Korea loves its festivals! Ginseng, Butterflies, Lanterns, Kimchi - you name it, they've probably got it covered. :) When I came back for my 2nd year, I wanted to make more of an effort to get out of Pohang. Granted, it's a great town, but just like back home, it's easy to fall into the same routine and start Monday wondering where the weekend went and not feeling refreshed. We wanted to see more of Korea and go out and do some cool things. Between Leigh and I's 1 year anniversary and Halloween, I was able to busy up all our weekends in October - the first of our trips happening this past weekend where we visited a Lantern Festival along a river in Jinju, Korea.
Turns out the festival is ranked one of the best in Korea by the Ministry of Tourism and in addition to being a beautiful fun festival, with great food, it's set at the foot of a fortress and has some deep history embedded in the celebration. Way back in the year 1592 (love living in a place with old history - 1592 really?!) a Korean general with a severely under-manned military, less than 4,000 killed over 20,000 Japanese soldiers - the lanterns were used as military signals and communicative methods between the soldiers and their families. Now, the festival serves as a symbol of royalty and wishing.
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| A fortress by the river |
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| With our wish lanterns |
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| Beautiful :) |
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more posts - October is going to be busy! Upcoming weekend trips: Mask Festival, Rice Cake and Liquor Festival, 1 year anniversary, and Halloween! Love fall in Korea!
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