Washed out in Jeonju

Killing time in Seoul

I woke at 0530 and finished the little bit of muesli I had brought along with coffee.  I have the morning to take in a few more of Seoul’s sights but nothing appealed to me.  Also, things don’t really open that early in the morning here.

So instead, I hit the road around 0800 to explore the neighbourhood.  I found lots of good eating places that I hadn’t seen before, that had the stuff that I really wanted!  Damn!

It was a lot cooler today.  Pleasant, actually.  I returned to my room to do some admin on the computer before checking out at 1100.  I had a good meal nearby before walking to the KTX section of Seoul station.

I had time to kill before the 1240 departure on the bullet train to Jeonju.  Boarding in Korea is based on honesty and there were no ticket checks at the station or on board.  The train made a stop at a suburban station and then two cities along the way to Jeonju.  The 90 min journey, through rice and other agricultural areas, was very smooth but there was no readout showing our speed.  I guess it only matters to people like me who don’t have bullet trains in their home countries!

Arriving in Jeonju

My heart sank as we pulled into Jeonju amidst rain.  I had wanted to take the bus to my guesthouse Sarangroo but opted for the taxi.  There was a long but fast-moving queue for that.  Impressively, there was a gentleman stationed at the front of the queue to help load passengers’ bags into the boot, open the door and shield them with an umbrella.  Oh, what service!

The ride through the big city cost me KRW80000, which was quite reasonable for a developed country.  The driver couldn’t enter the old city and dropped me on the other side of the river where I had to walk through light rain to get to my accommodation.

It felt like the worst-case scenario when my accommodation looked closed.  They had a phone number posted on the gate but I didn’t have internet for making a Skype call.  I wandered around and found their actual chalets were behind.  That was unstaffed as well.  Finally, I found that they had another set of chalets next door where the staff were based.  Whew! I was damp by then and ready for a rest.

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An umbrella saves the day

The rain continued and I didn’t see the point in leaving my room.  But around dinner time, I had no choice but to go out.  I tried to borrow an umbrella from the guesthouse but no luck there.  I wandered in the light rain and fortunately found a shop where I got a clear plastic one before I got too wet.

My Jeonju experience seemed to brighten up straight away.  I could wander around happily now and the clear plastic umbrella was perfect for sightseeing.   There were queues at many eateries and Koreans don’t seem to be discouraged by rain.  Last visit, I recall they were quite happily climbing Mt Soerak when I was losing interest due to the rain.

With an umbrella in hand, it was too difficult to try out the various street food.  As I didn’t feel like queueing for the restaurants in the old town, I walked across the bridge to the modern part of town where I got myself a great meal.

The day didn’t feel like a complete write-off with the rain, saved by the umbrella.  At least I’ve seen most of the old town.  Hopefully I’ll get to experience it in a leisurely and enjoyable way tomorrow.