously I didn't see nearly as many people out and about as on a normal day.
Pyeongtaek is home to a couple US military bases, Osan AB and Camp Humphreys. Osan is actually named after a city it isn't even in. The city of Osan is located about 20 minutes north by car. Being stationed at Osan, this was the embarkation point of my first travel. I didn't have any destination in mind, but my furthest point I made it to that day was near Camp Humphreys before I decided to turn back. Overall about a 14 mile ride round trip.
Before my trip, I had picked up a few travel tips to get around Korea from some friends. The first is that google maps does not work in Korea. You can use it to see your location, find businesses and locations, and plan bus routes, but you can't use the navigation by car feature. I still use google a ton to find places to eat and explore, but I use Naver Maps to get around. Simply download it from the App Store. Another obvious barrier to travel around Korea for foreigners is the language barrier. It took me a couple days to even figure out how to say hello in Korean. It's not an easy language. At my first restaurant, I botched the Korean word for thank you and had to type it before they knew what I was trying to say. I recommend the app Papago for all translation needs. It has gotten me out of some sticky situations. It can also translate an entire menu with just one picture.
I actually had made it off base a couple days before to get my first taste of Korea. A coworker had treated me to a Korean BBQ restaurant one lunch to give me a taste of the local cuisine. Korean BBQ is very staple in Korea and easily the most well known type of Korean cuisine most foreigners are familiar with.
Just outside of the walking gate at Osan AB is a shopping area called the Songtan Entertainment District, or the SED. Camp Humphreys has a similar area called the Ville. The SED is every early twenty something single person's ideal hangout location. It has tons of international restaurants, night clubs, souvenirs, and of course, massage parlors. The massage parlors on the SED are mostly off limits to military though.
As you can see from the picture, the main SED street is full of different venues and shops. At night it's usually very bustling and the main thoroughfare is blocked off to vehicle traffic. Motorcycles are an exception. Watch out for speeding delivery bikes.
As I mentioned my first meal was at a restaurant called Hangari Galbi, a Korean BBQ place right on the SED. It was divine. Korean cuisine is usually spicy including many little sides with your order, and the sides are usually Kimchi. They eat Kimchi in Korea like Americans eat side salads with their dishes. It's just a staple at every restaurant. In Korean BBQ, guests sit around a table with a gas grill in the center. Above the grill is an exhaust line.
In the states, Korean BBQ is 'all you can eat', but in Korea you usually order a serving of meat by the type and size in grams. A single serving is usually between 150 and 250 grams. A larger serving will be between 400 and 600 grams for 2-3 people. The servers will start by firing up your grill, bringing out the meat, and starting you off by throwing some slices of meat on the grill. They use scissors to cut the meat instead of knives. Servers in Korea will also usually cater to foreigners and cook their food for them, turning and cutting the meat as needed, especially if you look like you have no idea what you're doing; like me. They do this out of the kindness of their hearts and also probably so as to not cause any injuries or property damage. They don't usually accept tips in Korea. I have been told it is actually considered rude to tip. If they do take tips, there will be a tip jar at check out. That's another difference between Korean and American dining. In Korea, they don't bring out a check. You simply go to the register after eating and settle your bill there. I actually prefer this as I hate awkwardly asking for checks at the end of meals.
Back to my story about my first Saturday out. On the first actual outing into the world of Korea, I took my bike past the SED and made my way in a random direction until I came to a stream. One of my favorite facts about Korea is that most streams and waterways in Korea have bike and pedestrian trails along them. It's their public space like parks. Some trails along streams are ornate and spacious and others are small dirt trails, but I am thankful for them all the same. These trails are the best way to get around by bike.
As you can see, Korea in the summer is gorgeous. It's very green. The colors just pop. I followed the trail until I came across a new development. I love developments in Korea. They are usually rows of massive apartment complexes surrounded by new parks and shopping districts.
I rode around the complexes for a bit until deciding I was hungry and picked out a place to eat. You can usually tell the restaurants in Korea and the type by the menu pictures posted out front. If all the dishes look red, it's probably a spicy restaurant. There are also soup restaurants, seafood, raw beef (called Yukhoe), BBQ, Bibimbap, and others.
I didn't know this at the time, but the restaurant I picked was a spicy one. Every meal was spicy with red chili peppers as the base ingredient. It was delicious but it made for a rough bike ride the rest of the day. The servers were very gracious as I fumbled through their menu not speaking a lick of Korean and very kind as they served me.
As you can see in the picture, water in Korea is brought out cold in a metal thermos and each guest is given a small metal cup. Metal is common in Korea to include their metal chopsticks because it is thought to be more sanitary than other medium.
After my meal I used Papago to thank them and paid my bill. Foreign credit cards are usually accepted everywhere in Korea except some parking lots and ATMs. The parking lots get very complicated and awkward when you can't pay to exit. In these circumstances, call the attendant and hope for the best. As for ATMs, try to find one with a foreigner or international option on the screen.
Once I had paid, I got back to my bike and was on my way again. I wasn't too worried about it since Korea is about the safest place in the world. No one steals or vandalizes in South Korea.
Another great find I had made that day was a Samsung factory. You can see these massive structures on the horizon, they are so large. And it makes sense as Samsung produces about every kind of electronic to include washers, dryers, and even cars.
All Samsung factories look like this, and workers can be seen bustling in and out most any time of the day.
I also enjoyed seeing my first rice fields.
These are a very commonly sight in Korea. In the early summer, they are freshly green upon being planted and in the fall they become more yellow as the rice grows. Around October-November, they are harvested and burnt down to prepare for the next year.
After fourteen miles in blistering heat I ended my trek by stopping at a GS25. It's a brand of convenience store in Korea. Along with CU, Emart 24, seven eleven, and mini stop, they are the primary places to stop for drinks, snacks, top ramen, and to top off your T Money card or HIPass (more on those in a later blog entry). They are also a great place to get ice cream on a hot day!
Overall, it was an excellent first day out in Korea, even though I was exhausted, dehydrated, and had an upset stomach from the spicy meal. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I love touring Korea every time still, but nothing will ever be quite like that first day out seeing all the new sights, sounds, and colors. It was literally a whole new world to explore.
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