The Stophers Come to Visit: Gwangju and Jeonju

Gwangju
Gwangju is one of my favourite cities in Korea; it's a young buzzy city with tons of shops, art galleries and bars. We went intending to watch a local baseball game, the Kia Tigers vs. Samsung Lions but Korea had other ideas. With it being a local rivalry and a very small stadium, all the seats were sold out before we even got there. Instead we spent the afternoon wandering the busy streets, eating, drinking and doing typical tacky Korean things like norebang (karaoke) and sticker booth family photo shoots. I must say, I've never seen anyone enjoy norebang quite as much as Ric's dad!

Brotherly love (with soju)

Jeonju
After failing in Gwangju we thought we'd try our luck in Jeonju, just an hours bus ride away. We went to Jeonju's traditional hanok village, where the brand new buildings attempt to offer tourists a taste of traditional life in pre-skyscraper Korea. As with most "old" things in Korea, the area had be renovated and polished up to Disney World standards, but it was still a very pretty neighbourhood with artesian stalls and quaint cafés lining the immaculate streets.

Jeonju hanok village

One of "attractions" was this ajoshi (old man), who for the small fee of 10,000 won, would write a proverb on a sheet of paper for you. He was quite the showman, ceremoniously putting on his special writing hat (a thinking cap perhaps?), and taking out his calligraphy brushes and ink. After taking his  photo it was apparent that we'd have to buy one of his 'pieces', or else be very rude to an old man, which in Korea is a cardinal sin. 

We chose the proverb based on how funny the translation was.We also decided it was perfectly fitting for Korean work ethic, and Korean hagwons:

"Learning takes endless time like deep sea, so keep learning without break". 

Ajoshi  writing our proverb

Once the master calligrapher had finished I asked to see the translation again (I wanted to take a photo of it), but the old gent misinterpreted my gesture and start painting another one for us! Awkward. So now Ric and I and Jeremy have matching Korean proverbs, which Alan kindly bought for us.

The village has a wine making museum, kimchi museum, pottery museum, oriental fan museum, textiles museum... you name it, although they're more like display rooms than museums, and you might struggle to find anything in English. 

There's also a small hill you can walk up that offers some nice views over the neighbourhood. It was a lovely place to spend an afternoon, especially with the weather being nice. 

View over the Jeonju hanok village.

Mt. Mudeung, Gwangju

It's the end of March now and the weather is perfect for hiking; the days are clear and sunny and the breeze is cool but doesn't turn your bones to ice as it did in the winter. That said, we decided to hike up the monstrous Mount Mudeung in Gwangju.

We started out at Wonhyosa temple, a beautiful temple with stunning views over Mudeung National Park. From there you can follow the road all the way up the mountain to about 150m from the summit. We thought the road was a bit boring though (and also crowded with Koreans), so we took one of the woodland paths that lead up onto the ridge of the mountain. 

Wonhyosa temple

Wonhyosa temple

The woody path, as you can see from the bare trees, it's not quite spring yet.

After about two hours we emerged from the woods to appreciate the stunning view of Gwangju and the valleys of mountains that roll out into the afternoon haze.

At Jungbong peak (915m above sea level) we had a clear view of our goal: Soseokdae Peak (1100m). 

Soseokdae peak (on the left)

 Finally we made it to the top, took some 'top of the world' photos, ate snacks and made our way back down. 

"TOP OF THE WORLD!"

Phew!

Soseokdae peak is a rock formation (in fact largest pillar rock formation inside of the Korea peninsular). The story behind the numerous rock formations on Mt. Mudeung vary from far fetched to indecipherable.

???

We decided to take the road down as it was getting dark and it was an easier path. After 3 hours climbing up the hill, I was horrified when we found a sign and realised how far we still had to go before we could catch a bus back into town!

Only 6.4km to go...

The sun setting as we descended the last 6km.

In the photo above you see how the freezing winter wind from the north (the Arctic) strips the trees of their leaves, whilst the south side is sheltered. In summer the wind (and weather) come from the South, that's why it's so hot. Roll on summer!

This is Ric "braving" the snow. It was actually a really warm pleasant day, but there was still loads of snow and ice on part of the mountain where the sun doesn't reach.

Total time: 5 hours
Total distance: 12km (ish)

How to get there:
We took the express bus from Cheonan to Gwangju (2.5hrs). From right outside the bus terminal you can get the 1187 bus straight to Wonhyosa temple (approx 1hr). The bus also stops outside the YMCA downtown (and takes 30 minutes).

We Stayed At...
...a very cheap, somewhat sleazy motel close to the bus terminal. It was questionably named 'Motel Wan Ta Bang', and hadn't been redecorated since the early 70's. [30,000won/£15 per room]