We had big travel plans for this little overnight trip out of Seoul, we were going to visit Boseong Green Tea Festival, Yulpo beach, the Gwangju massacre monument and museum, and the mysteriously abandoned Gonjiam psychiatric hospital. I was most excited about exploring the psychiatric hospital.
Katie booked bus tickets, and the plan was to get a bus early Friday morning. Unfortunately, Eliza was late so we did not leave Seoul until midday. We wandered around Express Bus Terminal and got some food, Eliza informed me that we were no longer going to see the Gonjiam psychiatric hospital because it’s in a different Gwangju. Much to my disappointment, I learnt that the Psychiatric Hospital is in Gyeonggi-do province which is nearer Seoul.
Last weekend, I travelled on the super-fast KTX to Busan. This weekend, we tackled the buying bus tickets, traffic congestion, and long delays. We found that it’s pretty easy to switch your ticket to another bus. When I say easy, bear in mind that Katie speaks more Korean than I do, and she successfully managed to switch our tickets on more than one occasion. Thank-you!
We got a plush bus to travel to Gwangju, there are three big comfy seats per row. I sat on one of the individual seats listening to music, sleeping (it makes travel go faster) and absorbing myself in my thoughts. Travelling out of Seoul, I found myself gazing out the window and having those periodic moments of ‘oh my gosh, I really live in Korea’. Due to the volume of traffic leaving Seoul, the drive to Gwangju was very slow, stop, slow, stop, slow. It took absolutely hours!
From Gwangju, we had to get another bus to the city of Boseong. The Bus to Boseong involved slower driving, stop, slower driving with added windy country roads. We finally arrived in Boseong around 9 pm. Then we took a taxi to Yulpo beach, hoping to find somewhere to stay before heading to the Boseong Green tea festival in the morning. The taxi driver asked us about where we were staying. When we told him we hadn’t booked anywhere he suddenly seemed concerned. He parked on the side of the road and began making calls to try and find accommodation. The area around Yulpo beach was very quiet and dark, it didn’t look very populated and there were very few street lights. In the darkness, I could just about figure out where the sea must lie ahead of us. It turned out this was the only time I would see it, in the dark.
The taxi driver was not able to find us anywhere to stay. So, we decided to head back to the city of Boseong to try to find somewhere there. He warned us that everywhere was full because of the Boseong Green Tea Festival. However, we still hoped that we’d find somewhere…
In Boseong, we found a 7-eleven and bought some drinks. Then we sat outside to contemplate our next plan of action. Other foreigners were wandering around looking for accommodation too. We decided to walk down the main street in search of somewhere to stay. A girl approached us, she said she didn’t mean to sound creepy but she wanted to know if we’d found a place for the night. We told her that we hadn’t. We all laughed about our little predicament. She told us that the native Korean in their group had called places and asked people, but everything was full because of the Boseong Green Tea Festival. She kindly invited us to join them. We agreed since we figured they might have more chance of success than we did.
As per the Korean tradition, we all headed back to the sit outside the 7-eleven and make new friends over shots of soju and beer. Some more waygook hobo’s joined us. I recognised one girl and I told her she looked familiar. She agreed and asked if I lived in Seoul. It turned out they were at our EPIK orientation in August. They had all been placed at schools in Busan.
Our new Korean friend was adamant that there were no overnight jimjilbangs in Boseong, all of the love motels were full, and the only norebang would close at 1 am.
The only places that seemed to be open all night were the 7-eleven and the mini-mart. We really were facing an unplanned night of drinking on the streets. Most of us had dressed for the daytime sunshine. It began to get really cold and the lady from the 7-eleven brought out some blankets and jackets for us. Eventually, we all opted to head to the Norebang. Maybe they would take pity on us and let us sleep there?
The norebang in Boseong was pretty basic, but they had a room big enough for all of us. Some people managed to get some sleep in the Norebang. Others charged their phones, munched on snacks, drank beer, and sang heartily for a couple of hours. Unfortunately, the owners did not take enough pity on us to let us stay all night. We loitered for as long as we felt comfortable without upsetting the owners too much.
Next, we headed towards a local beer hof. Initially, the Korean owner did not seem to keen to serve us, because she was about to close the premises. Following a lengthy conversation, she offered to let us stay until 5.30am if we each paid 10000 won. We agreed and paid her the money. Then, her mood dramatically changed, she went into party mode! She proceeded to bring us drinks and make us some food. She was very excitable and kept squeezing everyone’s cheeks. We enjoyed her hospitality and loved the warmth of being inside, in the nicest way she did seem rather crazy.
Around 4.30am people began to crash again. There were only small two-seater benches in the hof. I curled up on one as best I could and used my rucksack as a pillow. When the landlady noticed, she rescued a towel and put it under my head, placed a jacket over me and raised my feet onto a stool to make my lying position more comfortable. I think I managed to get about 20mins of broken sleep. When she woke us up at 5.30am, everyone was pretty groggy. Two of the locals from the bar took us back to the bus station.
Outside of the Beer Hof, it was eerily foggy. This provoked that sense of almost being in some kind of surreal spooky horror movie. We just laughed about it to lighten the mood and took some pictures.
The tea festival didn’t open until 9 am. So, we found ourselves with a few more hours to kill with not much else to do, other than sitting outside the 7-11 again. On Eliza’s suggestion, we drank a few beers to help us feel ‘slightly buzzed’ before heading to the festival. This was reminiscent of being at a music festival and drinking to help lessen some of the aches and pains (purely medicinal reasons, obviously).
I planned to wear pretty dresses and have some nice pictures taken at the Boseong Green Tea Festival. My dresses were still in my rucksack, I reluctantly accepted that there was not going to be anywhere to change clothes. There would be no psychiatric hospital exploration, no beach, practically no sleep. Plus, I had been wearing the same clothes for 24 hours (skank). Furthermore, I would be ‘slightly buzzed’ by 9 am, absolutely keeping it classy! At this point, I thought it’d be funny to quote Murtaugh from Lethal Weapon and say ‘I’m too old for this sh*t’.
I’m British and I hate tea, how is that possible? In Japan, I managed to drink Green tea, to be fair you can’t escape it there. However, it’s generally weaker and more palatable, than black tea.
The Tea festival was very busy. At the entrance, there were lots of stalls selling their various interesting, and ingenious green tea wares. Here, we indulged in some ice-cream, which was rather nice.
Next, we headed towards the fields. I didn’t really have any prior expectations, but the swathes of rounded green tea bushes covering the mountains were a pretty impressive sight.
We walked around, took in the view, took some silly Korean posed type pictures, and ate some raw leaves.
They are definitely worth seeing. Just make sure you book somewhere in advance, especially if you plan to visit during the Boseong Green Tea festival.
Due to lack of time, we also gave up on visiting the Gwangju massacre memorial monument and museum.
Still, we managed to do one out of the four which greatly impressed me. Plus, we all had fun, made new friends, and bonded through adversity in the usual way.
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