11.5 days in Korea: Getting to know the Koreans

Saying goodbye to Seoul for now, we got up before sunrise to go to Seoul train station. Got tickets to Daejeon at 7:45, so we had time for breakfast. The only Korean restaurant at the station served delicious and spicy food. It was such a good wake-up!

The fast train took only 50 mins to get to Daejeon. While we were trying to figure out to which bus terminal we should go for a bus to Buyeo, a young Korean boy came to us. He gave us his own map and said "I don't need it anymore. I've been backpacking here and am about to leave." He also helped us to ask from ticket staff about the bus terminal. Such a nice guy!

At Buyeo bus terminal, we were trying to read the bus timetable board for a bus to Jeonju, so that we would plan for the time to be back accordingly, and again one guy came to ask "May I help you?". He helped us to clarify with the ticket saleslady about the timetable. The 2nd nice person of the day! We didn't buy the tickets since the bus left often enough. Before we headed to the sites, we needed to store our luggage somewhere. There was no locker!!!! The ticket lady offered to keep our luggage in her office. The 3rd nice person!!!


The guide book said that all the sites in Buyeo were in 15 min. walking distance. However, we wanted to save some time, so we asked one taxi in front of the station to take us to Busosanseong Fortress. To our surprise, he just pointed his finger to the direction of the fortress. Have you ever met a taxi who doesn't want to make money? The 4th nice one!


We reached the fortress gate within 15 min. Then, we walked up in a zigzag way to the top of the mountain. We couldn't find the famous Nakhwaam Rock หรือ Baekhwajeong Pavilion (picture on the left) which from the map was supposed to be on the top! (see picture above). In fact, we found out that many maps in this country showed you the way to get to the place in an easy way. For example, some maps at metro exits have North turned downwards. That way it gives you the right orientation, so you don't need to tilt your head! Confused? Yeah, we were!
  
We took a ferry back along the river instead of walking. In the boat, one Korean lady started talking to us. Once she knew that we were heading to Jeonju, she offered to give us a ride to Iksan, next to Jeonju, where she was born. She even wanted to drive us to Jeonju, but she had to attend her seminar. The 5th nice one! She was with her friends; one lady and two men. It was a bit tight in the car, but luckily it wasn't such a long ride.

The bus ride from Iksan to Jeonju was only 30 min. At Jeonju bus terminal, we were checking the time table for the next place, and, guess what, the 6th nice person came to help. We took a taxi to the tourist info in front of Jeonju Hanok village. After getting all sorts of recommendations, we walked to our accommodation, which was a traditional Korean style house.




The accommodation at Yang sa jae was really nice. The house we stayed at was 150 years old! It has a traditional underfloor heating (ondol) that utilizes direct heat transfer from wood smoke to the underside of a thick floor, which is covered by linoleum plastic. Cool, hah? The owner was just starting the fire when we got there.

After putting our stuff in the room, we were about to go for a walk. One guy came to talk to Alex, so I joined in. He then invited us for drinking tea with him, the house owner and his Chinese language teacher. He was the 7th! They shared their snacks with us, too. We chatted until dinner time, when they left. Nobody wanted us to pay anything. So generous!!!



We searched for a bibimbap restaurant recommended by Tourist info staff, but we couldn't find it. Till we asked for help, and we were just right in front of it! It didn't look like a restaurant because it was on the 2nd floor and the first fl. was just a shop selling all sort of stuff. Even when we walked inside, we still weren't sure. The guy whom we asked had to tell us to go upstairs :)








We tried bibimbup earlier but nothing liked this one. There were also more side-dishes. While enjoying the food, one of the guest on the next table talked to us. He offered us to try two of his side-dishes, which we didn't have, and told us that they were meant for VIP guests. The restaurant owner noticed we talked to the VIP, and promptly gave us also those side-dishes, and stated we were now also VIP :D The VIP guy was a university professor for Marketing. He gave us suggestion about places in Jeonju. He was our 8th nice person of the day!

On the way back to Yang sa jae, we stopped at a nice cosy tea house.Today was another memorable day for us to get to know many Koreans. They approached us with so much friendliness and generosity.