The most important thing you need to know about Jeonju is that it is the birthplace of bibimbap - without a doubt my favorite Korean food. Julienned vegetables, fragrant rice, spicy and tangy gochujang saue, complete with a fried egg. It's everything you could ever want in a meal. The bibimbap I tried in Jeonju also had gingko seeds on top.
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| I can't even tell you the name of this temple, I'm the worst. |
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| Awesome realistic painting of a horse being fed by an invisible man |
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| Good old stick throwing |
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| An innocent wanders into the fray |
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| Just being a deer in the headlights |
The old part of the city was beautiful to walk through. There were cute cafes, shops, and a lot of guesthouses. We wandered around for awhile trying to find a place to stay, but everything was either full or expensive. Then, this adorable old man saw us and motioned for us to follow him. We did so with no questions asked (there's no need to ask questions in Korea). We lead us through his hanok guesthouse, up some narrow stairs undergoing some renovation that appeared to have been stalled for at least a decade, and out onto the roof. The view was stunning, especially since it was dusk.
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| The most adorable old man |
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| The view from his roof |
At this point, it was a little problematic that we didn't have a place to sleep. We wandered into a guesthouse and the owner said they were full, but his friend just opened a guesthouse nearby and had availability! What luck. He would even come by to pick us up and take us there. Korean hospitality at its finest. So we stayed at Sein Guest House, which I would recommend to anyone staying in Jeonju. It wasn't very centrally located and there was a curfew, but the people were super friendly and there was a free Korean breakfast in the morning.
After we got settled, we decided to head out to get some food, but we were stopped in the lobby. The manager of the guesthouse started addressing the throng of Koreans chatting and hanging out in the communal area. All I heard with my limited Korean was "foreigner," but some of my friends understood more of what he was saying. Basically, in a ten minute speech he was convincing them to all go to a restaurant to eat, drink, and show these foreigners a good time. So we were caught up in this mass exodus, ushered into cabs, and taken to a nearby restaurant.
What started out as a very strange, awkward situation quickly turned into a fun night. We sat down at a huge table with all of our "new friends" and food and makgeolli started filling the table. We talked and I learned a few new Korean drinking games. I also tried live octopus for the first time. They brought over a plate with some chopped carrots and seaweed. Over it, they dangled a squirming octopus clamped between some tongs. They proceeded to hack away at it with scissors, until its tentacles and other bits fell writhing onto the plate. And I ate this. I really did. I don't think I've ever been more proud of myself for eating something so grotesque and so...alive. Once I got past the idea of killing my food with my molars, it actually tasted quite good.
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| The plate in the middle is the octopus |
From here, we went for some noraebang. It was quite luxurious and came with fruit platters. You really came through, Jeonju.
The next morning, we set out to find a temple that we heard was quite stunning. It turned out to be quite elusive, and we got lost for hours. We found it after huffing and puffing up a massive hill. We were pretty sure this was the supposed temple, but it wasn't quite as awe-inspiring as we expected. At least, not after that horrid hill. Nevertheless, here are some photos.
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| The templiest temple |
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| You can't tell how much lactic acid build-up is really occurring in my quads at the moment. |
And that was Jeonju, folks.
Some potentially useful information:
Getting there: By bus from Dong Seoul Terminal to Jeonju Express Bus Terminal takes approximately 2 hours 45 minutes without traffic (including your typical 15 minute stop over at a rest stop) and will cost you around 20,000 won for a one-way ticket.
Must-see: Jeonju Hanok Village
Take Bus toward Pyeonghwa-dong, Jeonju University, Nambu market or Gui direction
Or take a taxi from the bus terminal (approx 15 minutes)
Sein Guest House:
http://seinhouse.com/
https://www.facebook.com/seinguesthouse/timeline
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