Herb Hillz in Daegu!

Phew, long time no update! Jenn and I had our open classes the last two weeks. Which is a class where the VP, Principal, other teachers, and co-workers come and observe us and evaluate us. So we were really busy preparing for it, and getting it over with! It went well though, and we both got pretty solid reviews. It's more of a show anyways, but I don't really feel like talking about it to be honest. Anyways, lets talk about the weekend after. Let's talk about Herb Hillz in Daegu. An amazingly awesome...eco-park? Yup!

Entrance to Herb Hillz

Herb Hillz is like a big...park? It's hard to describe, so I guess eco-park would be the right word. It cost us about 19,000 won (19 bucks-ish) to get in. Walking into Herb Hillz was awesome. Everything around us was so...green. And we went there as soon as it opened, so it was very quiet and peaceful. There was nature all around us. We walked past a hobbit house (inspired by Lord of the Rings) and eventually wandered up into the main area. The main area had so many cutesy naturey things. I'm not much of a describer, I know, but I will post pics. They also had a ton of herbs planted. We got to see a lot of herbs that go right into making our teas! (Jasmine, Chamomile, Peppermint). So we walked around the area, enjoyed the sights, there was a waterfall, some flowers, etc. But we eventually got to the main reason we wanted to come here...ZIPLINING! That was why it cost us an extra 10 dollars to get in. We showed them our tickets, suited up, and got a crash course entirely in Korean, with a little bit of broken English thrown in. But we were ready! And it was awesome. 

We picked the King Kong course, I forgot what the difficulty was, but it was so much fun. First we started out by climbing this big, webbed rope ladder and made our way to the first zipline. The course consisted of 3-4 ziplines and a bunch of ways to get to each one. One minute we were swinging ourselves from wooden board to wooden board, the next minute we were riding a bike across a wooden bridge. Sometimes we had to climb ladders (don't look down!) and other times we inched our way slowly across razor thin steel wires. How to describe ziplining? Fast, exhilarating, and incredibly fun. The whole experience was physical, tiring, and took us a solid two hours.

After we were done, we were super hungry. We walked around the park until we found a fried chicken place. Fried chicken places are very popular in Korea. They can usually be found anywhere, and are very tasty, if a little bit expensive. Jenn and I got a big plate of chicken tenders, and some sweet and sour sauce. It was good! After our lunch, we walked around Herb Hillz even more. We took a look at another waterfall, watched part of a magic show, took pictures of some statues, and wandered further and further into the park. We walked upwards, and through a couples "love path". It was obviously for couples, because we were the only group of people. I thought it was kinda funny, b/c they had signs along the path. The signs basically got more and more romantic as you went down the path, and at the end, there was a sign indicating that this was the part where you proposed! Haha. 

Couples Path

Eventually, we walked down past a rabbit patch (with real rabbits!), and got some ice cream. Then, we heard from our friend who was there earlier (or maybe even at the same time) about these little water bubble things. Needless to say, Jenn and I had to do it. I was a little reluctant at first b/c of how it seemed like it was only for kids. But then I stopped caring. I won't say much, I'd rather just show you, but I will say that yes, it was incredibly difficult to stand up, and that the inside of the bubble was a cold and welcome respite from the hot weather outside. After the water bubble thing, we walked around a little more. We eventually just sat and talked for a while, and then got on the bus for home. We did make a stop at Downtown for some burgers and mac and cheese before we went home though! Anyways, that was our day at Herb Hillz. It was really fun, and we will definitely be making a return visit. Bye!

Directions to Herb Hillz: (Updated 9/12/2012)

DAEGU BANK stop on the green line (NOT Daegu Station). Take Exit 2. A Paris Baguette is on the corner and the bus stop is right there. Take Express bus 2 (It's red) to Herb Hillz. It will take about 15-20 minutes without traffic. The stop is called 허브힐지 which is Herb Hillz in Hangul. However, the English translation of the name is NOT Herb Hillz. It is something completely different. So you have to read the Hangul to know it is the Herb Hillz stop. (It's the stop right before Spa Valley.) The bus drops you off in what seems to be nowhere. You can see Herb Hillz up the hill on your right. Just walk up that small street and you will see the parking lot in front of the ticket office. The sign that used to say, "this way to Herb Hillz" isn't there because they recently (??) changed the bus stop location.