After finding our hotel, probably the first place I have stayed that could be described as “boutique”, we took a bus down to Naksansa temple. What stood out for me here were the rows and rows of colourful prayer lanterns. Also, I like the tradition of adding to piles of stones alongside paths in temples, just like cairns on mountain paths. In the evening, we walked around a massive lake that sits just outside of the city centre, lined with cherry blossom trees lit up by street lamps, and passed by many joggers. Later we had an all-you-can-eat BBQ buffet, cooking our own food as we went. It was a mixture of meat and fish, and the more seasoned meat was really tasty.
For the next few days, we just had the one night in each location, moving on the following day. The morning’s bus took us past several military exercises. During our two weeks in South Korea, I would see several young soldiers out and about - a result of their military service. We passed through the region that will host next year’s Winter Olympics, with the mascots plastered on every bus top and instructional videos played to locals asking them to be friendly to tourists. We eventually reached Reunification Park, a small area containing a former US warship and a captured small North Korean submarine which somehow contained 30 people. Walking south from there, we followed a fenced off coast line, complete with barbed wire and guard posts. This is what most of the Korean coast looks like, intended to keep out invaders or defectors. It’s probably what some people want England to adopt. We attempted to enter a local Rail Bike Park - stretches of railway where you can hire a car and go up and down the track - but it seemed to be abandoned. We were slightly ahead of peak season, but it was weird to see it so empty. Walking further along the beach we saw the answer - part of the track bed had been washed away. We were now in Jeongdongjin which I was surprised to discover was where we were staying for the night.
This sleepy town only contains a few streets, a museum of time described as “avoidable” (so we avoided it) and a large sand timer that flips round on New Year’s Eve (that evening also sounds avoidable). It’s main selling point, seen for miles around, is the Sun Cruise hotel - a gigantic cruiseliner ship that has been built on top of a big hill. We spent the afternoon in a slowly rotating bar, taking in the view and the sunset with a couple of Erdingers, finally relaxing after busy few days. This was a definite highlight, I really felt like I was on holiday in that bar. Dinner was another do-it-yourself BBQ, this time entirely consisting of shellfish which I was convinced I wasn’t cooking properly.
You think you’ve conquered jetlag, then you don’t sleep. Either it was the gale force winds blowing overnight, or some self inflicted food poisoning, but that wasn’t a pleasant rest. In the morning, expecting some kind of self service breakfast, I found an abandoned hotel reception and a toaster. There was one old man walking around that I thought was a member of staff, he kept pointing at the toaster and pouring me glasses of some wheat-milk (tastes as good as it sounds). Turns out he was a guest as well. We ate as quickly as possible and left, quickening the pace as this man started walking behind us and shouting in Korean louder and louder. A train and two buses took us to Haesindang Park, also known as the “fertility park”, or more accurately, “Penis Park”. Something to do with making wishes for a bountiful sea harvest has turned into the valley of the dongs. It was difficult to take it too seriously. As we’d been travelling all morning, I was in some serious hanger pains, so was relieved to see a convenience store on the other side, and devoured a massive bag of onion rings. A couple of buses and a walk took us to Samcheok beach front, where we were staying the night.
The area surrounding the beach looked faded and out of season, not helped by the overcast sky that evening. We went for a short walk as it started to gently rain, and tried to decide on a place to eat that night (I’d had my fill of cooking my own food). We chose an Italian restaurant that sat on the top floor of a building that was currently under construction. Completely missing the lift, we walked up stairs covered in dust and building debris, initially missing the entrance to the restaurant and ending up on the roof. Eventually finding our way back down and to a table, we had a generously portioned meal only tainted by the rusty table water and an ignored beer order. Retreating back to our hotel (which gave us condoms in our welcome pack, thoughtful or seedy? You decide) it was an unexpected surprise to see the beach bathed in purple lights after the sun went down. Children were playing and fireworks were let off. It looked beautiful, and showed me that sometimes the most average looking places can surprise you.
I finally have a good night’s sleep, which was a relief. It was much needed, and we had a long day of travel ahead of us. There was a choice between buses, and the best decision we made was to get up early and get going. We walked past an army base that had put up temporary additional defences and gun turrets at its entrance. The soldiers eyed us as we walked by. Over the next five hours we took two buses to get to Gyeongju, including one trip sat close to an old woman who belched so much she’d give Rick Sanchez a run for his money. So far I’d seen plenty of old people hock up in the street right in front of you as well. Clearly DGAF. Now that we were much further south it was noticeably warmer, and I prepared myself to get sunburnt again.
We started with a bus out to Bulguksa temple and the first of many maniac bus drivers, quick to use the horn and even quicker to slam the breaks on. The temple was busy with families climbing the steep hill up to the temple, one of the older sites we had visited so far. Like the others, it managed to convey an air of tranquility amongst the crowds that surrounded you. We snacked on some kind of delicious fried crab meat and went back into town to ditch our bags. Our hotel appeared to be in a street of “love motels” which looked creepy even in the daylight hours. I thought “would I need a jacket?” and decided to go out in just a tshirt. Cue thunderstorm.
Before the storm hit, we walked among the Silla burial mounds. When I first saw these massive earth structures from the bus, I wondered what they were. Angelos said “graves” and I began to panic over what atrocity happened here. Turns out a more accurate description would be “tombs”, as it was the burial place of ancient royalty. Shortly after that, it started to rain, then pour, then thunder, then hail. I was soaked through and miserable, but it didn’t last that long, and would be the only time I was caught in the rain without my jacket. We went for a walk around the history museum and back through a park that had fields of blooming yellow flowers that are like catnip to Koreans, they can’t stay away, taking a lot of time to get the perfect photos, including one or two wedding shoots. I had my heart set on a well known local restaurant that served 20 dishes per sitting, but lost track of what day it was - Saturday - meaning everyone was out with their families and there was a long wait. We didn’t walk far before we stumbled across a restaurant called Awesome, which thankfully was just that, the waitress showing us their menu through their Instagram account. We had a brightly coloured meal and some delicious makgeolli. Ignoring the rain it was a great day, and we could not have fitted in that much activity if we’d gotten a later bus.
Korea Blogs: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5
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