Winter Vacation 2011

Well winter vacation was a blast. It was essentially a tour of Chuncheong-do, taking in a few major cities and some small towns. The weather was amazing the whole time, even in places that were snow covered the daytime highs were 7-10 degrees and it was sunny when we got there. Anyway, the trip went a little something like this:

Tuesday night Geoff and I met at DongDaegu St. at 10 and took the KTX up to Daejeon. We grabbed a hotel room in an area that was clearly near the red light district (who'd have guessed a $30 motel near the train station would be sleazy?). After escaping several Madam's looking to take us to their "bar's" we then hit a German ice bar (it's a bar where they have a frozen cup holder built in to the table) in the downtown area to get food and a beer. Daejeon itself is an okay city. A smaller version of Daegu with a bit more of a working class feel. I'd like to go back for a night out there, but there's not exactly a lot to see besides the people. We then went back to our rooms and crashed.

Wednesday we got up early and took the bus to Gongju to meet Angela. Gongju is one of the capital cities of the old Baekje kingdom, one of the three kingdoms that pre-dated unification. The big thing to see there is the Gongju fortress and the tomb of King Muryeong. Jeff and I got up and went to the Starbucks for real "drip coffee" and then headed to the bus station. We were supposed to meet Ange at 11 but there was either a miscommunication or a scheduling issue as she got there around 10 (about thirty minutes before we left Daejeon). However we did meet and after a brief setback when Geoff forgot his camera on the bus and we had get the company to track the bus down we managed to make it to the castle by about 1. The fortress itself was not quite what the hype had made it out to be. There were many areas fenced off with signs saying "this is where __________ stood". It was cool but after seeing the ones in Suwon and Jinju it was a bit of a letdown. However we had a lot of fun just walking around and the views from the walls are actually fairly amazing. We then went to Muryeong's tomb, which is famous as much for the fact that it escaped grave robbers and was only discovered in the 1970's (with instant "Korea's King Tut" references being made) as for the site itself. Again, the park and city were far more charming than the place itself, as were the people there who tried to teach us a few traditional Korean games. We then went in a very roundabout way back to the main road at the front of the museum where I was sure we would find many taxi's to take us back in to town. Finding no taxi's we began the walk back in to town which was enjoyable but after a day of hiking we were getting tired. Eventually we got a cab and took the bus back to Cheongju where Ange lives (she was going to put us up for the night. Being new to Cheongju (and Korea generally) she wanted to go out and meet a few people so we hit the western bars. It really reminded me of the bars back in Ulsan and, to be honest, I thought they were about as much fun (insert sleeping/yawning noise here). However, I think Geoff and Ange were having a better time so I tried to get a bit more in to it. Ange was especially enjoying it as I think she was making a few new friends in her own city, and partied hard.

Thursday I woke up feeling okay, as did Jeff. Ange did not. Jeff and I hung out playing old 70's layed back albums (10cc, Supertramp, Steely Dan etc.) and went out shopping. Ange was sleeping :) Thursday was the actual New Years holiday so virtually nothing was open and travel was a bit of a nightmare so we decided to hang out another night in Cheongju, it was more of a watching Futurama day.

Friday we got up early and began the 3 hour jouney to Danyang. Danyang is a beautiful mountain town that really reminded us of a town in central BC. We had to take a 90 minute bus ride to a small town called Chungju (I think people in this province deliberately make all their town names almost identical) and then connect to Danyang. As we left the city behind we were greeted with snow capped mountains and a huge, partially frozen lake. When we got there we found just about the most beautiful town in Korea. Being that it was already mid afternoon we decided to just walk along the lakeside promenade and get dinner and drinks at a meat restaurant. The meat was fantasic and the beer was Korean. We then went to a small pub and enjoyed the views of the lake and bridge, which was all lit up.

Saturday we got up early and went to the Gosu caves. They are the largest cave complex in Korea and are amazing to see. The best part, with it being a national holiday weekend we only got stuck with one Korean tour group. As a quick aside, Korean tour groups seem to me to be like army slogs. File in, see the caves, take a picture at designated picture taking spot, move along, get back to the bus, next location. I'm more of a absorb the beauty at a slow pace type. Anyway, the caves themselves were amazing, with rock formations that look like they should have David Attenborough commenting on them. The caves took about an hour and we then left and went to a restaurant which, as it turned out, was a vegetarian restaurant where we had fried ginseng and a pajeon. After some souvenir shopping we walked back in to town over the bridge, grabbed a coffee and relaxed by the promenade. Jeff had bought these reflexology sandals and we were admiring them. So much so that Ange wanted to go back. They wanted to go back but I was sure there would not be enough time with only 40 minutes left so they decided to go while I stayed, watched the bags and tried to figure out how to tell our bus driver that my friends were coming but were going to be late in Korean. 20 minutes later they returned with three pairs of sandals. I felt rather foolish though I must admit I was suitably impressed by their speed. We then boarded the bus back to Chungju where Jeff and I parted from Ange and transferred to the Daejeon bus. With a two hour stopover in Daejeon we managed to get a coffee and dinner before boarding the KTX back to Daegu.

I had a great time and I think they did as well. I'm also happy to know that I have two people I could easily spend a trip with again. In fact, as a confession, I was probably the most difficult person of the group. I was trying to use my new found Korean skills when getting around but found the accent in rural Chuncheong-do incomprehensible (like trying to understand Welsh accented English) so there were a few times when Jeff or Ange were asking me to ask the (bus driver, motel manager, waiter) a question as the (bus driver, hotel manager, waiter) was talking to me in a language I don't have a real grasp on in an accent that is very difficult. Having three people talking to you in two languages at the same time can be a bit much, especially if you have been travelling a lot or are a bit hungover and I think I got visibly annoyed a few times, though I was much more annoyed with my own inability to communicate with the Koreans than anything else. There were a few times when pantomime seemed to get things done faster. Well, it's just insentive to study more. My Sunday was supposed to be spent doing just that, but my language partner texted at 830 to cancel. I think I have had to cancel on her a few times so I wonder if she is a bit annoyed with me on that one, but I have another one Tuesday morning that is consistent and very helpful. So this Sunday can be spent relaxing and maybe going for a walk in the unseasonably warm February weather.