Sunday: Jeonju, Traditional Buildings, Music, and Food

Jeonju (전주) is a small city just south of me, about an hour’s bus ride from the Yuseong terminal. On Sunday, I went down to explore the traditional building district, or Hanok district, of this small, delightful city.

I spent a lot of time walking. It was comforting to wander around, and this city had some definite charm to it. The buildings are almost all squat hovels, and even outside the official ‘traditional’ district, the city has a lot of charm and comforting, homey feel. The day was sunny–in fact, I was unprepared for the sun–I got a sunburn on my face, which is now peeling in a terribly ugly way. It’s been so rainy here that I almost forgot what the sun could do.

The goal of my trip was mostly just to take pictures. I was wandering around the narrow roads, photographing the whitewashed houses with their heavy, decorated roofs. I got a few good pictures and a lot of really mediocre ones. What the real joy of the trip was what I accidentally walked into–a Korean traditional music festival. I heard some amazing drumming, saw some dancing, and all around enjoyed some authentically Korean music that wasn’t the dreaded K-Pop. I also watched a line of plastic-chair sitting grandpas, and had a good laugh over how sincere they all seemed.

Jeonju is also famous for Jeonju Bibimbab, which is apparently better than all other bibimbab everywhere in Korea. I had some–it was pretty good, but it was also double the price of regular bibimbab. Though I do have to say, it was quite delicious, which extra pieces of beef and some seriously serious side dishes.

Anyway it was a good trip, and I’d recommend visiting the city. My picture application isn’t working today so next time I’ll send pics.