Spring!

Spring has finally arrived in Daegu, Korea!  The Koreans tell me it's a little late, and after one of the coldest Winters they've had in a long time it's quite a breath of fresh air. (Well with the yellow dust still lingering-- its not quite as fresh as some would like).

Here in Korea, Spring brings forth the start of a slew of festivals. Korea has a festival for just about anything and everything- and I am begining to wonder if its just a label they put on the occassion to spruce it up a little.

Last week-end, Daegu's Cherry Blossom Festival kicked off.   There are two  areas where the crowds flock to encounter the blossoms. The first, and most famous area is Jinhae, located in the South Gyeongsang Province. Their  festival starts on March 31 and runs through April 9. The city  features 300,000 cherry trees.  The second area is in the city of Gyeongju (Kyongju).  The city also hosts an annual marathon named after the blossoms, and has Bomun Lake Resort close by which has blossom trails.

Given the rough start to Spring this year, as we rode our tour bus through Daegu to Gyeongju- we eagerly anticipated the natural beauty that would soon be before our eyes. As we exited the bus, we were bombarded by beautiful bare blossom trees.  We were one week too early!

As we searched the landscape, not a single blossom tree could be seen. We trudged on, through the beautiful park and arrived at the  Bomun Lake resort.  As we scanned some more, we finally found three cherry trees in full bloom (it wasn't quite the hundreds we were expecting- but nevertheless we took the opportunity to shoot some photos).

Bomun Lake Resort was a beautiful scene, despite the cooler winds from the lake- the resort was full of winding walking paths, pagodas and scattered about were a few lone cherry and magnolia trees. It would have been spectacular to have seen the trees at their best- in full bloom!!

Despite the lack of cherry  trees, we managed to have a fabulous day.  We decided to make the best of it and rent some four wheelers (this of course ended up being the highlight of our day).