Road Trips with Chip : April (2)

On Thursday, April 7^th, I discovered my middle school would not be in session on that following Monday, in honor of its founding anniversary. I decided to take advantage of the surprise 3 day weekend, and quickly planned a road trip to Boseong, known for its green tea plantations.

Samsungung

On Saturday, I left home at 6am, and drove 2 hours to Hadong, where there is a beautiful place named Seongjeon Samsungung (Palace of the Three Sages). It was a very natural sanctuary, built in 1983, founded by a Taoist priest.

At the entrance of the sanctuary, there is a traditional Korean restaurant. As it was only 8am, I was starving. I stopped and ordered a delicious jeon and guksu to start my day right. It was so cool to watch the cook make the jeon on a huge cast iron pan over an open fire. The savory pancake was perfectly crispy and flavorful.

After breakfast, I began my climb. Rock walls guided me along the path, leading me to the first jade pool. I continued walking up the mountain, and to the other side, there is another jade pool, overlooked by a temple. It was a very peaceful, stunning gem. I hope to return. The trek took about 2 hours, including the many photos I took of the scenery.

Boseong

Once completed, I hopped in my car and drove 1.5 hours further south east to Boseong. Along the drive, the curvy mountain roads were lined with cherry blossom trees, in peak beauty.

I arrived in Boseong, and relaxed at a café for lunch. Although the meal was okay, the soup was a beautiful, rich purple, and truly was delicious. I tried to ask the server what the soup was, but they didn’t understand me. I ordered an affogato (espresso over ice cream) and then headed to my Airbnb for the next two nights.

The Airbnb was a lovely hanok, up on a hill overlooking the local village, farmland, and sea. It was, however, not convenient for walking to any restaurants or convenience stores. After relaxing for a little while, I decided I should head back towards the neighboring beach town to pick up some easy supplies at the 7Eleven. I returned home with my ramens, and random snacks, ate dinner, and went to bed.

Sunday morning, I woke up and made my way to the main attraction of Boseong: the green tea plantations. There are tea plantations all over the town. They are set on the hilly land, overlooking the sea. As spring is generally harvesting time, the tea plants are in their prime. It was a beautiful scene to drive along and see so much green, everywhere.

I walked around the Green Tea Museum, which had various styles of tea sets from Ancient China, Japan and Korea, as well as explaining how tea originated iin China, and through trade, made its way from east to the west. I paid 2,000 won to share a pot of tea with two tea guides. The ladies tried to communicate with me, explaining the process in making a pot of tea. They were surprised I owned a car, and that I would happily travel around sans friends or boyfriend. This was a very common question I received.. “Are you alone?!”, “You didn’t bring any friends?!”, “Where is your boyfriend?!” *Sigh*..they mean well, I suppose.

I then had a green tea foot bath, and made my way into Boseong’s downtown market to eat 녹삼겹살 (nok-samgyeobsal: green tea marinated pork). I made the rookie mistake of forgetting the meat order would have to be for 2 people, and the price reflected on the menu was for 1 person. I asked the server to please not bring out all the side dishes, as I wouldn’t want to waste food… although she said she understood, a mountain of side dishes were brought to my table prior to the meat.

This was my first time to do 삼겹살 all alone, so I took my time grilling one piece of pork belly at a time. Although most of the sides had green tea infused into their taste, I did not taste much of a difference with the pork belly. It was, however, still a very delicious and filling meal.

I then went to 미력 옹기 (Miryeok Onggi: Miryeok Pottery), and obviously had my mom in my head the entire time. Mom, you would have loved this place! It is very simple, and appeared to be closed, from the roadside view. I parked my car, and tentatively walked around until I saw an older lady doing some chores. I greeted her, and she simply looked, returned my greeting, and kept working. I took this as a sign that I wasn’t trespassing. I walked around rows and rows of traditional Korean kimchi pots, giant to tiny sizes all around. Two large kilns were on the far end of the property, and you could tell they were still active. I then walked inside the building, that still looked closed. The lady greeted me again, this time smiling, and asking if I came alone. I browsed the shop, looking at the varying styles of pots, cups, and tea pots. I explained to the lady, in my very poor Korean, that my mom loves pottery, and I wish she were with me at that moment to see all of this. She was patient, and would ask me easy questions, proving she actually understood me! *WINNING*
I may or may not have purchased something at that store… and it may, or may not, be for someone I know would appreciate said possible purchase… 😉
I had to do a lot of Papago-ing to read the articles that were spread around the shop. However, I was able to find an online article, in English, about this particular shop and it’s history.
Instead of me trying to explain, here is the article: Onggi: Leading an Introspective Life

I finished my exploring at the “Home of Pansori” (판소리), which is a Korean traditional musical storytelling. A standard performance will include a drummer and a singer. There are many styles of pansori, respective to their regions of origin.
Please take a moment to listen to this Pansori performance:
[Daily Gugak] Day 5–Pansori “Simcheongga” (Song of Simcheong) -“Blind Sim Regaining his Sight” Scene – YouTube

The man who was in charge was sitting in his office, listening and singing along with pansori soundtracks while I walked around the museum. I am still unclear how this location in Boseong was called the “home” to pansori.. perhaps it was for it’s region? It was still a pleasant homage to pansori’s history. They host a pansori festival every year.

That evening, I finished the remaining snacks and ramen bought the day before, and went to bed, exhausted.

Monday morning, I woke up, packed up, and took my leave of the hanok. It was early morning, and the sun was rising as I was driving, which, naturally, led me to stop multiple times to take pictures.

Namhae German Village

I had an entire day to allow myself to meander as I drove back to Daegu. I decided to take a detour to Namhae’s famous German Village. Namehae is a southern island just off the coast of the peninsula. I drove an hour, and arrived at the German Village. It was small, but it was beautiful. It also confusing…at the entrance, French and Portuguese music was playing, rather than German music. They host Oktoberfest every year, which makes me wonder what the music selection is like at that point.

The German Village was established after many Koreans, who moved to Germany in the 1960’s for better economic opportunities, returned to their homeland. From my understanding, only families that had direct relatives who had lived in Germany are permitted to own property within the village. I only walked around for an hour, grabbed a sandwich for lunch, before getting back in my car and heading on home. 

Because it was a normal Monday, I had no traffic. The drive was easy. I really enjoyed the surprise three day weekend, and look forward to more adventures!