Jeonju

The day starts with the most luxurious bus trip I think I’ve ever had. Huge reclining leather seats, wireless phone chargers, wifi, TV, privacy curtains. Makes the 2.5 hour journey to Jeonju very pleasant. The transport system in general here is great. Easy, efficient, clean and cheap. The business class bus only cost us £12. Don’t even think you can get a megabus to Glasgow for that price these days. 

 

We instantly fall in love with Jeonju when we arrive. The heritage village is very cute, with lots of traditional houses, shops and cafes. We’re staying in a Hanok guesthouse, a traditional wooden Korean home where you sleep on the floor. The owner is a sweet little lady who doesn’t speak any English, so we communicate through google translate. Isn’t technology wonderful. Pretty handy too, as it transpires that next to nobody in this village speaks any English. Mainly a generational thing though, as many of the young ones do. 

 

Rachel is keen to try on the traditional hanok style dresses. I did at first think it might be a bit of a cultural appropriation, but then almost everyone is wandering the streets wearing them, both tourists and Koreans alike. In for a penny in for a pound. We hire dresses for two hours and spend the afternoon sauntering around the village taking hilarious photos of each other. I feel and look like an 11 year old girl and like I’ve walked straight off the set of Bridgerton. They’re not in the least bit flattering, but the good thing is they puff out from the chest down, so they hide our bloated rice bellies.  

 

At one point we walk past an old Korean man who seems to offer a professional photography service. He insists on taking lots of photos of us with my phone, getting us to pose in all sorts of strange positions, even holding hands and gazing into each others eyes at one point. It felt like a wedding shoot. Perhaps he thought we were a couple. This went on for a good 10 minutes, and we were worried at the end he’d stick out his hand and ask for us £100. But the culture here isn’t like that at all. People here are just really friendly. And it’s actually considered rude to tip. A culture I can get on board with! 

 

After two hours, we’re sweating like whores because its super hot and humid and we’re covered head to toe in cheap synthetic fabric. So, after stopping for a swift beer, we hand back our gowns and head for a shower and a change before dinner. 

 

Jeonju is the birth-place of bibimbap, a rice dish with sauteed vegetables, beef and gochujang chili paste, which you mix together. We head to Hankook Jib to try it, a restaurant that was opened in 1952 and has upheld its tradition for three generations. The bibimbap is very tasty, but the star of the show is the bulgogi – marinated slices of beef with soy, sesame oil, garlic and ginger. We end up pouring it into our rice bowls, which I’m sure is heavily frowned upon! 

 

After dinner, it’s time for dessert. The speciality in Jeonju is the chocopie which consists of two layers of sponge cake with creamy marshmallow-like filling. They have various different flavours – I went fort the caramel one and the cream cheese.  

 

There’s not too much atmosphere in the evening as it’s a very quiet village, so we head to the 7-11 to buy some cans of beer and then sit on the porch of our guesthouse enjoying the peace and quiet after a hectic few days in Seoul. 

 

Next stop, Busan…