It was a Saturday morning, bright and early, when I headed out to Gochang. Hungry to travel somewhere new and get outside of my apartment for the weekend, a friend and I met in Gwangju and took a bus to Gochang. We arrived around 10:30am. Gochang is a fairly rural place, that was made apparent several times during our trip there. However, it also hosts some of the kindest Korean people that I have met so far during my time in the country.
Upon our arrival we set out for the Gochangeupseong Fortress (고창읍성), but we hadn't a clue where it was. The ticket lady at the bus terminal had given us maps, but they were in Korean and Chinese. My friend asked a man on the sidewalk for directions, which somehow she miraculously understood enough that with my phone map we were able to make it there with ease. The fortress itself was awesome. Entrance was super cheap, only 1,000 원, and it was well worth the price. The fortress is a decent size, with an intact wall encircling the whole place. The cool part is that you can walk along this wall, but if you are afraid of heights it might make you the slightest bit nervous. It isn't a place to be playing around, there is nothing to keep you from falling right off the top of the wall. There is a local legend about the wall that states, " With a stone put on your head. Once turning around the castle, all the pain in your legs is to be healed. After the second turning around the castle, you will have a long life without any diseases. The third time around brings you to the Heaven. This is the legend." Now I only walked around once, and there was no stone on my head, but the exercise did feel pretty great and my legs felt fantastic when we left...maybe I am just hopeful? The fortress has three gates, all which were beautiful and that you actually can walk through at some point. The inside of the fortress is filled with walking paths and trees, as well as a few historical buildings. We walked around the fortress until about 12:30pm, finishing just as the temperature reached about sweltering. The forecast for the day was approximately 90 degrees F.
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| Fortress Ticket |
These last two photos of the fortress may seem familiar if you are a fan of the recent drama Ruler: Master of the Mask, as several scenes from the drama were filmed in this particular spot along the fortress wall. Later, when I watched the drama, I was ecstatic to recognize the area as somewhere where I had stood with my own two feet, in the very same place as the actors in the drama. Here several scenes, mostly from the last half of the drama, were filmed. Some of these include when the Crown Prince meets Hwa Goon in secret, and later where Gon meets Hwa Goon's father (trying not to give any spoilers). If you are a fan of this drama, or of Hwa Goon in particular, this is one filming location you may consider visiting.
After leaving the fortress we happened upon a local products store and I wanted to check it out. There they featured mostly berry products, as Gochang is known for its berries, watermelon, and eel.
I bought some Korean black raspberry liquor here, which I have yet to try, as well as some berry juice. One of the women working noticed when I came in that I was really hot, as she saw me fanning myself with my hands. Then as I walked past her she handed me her handheld fan, and told me that I could use it. Grateful, I thanked her, and used it as much as I could to cool off. When we were about to leave I tried returning it to her, but she said I could take it with me, since the day was hot. I could've hugged her. She was such a sweet and wonderful person.
We found a local kimbap restaurant and settled there for our lunch, thankful for the shade and the many fans that were running. I had 냉면 (naengmyeon), which are cold noodles, thankful for the cold yet filling lunch. It was spicy though, so much 고추장....
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| Dead Field.... ㅋㅋㅋㅋ |
Our next stop was a film site from the ever popular drama Goblin, the Hagwon Tourist Farm (학원관광농장 - 청보리밭). Now we knew it wasn't the right time of year for the barely, and that the buckwheat didn't appear until fall, but the websites said in the summer sunflowers grew there... So we thought it would still be a pretty scene to take in. We found a taxi at the bus terminal (no buses go to the field, and its quite a ways out there - approx 27,000 원 by taxi) and he took us to the fields. Half way there he stopped and asked if we really wanted to go there, telling us that the barely had been harvested, but we told him it was okay. Well, we didn't realize the extent of what he was trying
to tell us until we arrived there. It was the exact wrong time of year. Don't go there in June. They had just harvested the barely, so what really awaited us was nothing more than a dead, dry, dirt field. Feeling sorry toward us, the taxi driver offered to wait so we could see it for a moment, and said he would take us back to town for a discounted price since there was no other way back. Once again I found myself super thankful to another local.We looked around while he explained to some other visitors our predicament and they all got a good laugh out of it.
Since we still had lots of daylight left, instead of town, we asked if he could take us to another well known tourist attraction - 세계문화유산 고창고인돌유적 or the World Heritage Dolmen Remains in Gochang. At first he was worried that we would spend too much money on his fare, but he agreed to take us there. When we arrived we asked him how much we owed him, but he wouldn't let us pay. He said there were no buses that came here either, so he would wait for us, and then offered to take us to a temple afterward. This is when the nice man became our driver for the afternoon. We paid 3,000 원 for entrance into the Dolmen Museum and grounds and learned about what dolmens were, how they were made and for what purpose, and then hiked one of the paths on the nearby mountain to see some real dolmens. It was unique; I certainly hadn't seen something like them before. The various ways that people have been buried in the past is kind of fascinating. Worried that we were taking advantage of the taxi driver who was waiting though, we tried to hurry back. We were still gone nearly an hour though, and I don't think he was expecting that when he'd made us his offer. He drove us to the temple as he had promised, but he seemed quieter.
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| Gochang Dolmen |
Seonunsan Provincial Park (선운사도립공원) and Seonunsa Temple (선운사) is where he left us. Turns out we had visited Gochang during their annual berries festival, and that is where he had brought us. We never would've known if not for him, as we had planned on visiting a different temple originally. He brought us to the temple and dropped us off, telling us there was a bus terminal here we could use to get back to town, and he gave us his taxi's company card just in case we missed the bus, as they only come once an hour. As if that wasn't kind enough, by this point we had totaled up 80,000 원 in taxi fares, but he only allowed us to pay 40,000 of it, since the first place he took us wasn't impressive. He gave us a 50% discount. I was so thrilled. It saved us so much money. He is such a sweet old man. I am glad it was his taxi. At first I hadn't wanted to take his taxi, since in most places black taxis are premium and usually cost more, but I am glad it happened the way it did.
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| Gochang Taxi Service |
The festival was fun, there were berries and watermelon being sold everywhere. KBS Entertainment was there and there were live performances and skits being filmed. Apparently the main host was really famous, but I didn't know him since he was an older gentleman and my interests lie mostly with handsome singers and actors. Seonunsa Temple was gorgeous as well, and probably would've been very peaceful if not for the the festival happening just outside its doors. The temple cost another 3,000원 for entry, but the pictures I got made it worth it. There I was able to see some really pretty, large, Buddha statues, lanterns and more lanterns, and of course the temple buildings themselves. This is one of the temples in Korea that also offers temple stays, which I haven't yet experienced. At the festival, there were stands upon stands of women selling berries. I wanted to try them, so I walked along and waited for the most persistent woman to win me over. It always happens. Finally one lady offered me a plump, juicy berry to taste and waved me over. She was the chosen one. The berry was delicious, staining my fingers purple. She gave me something to wipe them clean, and offered to sell me some berry juice. So, I bought a cup of it to drink; I am easy to win over. It was delicious, but the several hundred seeds I drank wasn't the most appealing. I also must warn others to watch how much 100% berry you are ingesting in one day. Careful it doesn't lead you to stomach problems later on...
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| Seonunsa Temple |
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| The sun is setting |
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| 100% Korean Black Raspberry Juice |
When it came time to go we had intended to take the bus back. However, the festivities had to end at the exact same time we intended on leaving, and we had to be back by 7:30 to catch our buses home at 8. When the 6:15 bus came, it was a swarm. I have never seen so many elderly people plowing onto a bus before in my life. There was absolutely no way that we were fitting on that bus. The next one didn't come for another hour, and there were about 6 times more people stalking the bus terminal waiting for their chance to swarm onto the next bus than that bus would've been able to occupy. So, at the first opportunity we found, we hopped back into a taxi and took it to the terminal, costing us another 20,000 원. Since I was splitting taxi fare with a friend it wasn't too bad though. Even though 50% of my expenses for the day still went to taxis.
Come 8:20 I was finally on a bus back to Gwangju so that I could get home. Exhausted, aching from the nearly 9.1 miles I had walked throughout the day, I was upon collapse.
That was when some random older man that was sitting across from me on the bus seemed to be looking for something he'd dropped onto the floor. I watched him search from the corner of my eye, wondering what he was looking for. The man had been occasionally staring at me since we boarded the bus back in Gochang. After awhile he looked at me and spoke so I took out my headphones. He held his hand out to me and poured a pair of earrings into the palm of me hand. That is when I noticed one of the backs was missing and that is what he was looking so hard for. He told me in English, "lost" and pointed to the earring back.So I tried to help him search, but with no luck. This whole time I am still holding these earrings. Well our bus made one stop midway, and this seemed to be his destination, so he was getting his things together and that is when he found the earring back on the seat beside him. He handed it to me and I put the backs on the earring so they wouldn't get lost again. Then he just got up to get off at his stop. I tried to hand him the earrings, but he just shook his head and pointed to them and then to me, telling me I could keep them. Then he was walking off the bus, barely giving me time to get out a thank you, let alone try and get him to take them back. So now I have these earrings from like a 60 year old stranger, and I haven't worn earrings in like 5 years....ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I'm not sure what to do with them. My ears have closed up, I'd have to re-pierce them before I could wear anything in them again. I will hold onto them though, they are still a gift, even if they are a weird one.
도둑게 - Red Clawed Crab - Meaning 'thief crab' in Korean, it raids houses by the sea for food. 짱뚱어 - Goggle-eyed Goby - Known as the 'sleeping fish' because it hibernates in the winter. It also 'looks ridiculous and somewhat creepy, but only lives in the clean tideland."
갈대 - "Reeds are grass-like plants that grow in shallow water or on marshy ground. The flowers bloom in July and August. Reeds are very effective for the purification of water." 갯벌 - "The territory between the high and low tide lines of the sea coasts. Suncheon Bay is a tideland endowed with very fine soil."
