A whistle-stop through Jeonju

Friday 22 November 2024

Traveling south by bus

For the next day and a half, we made our way from Seoul to Busan via Jeonju. The total trip of 400 km took about 7 hours driving time over two days. We took a last snap of the Han River as we departed Seoul.

It was surprising, on our arrival in Busan, to see how close Japan was. In fact, we could see the islands nation from the port in Busan. Closer than any of the distance we travelled.

The Jeonju Hanok Village

As we approached our day’s destination we stopped in the Jeonju Hanok Village; an area apparently prized for it’s arts and intellectual culture.

This pretty, but somewhat commercial, township experiences over 6 million visitors each year. It has been subject to controversy, as the traditional shops and homes are replaced with modern food outlets, souvenir shops and side-show alley activities.

We spent an hour or so exploring the side streets, but had more fun in our first-30 minutes wandering the markets on the side of the town used by locals.

Hanji Paper Making

After checking in to the Best Western in Jeonju, we headed across the road to the Hanji Industry Centre. We spent an hour and a bit having a turn at scooping up paper mush and then waiting for it to dry. Not that exciting really. We declined the opportunity to decorate our A4 memento with stamps or our Korean name, and now have two plain white sheets of paper in our luggage.

After the exhausting paper making exercise, we retired to our room at 3pm for a cup of tea and some decision making. The rest of the group were planning on a 5:30 Bibimbap traditional dinner. We spied a “Home Depot” logo a few blocks away and figured you only live once. What a find.

Clearly we arrived at happy hour. There were more than ten ladies desperately serving surgical-sized morsels of sausage, cheese, roasted garlic, and beer to prospective, but in our case exceedingly unlikely customers. We are perfecting the art of walking away backward slightly bowing.

I managed to buy a Korean BBQ attachment for my Butane Camping Stove, a very familiar New Zealand Sav Blanc, a dainty packet of Edam Cheese AND saltine crackers (not a speck of sugar in sight). HEAVEN.

We put our feet up to watch ABC Australia news and devoured the whole salty, sharp, cheeses, winey mess. Then, and only then, did we consider heading out for dinner. We found a local diner where they only spoke Korean but laughed in every language. With help from the patrons we ordered the famous local dish – and ate – well most of it.

The Budget

Wine, cheese and biscuits: $35
Bibimbap hot pot dinner: 26,000W ($29.41)
Running Tally: $6,283.57