Mr & Missy in Korea Day 3 (18 May 2013)

Thanks to Korea's efforts to promote tourism, there is a free shuttle bus to Jeonju for foreigners - http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?cid=1797480 . Since there is only one bus per day, we need to book early though. I met Mister at Sinchon Subway station at 7:15am as the bus would depart at 8am from Donghwa Duty Free parking lot.  Donghwa Duty Free parking lot is just 1-2 min walk away from the exit 6 of Gwanhwamun Station (Line 5). 

Since I will be staying in Jeonju for one night, I checked out of my room and left my luggage at the guesthouse's reception counter.

With the shuttle bus to Jeonju

exit 6 of Gwanhwamun Station (Line 5) in the background

 exit 6 of Gwanhwamun Station (Line 5) in the background

Seoul->Jeonju bus ride took us 3 hours (8am to 11am).  The bus stopped at the pit stop around 930am for us to use the washrooms and get some drinks.

With Mister's perk-me-up Americano

 We really reached Jeonju Hanok Village Parking Lot at 11am sharp.  There is a tourist information center at the entrance of the parking lot. So we went there to get a tourist map of Jeonju to figure out how to get to our Hanok - Seonunjae Inn. We planned to drop off our bags first before our walk around the Jeonju Hanok Village.

 Our hanok owner was so nice that he even gave us the Korean version of Jeonju map.  He said that it would be easier to use Korean map with the locals if we want to ask for directions or get a cab! Equipped with both English and Korean maps, we set off on our Jeonju Hanok walking adventure! We decided to walk around first instead of getting lunch as we saw long queues at the bibimbap restaurants.  In case you are wandering why people are queue-ing for bibimbap, Jeonju is considered as the home of bibimbap. The rice used for bibimbap in Jeonju is cooked in beef broth instead of plain water.

Our first stop - Jeonju Confucian School

It is simply relaxing to enjoy the cooling breeze on the second floor of this pavilion.

With weird-looking fat tree!

Our second stop - Jeonju Tradtitional Culture Hall

Along Girin-daero, on our way to Omokdae

On the hills of Omokdae, we get a very nice view of the hanok buildings.

This view just transports you back to the past.

We crossed the bridge to go to Imokdae. Then, we saw this rocky place and couldn't help but play around with our drink haha

AND we saw these mural painted houses! so pretty!

Even the bridge connecting the Omokdae and Imokdae has murals painted on it.

At the beginning of Taejo Road

These huge pavilions are filled with people seeking respite from the sweltering afternoon heat.

Mister and his sweet snack (1,000 Won)

And we saw the Royal Guards parading on their horses.

Outside the bibimbap restaurant while we were queue-ing

You can see people sitting in the photo right? They were actually waiting outside the restaurant for their queue number to be called for them to be able to go inside for a taste of Jeonju's famous dish. We still had to queue even at 2:30pm! That's how popular bibimbap is in Jeonju.

So many side dishes! We even had pancake for free.

Mister ordered brassware bulgogi bibimbap.

I ordered stoneware bibimbap.

After lunch, we continued our walk to Gyeonggijeon - This shrine holds the portrait of King Taejo who was the founder of Joseon Dynasty.

Gyeonggijeon in the background

Our next stop was Jeondong Catholic Church.

Afterwards, we crossed the Paldal Road towards the Pungnam-mun Gate. In front of the gate, we found a group of performers playing lively music!

We were thirsty and Mister needed another cup of coffee to keep him going.  So we walked back towards Taejo Road.  There, we found people queue-ing for these little cakes filled with walnut cream. Of course, we queue-ed and got a bag for ourselves too.

There was a parade happening on the Taejo Road so we watched the parade while munching on our walnut cakes.

Then, Mister headed to the cafe to get coffee while I went to the convenience store to get our fav ice-cream - Melona!

After our tummies were happy, we took a cab to Deokjin Park to see the lotus-filled pond.  I was attracted by the photos from the Korean Tourism Organization website.

But we didn't see any lotus at the park!!! :( 

So we took a cab to the Inter-city Bus Terminal to buy bus tickets to Gochang.  We were worried that if we buy the next morning, there might not be any ticket left for the 8am bus. When we reached the Inter-city Bus Terminal, we found out that tourist information center is a short walk away, next to the Express Bus Terminal.  So we walked there just to discover  that tourist information center was already closed! So we walked back to the Inter-city Bus Terminal.

Walk to the the Inter-city Bus Terminal

With our limited Korean, we managed to buy 2 bus tickets to Gochang at the the Inter-city Bus Terminal. Then we took a cab back to our hanok and called the owner to get our room key. Just to make sure, we showed him our bus tickets. He said that he would research about it and let us know if we go the right tickets. 

How to lock the door of a hanok - use a spoon!

I didn't know spoons can come in so handy haha

Retro mirror and cosmetic box

Me watching Running Man in Hanok

After Mister took a refreshing shower, we headed to Nambu market to get dinner.

After dinner, we walked back towards Taejo Road to soak up the night atmosphere of hanok village.

Such a cute tiny cafe

600 year old Gingko Tree

After our night walk to digest our food, we headed back to our Seonunjae hanok inn.  Lucky for us, the owner found out that we got the wrong bus ticket to Gochang and emailed us the details including the taxi fare from the bus terminal to the Dolmen site.  So nice of him! Then, we just took a shower and called it a day since we gotta head out early to take an inter-city bus to Gochang.

Adios!

xoxo

Miss N

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Korea Trip Itinerary

http://musingsofmissn.blogspot.sg/2013/06/third-trip-to-my-favorite-city-seoul.html

Korea Day 1

http://musingsofmissn.blogspot.sg/2013/06/mr-missy-in-korea-day-1-16-may-2013.html

Korea Day 2

http://musingsofmissn.blogspot.sg/2013/07/mr-missy-in-korea-day-2-17-may-2013.html