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OK so I guess following my last update and the messages I have received from many of you you’re all awaiting to hear about the “Penis Park.” Typical I come all this way and the thing you are most interested in is a park full of phallic sculptures. Well I was half expecting to see statues of most of my mates there but as hard as I looked I couldn’t see Marty, Gav or Ed anywhere, you boys must have been well hidden. The Penis Park or as it’s actually known Haeshindang Park is to say the least a little strange, but it’s an easy conversation starter because there was always something popping up. There was even a cannon like penis that rocked up and down, you’ve got to love the time and thought someone has put into it! Legend has it that a distressed virgin drowned at sea and as a result the fishing village failed to land a good catch for a prolonged period until one of the fisherman relieved himself into the sea and from this point forwards the catch improved. Therefore all these sculpture’s of a phallic nature have been “erected” to ensure the virgin is continually
satisfied and the village fishermen land a good catch. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a park quite like it before but it made for an interesting change from temples and palace’s.
The Penis park was a short bus ride away from Samcheok which is where I have been staying for the last couple of days, thankfully the penis park was not the highlight of my time there. I also went to a place called Hwanseongul where there is the most amazing cave to explore. My descriptive words will not do it justice but hopefully the photos below will do. The size of the cave along with the walkways and lighting made it a truly amazing experience and for once there were English signs to explain what I was seeing, always useful.
Following the exploration of the caves I then proceeded to do another first for me, a bit of hitch hiking. After chatting with a local guy for a while at the bus stop we decided to hitch back because the bus was going to be at least another hour. I’m pleased to say South Korea is very safe and the hitch hiking was so easy and
relaxed, not to mention free. I then proceeded to hang out with my new friend for the rest of the day and we ate several traditional Korean dishes and talked about his trip where is he biking around the whole of the country. I hope he is still making good progress and safely at his next destination by now!
I only spent a couple of days in Samcheok before moving to Gyjeongu, which is another fairly small area containing many royal tombs along with loads more temples. It’s fair to say I’ve now seen enough temples and can’t wait to head out to Jeju Island for a bit of relaxation on the beach and water sports if time allows. They do have some amazing “postcard” photo opportunities here which I’ve taken full advantage off but I can’t help thinking the setting of some of the tombs remind me of a certain kids tv program, answers on a postcard please!
Today has been yet another first for me, I’ve just finished hand washing all my clothes! I know for certain this will not be the last time I have to do it but all I can say is thank
god for the person who invented the automatic washing machine because in 30degrees plus temperature it was not the best job in the world. But on a positive note that’s one job off the list that I know I don’t want to do in my future career.
Im just loving the randomness of this whole travelling life, to put you in the picture Im writing this blog chatting to a really cool couple who are travelling for three years and have the most amazing website set up for the their blog I have ever seen. As if this wasn’t enough the owner of the hostel (well it’s more of a home stay than a hostel) has just put on some funky dance music mixed with Bob Marley on vocals and has now started his own personal spinning class in the corner of the hostel on a custom yellow spinning bike…… you just have to love this place, happy days!
Until the next update.
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