Japan & Korea (2018) - Part 3: Boeun Bound

---

---

Dear Blog Readers,



Our new-found sumo wrestling knowledge made the footage of the latest Grand Sumo on the ferry back to Korea much more interesting! Once shored in Busan, we headed straight to the station and picked up our suitcases from the luggage storage there – highly recommended to save lugging around everything and only about £5 a day.



It was the return of trying to find something that we wanted as we fancied getting some of our favourite Chinese food in Korea – jajamyeong and tansuyuk! It took about half an hour to find a restaurant in downtown Busan…I swear there is normally one every other restaurant! The food was superb and worth the find! We had a nice wander around the city in the evening and Laura found a place to buy some trainer-socks at the market. They’ve always got a good reaction when we’ve brought them home with their ridiculous designs and last longer than a couple of wears!



The morning after we got the coach to Cheongju. We must’ve been the most excited people visit the city in a while…but it holds a lot of sentimental value for us both! We’d arranged to meet our co-teachers outside the cinema in downtown. We heard a bit of a commotion down the end of the road and a lot of car horns beeping…turned out we were on a one-way street and our co-teacher had attempted to go down it! We ran down to see them perched on the curb before doing a U-turn to get back on the right side of the road. What an entrance…something out of an action movie!



Big hugs ensued, and our friend revealed she was now expecting a baby which added to the excitement! We found a dak-galbi restaurant before going to an optician to get the cheapest glasses – blew our minds that Laura could get a brand-new set of glasses with lenses within half an hour for less than £30! Specsavers must be making an absolute killing back home!



We then attempted a VR Café – this was the first time Laura and I had ever experienced it. I can confirm it was absolutely terrifying! My co-teachers had clearly had it in for me telling the person setting up my game that I was scared of spiders…next thing I know I’m virtually trapped in a lift with spiders crawling all over me!



After a lovely sleep at our co-teacher’s flat, we headed to our old hometown of Boeun (the Armpit of Korea). We had a shock in store – the area around my old school had completely changed from rice fields to numerous high-rise blocks of flats and the road leading to the school being lined with shops. It was very strange to see! It was market day which we loved because the whole of Boeun spills out onto the streets to sell humongous quantities of onions and garlic. Seriously, I have no idea how such a small town can consume hundreds of the stuff!



We got the bus to Songnisan and met up with Sunny with her husband and son who we met for the first time – unbelievably cute! Avid blog readers will be familiar with Songnisan as the only reason people pass through Boeun to visit this national park and the huge Buddha statue. The weather was boiling but it was gorgeous walking around the grounds again. Sunny had arranged for us to have sangyetang (traditional chicken soup) at an old authentic restaurant nearby which was delicious!



Sunny is born and bred in Boeun and it’s great to see all of her family in one place. Her Mum owns a store on the high street and every time we visit she greets us so warmly and gave us these really nice embraided cloths. Above the shop, her husband runs and owns a carom billiards hall. I’d never heard of it, let alone played it. I thought my previous snooker exploits would help…but I knew I was going to be in trouble as soon as me and her husband started having a game and he brings out his own cue & glove!



Samgeyopsal in the evening with Yuni and Carrie followed by Baskin Robbins ice cream went down a treat! We then found an archery café and discovered that I have Olympic-level talent in this sport discovered far too late in life! Laura, on the other hand, had an amazing ability to be aiming at the target next to her own and consistently managing to hit her own! We’ve never seen anything like it and it baffled the owner too!



Having woken up at 3am in order to watch the England team crash out of the World Cup, we spent a pretty quiet morning in Cheongju. Laura went shopping whilst I went for a coffee with an old colleague from when I was teaching in Boeun which was great. We all met up in the evening for a final dinner together feasting on galbi before heading back into town for norraebang! Another hidden talent was found in one day as I could do a great version of Run To The Hills by Iron Maiden…inspired from their Nova Rock performance!



It was an emotional farewell to some great friends…but like all close friends, it felt just like old times as soon as we saw each other and it’s so good to still be able to be so close even with the distance between us. We trundled onto the Seoul-bound coach knowing our holiday was winding to a close. Having anticipated this might be the case, we decided to book a nice hotel in Hongdae (9 Brick Hotel). We had probably the best bulgogi we’d had nearby before heading to familiar haunts to do some shopping in Insadong.



Nearby, I walked to the beautiful Gyeongbokgung Palace – which I’m sure I must have been to before, but it felt like a new experience. It always amazes me in Korea and Japan how these amazing traditional buildings nestle in-between high-rise buildings and bright neon lights. As evening fell, we headed back to the hotel. We had amazing views of the city from the comfort of the free-standing bath tub. Also, my newfound love for an electric bidet on the toilet – these have truly been a revelation on this holiday. The toilets here have heated seats, music, bidet functions and a whole host of other buttons that I haven’t dared press! This will definitely be a purchase for the future…



Our final day was spent melting in the heat of Myeongdong. One of the shops even brought out blocks of dry-ice to tempt people into! I headed to Dongdaemun to try and buy a new suit jacket, but the selection was disappointing compared to what I remembered! What better way to finish the holiday than to spend a couple of hours at the Dragon Hill Spa? We probably relaxed too much as we ended up rushing back to the hotel to pick up our backs, have one last delicious galbi at a nearby restaurant, and then Laura unleashed her latest purchase…a huge 3ft tall cuddly toy named Mr Broccoli! We carted it all the way to the airport, nobody seemed to bat an eyelid…only in Korea!



Tink & Laura

---