'''Ganghwa Island''' (???, _]____ ''Ganghwado'') [http://ganghwa.incheon.kr/english/], also '''Kanghwa Island''', is a rural county (?, ''gun'') of Incheon, South Korea. The county of Ganghwa includes several other islands, most notably '''Seongmodo''', the site of Bomunsa Temple.

Understand

Ganghwa is separated from the Korean mainland by a narrow channel, spanned by two bridges passable by cars. North Korea is directly across the channel on the north coast of the island.

Get in

By bus

There are frequent direct buses (W4200; 90 min) from Seoul's Sinchon Bus Terminal to the main town of Ganghwa-eup, as well as Bupyeong Station, Hapjeong Station, Songjeong Station, and Incheon Bus Terminal in Incheon. Local buses also connect to Gimpo (the city, not the airport).

Get around

There is a tourist information located inside the bus terminal. No English is spoken but they have English language tourist maps.

Local buses appear to be infrequent.

See

  • Bugeun-ri Dolmen. ?????. ree. A prehistoric burial site listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site, the largest stone here is 2.6_~7.1_~5.5 meters in size and weighs somewhere between 150 and 225 tons. Hourly buses from Ganghwa-eup. There is another cluster of dolmen at Gocheon-ri (???).

  • Bomunsa. ??. 500 won. High up on Seokmodo Island, this temple is located in a scenic grotto with rock carvings and is famous as a place for women to pray for sons. Getting there is half the fun: take a bus from Ganghwa-eup to Oepo-ri (30 min, every 30 min), cross by ferry to Seokmodo (W2000; 10 min, every 30 min), and then take a shuttle bus (W1000) to the temple.

  • '''Gwangseongbo Fortress'''
  • '''Mani Mountain'''
  • '''Jeondeungsa Temple'''
  • Buy

    Ganghwa Ginseng and Hwamunseok, which is a mat woven with flower patterns a representative traditional Korean product, with its intricate handwork and designs.

    Eat

    Drink

    Sleep

    There are several motels and ''yeogwan'' in Oepo-ri.

  • Ganghwa Namsan Youth Hostel. 39 - 16 Namsan-ri, Ganghwa-eup. 82-32-934-8800. Cavernous, charmless youth hostel, 10 min walk from the Oepo-ri ferry terminal.

    Get out