I was naked, yet I felt no shame. After emerging from a HOT hot tub, I cooled off by jumping into a tub of cold water - it's great for the circulation. Quick! Jump back into the hot tub to really get your blood moving. Put some clothes on, then head into a dry sauna guaranteed to make you sweat. Welcome to the jimjilbang - a bathing experience unlike any other.

To put it mildly, Wonpyeong Beach (원평해수욕장) is off the beaten path. Bigeum-do is 54.5 kilometers (about 34 miles) from the mainland of Dae Han Min Guk. Of the 827 islands that dot the shores of Shinan county in Jeollanam-do, Bigeum-do is the seventh-largest. It hearkens back to a time before foreigners taught English in Korea and the locals viewed foreign tourists as curiosities. If you've ever needed that 'far off island getaway' during your stay in Korea - but had to be back to work on Monday - this may be the place.

Author's note: this post is rated NSFW (Not Safe For Work) due to some nudity - this IS a body painting festival, people. Please go elsewhere if you're looking for pornography - this is tasteful and beautiful art.

Author's note: A hat tip goes to Brian in Jeollanam-do for discovering this place and sharing it with the K-blogosphere.

While in town for the Gangjin Celadon Festival, the Lady in Red and I decided to meander our way through the tiny county in Jeollanam-do. It's technically an 읍 (eup, or rural county), and with a mere 41,000 people living there it's far from densely populated. As usual, we started from the bus terminal and peeked at the tourist information / map to help us decide where to go. It turns out there is a quasi-trail linking a number of historical sites together. While they're not the sexiest or most exciting sites in the world, it's a good chance to get off the beaten path.

At the risk of treading on Brian in Jeollanam-do's territory, the Lady in Red and I headed down to southwest South Korea to check out the 38th Gangjin Celadon Festival. Korea has over 1,000 years of pottery-making history, and the festival is designed to get you interacting and learning about it. The festival has been deemed the best festival in Korea by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (note: not tourists) for nine years in a row.

Read up on part one and part two before continuing!

If you haven't read part one yet, read it first before continuing! Where we left off, I had gone back to my hotel to relax and freshen up. After awhile, I headed down to the harbor for some dinner (PROTIP: don't bother - it's overpriced) and see what sort of night life the locals enjoyed:

One of Korea's most distant islands, Ulleungdo retains a certain mystery and exoticness held by few other destinations in Korea. Perhaps it's because of its distance from the mainland, or perhaps it's because of the unusual difficulty of actually getting there. From Seoul it's a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to Donghae, a short taxi ride to Mukho ferry terminal (묵호 여객선 터미날), then a 2 1/2 hour ferry ride - not exactly a day trip. If you do make the trip out, there's more than enough to make the trip worthwhile.

Step one: serve your country. Step two: die serving your country. Step three: have almost an entire island dedicated to your memorial. While that's not an option for most of us, Jeseungdang on Hansan-do (Hansan island) is a chance to see how the Koreans have memorialized Yi Sun Shin, arguably one of Korea's most famous admirals.