…because East Asians reckon age differently than Westerners. If I reckon correctly – and that never happens, whether I’m reckoning my age or reckoning anything, really (as you can see, I really just wanted to use the word “Reckon” as much as possible here. Reckon!) – I turned 23 yesterday. I have been 24 since my arrival in Korea in August; and I will turn 25 in roughly six weeks. I will then regress to 23 next August, and in December 2014 I will turn 24 for the second time in my life. Move over, Dr. Who, there’s a new time traveler in town, and he doesn’t need your fancy-pants Tardis!
I want to pause and thank everyone for the wonderful, kind birthday wishes. I especially want to thank the fabulous crew who came out over the weekend to celebrate, and most especially the particularly gullible ones who fell for my hiking ploy of “oh, I promise, this time it’s actually going to be an easy hike! I swear!” wow so lie Such steep.
Thankfully, hiking up a hill in Korea never disappoints with its view! To tell the story, let me hand it off to my trusty camera friend. I would like to say that no cameras were harmed in the making of this photo essay, but the truth is I had to open a hole in the side of my camera, forcibly remove the organ responsible for his memory, and perform dialysis on said organ. And no, I did not use anesthesia. I didn’t even wash my hands first. I’m a monster.
The name of this cute little town is Jeongseon ์ ์ . It’s a wonderful place out in the mountains of Gangwon Province, accessed by a two-hour bus ride from Jecheon (itself two hours from Cheongju) through a whiteout snowstorm, over several mountains, along the edge of a few cliffs, and through a terrifying stretch of cliffside road construction. Worth it. Just don’t look down – you might notice that the cliff-side wheels are weaving on and off the road.
Atop one of the hills of Jeongseon is Byeongbangchi Skywalk, our hiking destination as well as the driving destination of a number of Koreans! Or perhaps they really just wanted to order some Lotteria fast food and purchase some convenience store goodies, all of which is available atop the mountain.
5 bucks gets you a ticket and a pair of shoe booties to wear so you don’t scuff up the glass floor of the Skywalk!
The biggest challenge will be balancing the desire to take clearer photos by lifting your camera over the edge of the glass wall with the desire to keep your already frozen fingers from falling off in the cold wind on the other side of the glass.
After flagging down a shuttle bus – seriously, every time I’m in Gangwon Province we successfully flag down a ride somewhere – into town, we make a pit stop at a house built in 1772, not to see the house but to play with a puppy. We are not even deterred when his owner greets the South Africans in the group with, “Ah! Nelson Mandela……. Yesterday, dead!!!” For more on this attitude, please see the previous post. Anyways, cute puppy.
Jeongseon is also known for its 5-Day Market, meaning a market that is held every fifth day (days that end in 2 and 7, to be precise). I’d read a guidebook passage saying the place was popular, but the likelihood that a tiny town market in the middle of December would be quite so popular as it was never crossed our minds. Here’s a small glimpse of the crowd waiting for the pm train back to civilization:
Still, for such a crowd, Jeongseon’s valley was wonderfully placid, and the people noticeably friendlier. Not that Cheongju-ites or Jechonian Koreans aren’t friendly, but, as one friend remarked, if ever needed help you would have to approach someone and ask. In Jeongseon, our momentary pause for deliberation immediately drew a stranger over to provide some helpful advice.
Ignoring his advice to cross the Jeonseon river by bridge, we headed for an odd-looking construction further down the way. It looked, well, as if someone had decided to plant some elevated hedges extending into the shallow river. We must explore!
It turns out to be a footbridge! Cue guidebook memory of some festival or other wherein these wooden, pine-bough-encrusted bridges are erected.
Peaceful in a way that Cheongju never will be.
Top it off with some pizza – don’t get your hopes up when the menu plays fast and loose with the word “basil” – and wine, and it’s a recipe for a great weekend that started with a bouldering competition and feast at the climbing gym (more on that later, when I get copies of the photos from the gym… oddly enough, there was a professional photographer, and all gym members were made to take professional climbing portraits in the gym…).
Add in some real bouldering – learning from people who know what they’re doing! even in the cold and the wet – on Sunday, and you’re golden. If you’re really lucky, a friend of a friend will bring a lab…
You might even get to take the lab for a walk, climb up a hill, and gaze across some tributary of the Han.
Later, my friend (pictured here) and I realized that we were looking at North Korea. You can’t see it in the photo, but on the other side of the river in the background is *bum bum bum* North Korea! Who knew?
Again, thank you to everyone for your kind birthday wishes. I miss you all in the States and around the world, and I am so grateful to have met such wonderful folks here in Korea!
Sleepy in Cheongju 
hi there! thanks for your informative post about jeongseon as there are so few out there. may I ask how did u get to Byeongbangchi Skywalk from the terminal? will be going next week! ๐
We walked up the hill from the terminal (maybe a mile and a half?) But there is also a shuttle bus (memory says it was red) that goes to the skywalk that you can flag down.
hey there! was wondering if you know how far off this is from Seoul and how i can get here? thank you! (:
Nine buses from Dongseoul Terminal leave for Jeongseon each day – a bit over three hours~