To Jeonju

I wanted a short stay in a counry town and Jeonju was said to be a gastronomic centre and also had traditional Korean houses so I opted for that. I should have booked an earlier departure from Busan Station as the itinerary I got would have me arriving in Jeonju after sundown. Also there was a lengthy transfer between Daejeon and Seodaejeon stations. The KTX counter clerk had written down a suggestion to take a taxi but I worked out that there would be enough time to catch the subway and walk.

I took a taxi from the station to the lodgings, a traditional Hanok guesthouse with floor bedding, as investigation showed that trying to catch the bus would be complicated and require some walking. As it was, the guesthouse owners were worried that I did not turn up around 1700 as I had stated in the booking and sent me an email which I received when waiting in the lobby.

The room I got had modern fittings and the mattress was on the wooden floor, as advertised. Room heating was embedded in the floor and thermostatically controlled. In ancient times there would have been a slow fire underneath the floor to provide heating.

I went wandering in the old town streets in search of dinner. Lots of townsfolk enjoying the evening air. Young boys were zooming around on motorised scooters; it seemed to be their evening pastime.

There was a lot of food on offer, mostly street food. Jeonju was said to serve the traditional version of bibimbap which means mixed rice. The colours, black, red, green, white and yellow, are rich in symbolism. It was good but in future I would like try the hotpot version instead of the room temperature version I got. Note the side dishes, as always.