Blogs from Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea, Asia

25 - 27thNovember 2012 Andong Taxis are a frustrating thing here. Its not that they hassle us as we go anywhere, in fact we have only been asked a couple of times if we needed a taxi. And they are nice new cars. Its just that they run on LPG, which makes sense for economy, but they have retrofitted the tanks in the boot leaving little room for bags. So each time we take a taxi anywhere, we are having to squeeze bags onto the back seat with us. And generally on our own as the drivers are reluctant to get out into the cold. Leaving Andong this morning (the bus station is quite a way from the town centre where we were staying), the hotel insisted on calling a taxi for us rather than us ... read more

Today I headed for Dosan Seowon, a famous (in Korea) Confucian Academy established by the renouned Korean scholar, Toegye (at least that was his pen name). Both scholar and academy are artistically featured on the 1,000 won note, which is about as common as a £1 coin or a dollar note. So I was already well acquainted with the place and man Nevertheless, I braved the vagaries of the Andong bus system and headed out of town towards the academy. I had only just arrived and bought my entrance ticket when I was pounced upon by an enthusiastic cultural volunteer, whose name sounded something like "misery". Contrary to her name, she was cheerful and pleasant and gave me my very own guided tour in English. I learnt that the academy was built in two stages. The ... read more

Andong is a small town (or glorified village) about 4 hours South of Seoul by train. Famous for: mountains, salted mackerel, one Confucian Academy and a chicken stew dish called Jjimdak. The town itself is unprepossessing, being small and subject to quite a few building works - although, unlike in the UK where such works are surrounded by six foot metal fences (even where there does not appear to be any work actually going on) in Andong, maybe in Korea in general, the general public is permitted to wander on, over and through the building site with relative impunity (although I kept my distance from the CAT digger). After settling in to my motel (I decided I wanted my own room and bathroom and aircon that worked, all of which I got, although not quite at ... read more

Wanting to experience a more traditional Korea, I went to a town named Andong near the center of the country. The town itself is like most urbanized cities in this country, although smaller, but the draw was the nearby Hahoe Village, where the villagers still live by farming and the village maintains ancestral ties with Joseon Dynasty architecture, folk traditions, ancient texts. Temples and huts with straw roofs dot the streets. There's a river and hills that surround most of the village. Apparently this village really got noticed when the Queen of England visited during a trip to the country ten years back. It's registered as a UNESCO heritage site. The vast majority of the villagers have the surname Ryu. I walked the area for a while, and in the afternoon there was a customary show ... read more

I've had quite a busy week. I've also decided to not wait for months on end to update my photos! It was a nightmare organizing them all, but I'm finally caught up. Anyways, I just got back from Japan yesterday, but that's for the next entry. Right before Japan, I went on a road trip through Korea with Malcolm and Louise, my British English Teacher friends. I was only able to go for two days or so, but it was still a lot of fun. It was really nice to get out of the cities and just explore. We didn't make any sort of itinerary and just "went with it", which turned out to be excellent. There isn't a whole lot to report, really. We just climbed into my car and headed north along the eastern ... read more