To Deogyusan National Park...and back again

Oh, what a complete disaster.

I began to write this on the journey there:

So here I am sat at 청추 JungJu bus terminal. It took me 40 minutes to get here from Gunsan, but it took me 21/2 hours longer than it should have to get out of bed. My alarm went off a 7.30am which I ignored and fell straight to sleep. Last night I went out and somehow managed to get drunk on 2 pints of larger, spread over 3 1/2 hours. This is very much hindered my plans to make an early start so I can set out for Jeoksansanseong (a fortress which dates back to the Goryeo dynasty).

Having managed to leave the apartment by 11.30, by 12.40 I was at the bus terminal. It was there that I discovered that my Korean Colleague had misinformed me when she told me that there is a direct bus from Gunsan to Muju. Instead I had to take a bus to JungJu and wait for an hour for the bus to Muju.

I am worried if I will actually be back in Gunsan before the clock strikes midnight. Afterall, I have no idea when the coaches stop running, and I know nothing of the trains since they are not the main method of transport here in Korea. As a result, I worry that I will get to see very little of the fortress, especially as the nights are now drawing in at around 5.30pm.

This is truely an adventure, and I am experiencing it by myself. There is much to be said for travelling alone: you get to do what you want to do, when you want to do it with no comprimises. Plus you get to absorb your surroundings in peace, while being completely fine-tuned to what is going on around you-Ye Olde survival instincts. Instincts that we follow unwittingly, yet we alway put down to society alone. This is a concept I have believed in for a long time; being out here has strengthed my conviction.

I am exhausted. I dozed on the way to Jungju, when I realised that the mists where going to obscure my view of the countryside. The Koreans say that the mists are a sign that Winter is approaching (which I am really not looking forward to). Looks like I am going to be sleeping on the next coach, even though I have brought "The real Middle Earth" with me to read.

45 min later...

Well, there was no chance of catchin' some zeee's. Of all the people to sit next to me on the coach was a 60 year old village Elementary school English teacher. She started asking me questions, and told me a little about herself. Her level of English was very poor, almost as bad as my Korean. She asked me if I would ever help her out with her English. I agreed, and gave her my contact details. She then began to tell me a little about her 28 year old son who is currently living in Seoul. After a long pause I began to look out of the window. The mists blanketed the forest-covered mountains giving it an eerie quality. This is something I have never seen before; I was captivated.

"You are not ver interesting" remarked my 60 year old companion.
"I'm sorry" I replied. "but I am English and I have never seen this before". She nodded and smiled. I felt relieved that she understood. I resumed broken conversation in between glances out of the window.

When she got up to leave she held out her hand. I took it; as she did so she slipped me a piece of paper. It had her son's phone number on it. She gave me knowing look, and stepped off the bus.

From memory:

Relieved that she had left the bus. I wrapped my fleece around my backpack as a make-shift pillow, and conked out for the next hour or so on the way to Muju. When I finally arrived there, I got a bus from Muju to the Park. By this time it was 4.15 and I was starting to worry. I took some photos of the start of the trail, but as always, one has turned out too dark.





The sign stated that it was 4 km to the fortress. I took a deep breath and began walking up the path (see first photo). 1 km along the train there was a ticket booth, and an eating house. The woman who owned the restaurant cornered me, and would not let me continue alon the trail. I insisted (knowing that Koreans tend to be hypochondriacs). She suggested that I come back tomorrow, as it takes 2 hours to even get to the fortress. I explained that I have been travelling for over 4 1/2 hours from Gunsan, and there is no way that I am going back now, only do to the same thing all over again. She offered to have me sleep in her home so that I can do the trail tomorrow. I refused; after all, I did not have a change of clothes etc. The family who was dining at her restaurant kindly drove back to Muju bus terminal, where I faced another gruelling 4 1/2 trip.

After that I concluded that even if I had got up at 7.30 there is no way I could have got there in time. I think I will try again this weekend:I will have to stay over night in Jungju then get up early the next day.

AAAAAggrrrrhhhhh!!!!!!!!