We were up early today (8:30am!!) to pack up and get ourselves to Busan KTX station in preparation for our two-step train journey from Busan to Jeonju. Arriving with plenty of time for breakfast and caffeine, we planted ourselves in "BnC Donuts" for very healthy breakfast of donuts and coffee.
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| Breakfast of champions. |
Finally on the train, we whiled-away the 3 hour journey as people do, changing at Osong station at the 2 hour mark. The change was very straightforward for us old hands at the KTX experience.
On arrival at Jeonju, we were just planning to grab a bus to the hanok village when a very friendly lady offered to give us a lift in her car. She basically wouldn't take no for an answer and it was certainly better than a bus and cheaper then a taxi! And so we all climbed into her car for the 20 minute ride. With profuse thanks, we alighted and walked to our accomodation for the next 2 nights - Gamchae Hanok Stay. I gotta say it looked much bigger in the photos, and the futons looked mightily thin! We couldn't complain about the neighbourhood though - nestled deep within the rest of the hanok houses.
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| Hanok stay - "Gamchae" small and basic! |
With all our shit deposited in our room, we headed straight out to grab a late lunch. The first place I wanted to eat in Jeonju was the famous Hankook-jib, the origin of the famous Jeonju style bibimbap.
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| Hankook-jib - the first place to serve Jeonju-style bibimbap. |
Coming at an odd hour, we had the place basically to ourselves. The bibimbap was delicious, as was the mandatory Terra (beer). We weren't that hot on the side dishes this time around however - no-one would touch the whole baby crabs in chilli sauce.
After our late lunch we wandered around town. Being a weekend (saturday) the place was thick with people wearing hanbok (traditional clothes) and buying or consuming things on sticks. Despite the crowds and almost theme-park atmosphere, the hanok buildings were beautiful and we decided after a little while to try one of the traditional tea houses. Based on recommendations, we chose "Godong Tea House" and it certainly lived up to expectations. The tea house was quiet and serene given the hoards traipsing up and down the street just a few metres outside. And the tea we chose - "Golden tea" was delicious. The staff showed us exactly how to brew and pour the tea, and we whiled away the remainder of the afternoon sipping the addictive yellow beverage from our tiny tea cups.
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| "Golden Tea" at Godong Tea House. |
After our relaxing afternoon of tea drinking we decided to head out directly to Nambu Night Market for some small bites of dinner (lest we sit down in our room and never leave). Being Saturday, this was the first and last opportunity to see the night market so we couldn't miss it.
The market was crowded, with people filing up and down the narrow lanes with food vendors up the middle. People were patiently lined up everywhere to buy what they wanted. We grabbed some fresh pork belly gimbap that was really good as well as some thin steak in egg batter pieces. Yum!
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| Nambu Night Market - crowded but delicious! |
After we'd eaten what we wanted, we walked slowly back to our room and prepared to sleep on our thin, thin futons.
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