Soojeong knows that I love the countryside. Being from a small town full of trees, I sometimes find myself craving the smell of a field and large, open (sparsely populated) places. She told me that we were going to take a day trip somewhere outside of Seoul, but wouldn't tell me directly where we were going. We took the train from Seoul and stopped and lunch in a city about 30 minutes away. The town looked really nice and the lunch was good, but that wasn't the last leg of our journey, so we continued on. We caught another train and headed further away from Seoul. The journey to about an hour and a half, but we made it to where she had planned; Kim Yu-Jeong Station.
Kim Yu-Jeong is one of the most celebrated authors in Korean history. The countryside station that is named after him is the only station in all of Korea named after a famous person. When we stepped off that train, the smell of country grasses filled my noise. I had found heaven! The countryside in Korea is very beautiful and green. There are a lot of flowers and scenic views everywhere. We walked from the station to Kim Yu-Jeong's house that has been converted to a museum. It is actually a replica built from his nephew's memory of what it was like. Kim Yu-Jeong wrote about the people of that country town, and many of his famous stories are based of people and places that he actually saw in day to day life. The museum and house were very interesting.
After walking around the museum, we decided that we wanted to walk to Chuncheon, which was a hop, skip, and a jump away. That is what we thought anyway..I was so happy that Soojeong came up with the idea and was all about walking there. Pshh..on the map it just looked like a forty-minute deal at most. Well, we found the highway and just like the kids in Stand By Me, we set off to find what we were looking for. The scenery was great, and the people few and far between. I don't think we walked past a single person on the road walking like us. Forty minutes ended up being a two hour walk to the next station, but regardless of how long it took, or how hot it was, it was a fun day trip that I will not forget.
We hopped another train back to Seoul for a little bit of window shopping and then dinner. It felt good to eat dinner knowing that I had completed my journey and come back without any problems. Soojeong and I plan to head that way again to explore and maybe go rafting down some of the rivers. Our good friend Mars is from Chuncheon, which was our final destination. Time to go back and explore his home city and surrounding mountains.
Kim Yu-Jeong is one of the most celebrated authors in Korean history. The countryside station that is named after him is the only station in all of Korea named after a famous person. When we stepped off that train, the smell of country grasses filled my noise. I had found heaven! The countryside in Korea is very beautiful and green. There are a lot of flowers and scenic views everywhere. We walked from the station to Kim Yu-Jeong's house that has been converted to a museum. It is actually a replica built from his nephew's memory of what it was like. Kim Yu-Jeong wrote about the people of that country town, and many of his famous stories are based of people and places that he actually saw in day to day life. The museum and house were very interesting.
After walking around the museum, we decided that we wanted to walk to Chuncheon, which was a hop, skip, and a jump away. That is what we thought anyway..I was so happy that Soojeong came up with the idea and was all about walking there. Pshh..on the map it just looked like a forty-minute deal at most. Well, we found the highway and just like the kids in Stand By Me, we set off to find what we were looking for. The scenery was great, and the people few and far between. I don't think we walked past a single person on the road walking like us. Forty minutes ended up being a two hour walk to the next station, but regardless of how long it took, or how hot it was, it was a fun day trip that I will not forget.
We hopped another train back to Seoul for a little bit of window shopping and then dinner. It felt good to eat dinner knowing that I had completed my journey and come back without any problems. Soojeong and I plan to head that way again to explore and maybe go rafting down some of the rivers. Our good friend Mars is from Chuncheon, which was our final destination. Time to go back and explore his home city and surrounding mountains.
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5 comments:
I am amazed at how much those pictures look like they could have been taken in Japan. The topography and infrastructure all looks so similar in both countries. That train station was crazy though. It has to be one of the more ornate "temple-like" train stations I have seen thus far.
I like the part about your 40-minute turned two-hour walk. I had an experience this last week that cast a shadow of doubt on all my future google-map searches (I was searching the wrong block for about 30 minutes before a taxi driver kindly pointed out the building to me, just down the street). It's fun going out of your way sometimes, though.
Jimbo,
The topography and infrastructure really do look very similar between Korea and Japan. I really enjoy the countryside of both. It is amazing how quick everything changes when you get outside of a big city. For example, back in January when Soojeong and I headed back to your home-turf, getting out of Tokyo and into Tochigi Prefecture was so nice. It was very beautiful there. The train station was really cool, and I don't really remember see but a few people get off there. Peace, quiet, and beautiful scenery. Doesn't get better than that.
Chris,
Lol. I am glad that you found that funny. It is interesting how something so close on a map can actually be so far away. If you don't have a distance scale you are doomed to take a long walk sometimes. I agree with you though, it is fun going out of your way sometimes, and to be quite honest, that is what I prefer to do. I loved following the background and little alley's around Matsumoto. Can't wait to get myself lost there again next week.
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