Although we'd heard that there had been an earthquake in Japan before we left, we didn't realize the severity of what happened until we got on our bus. The TV, which is usually quite reliably tuned in to gag concerts or historical dramas, was airing non-stop footage of the disaster. We tried our best to read the headlines and translate what we didn't understand with our cellphone dictionaries. The saddest bit was translating the word "dead" and seeing the number next to that newly-learned word rise higher and higher as our drive down south continued.
Very Korean thing #1- as you leave the highway to turn off into Andong there's a huge billboard advertising Andong kimchi. I love the ajumma on the billboard. "Please.. a..try my kimchi."Strange Andong thing #1- After we drove through the Andong toll gate, we passed by a robot dressed in a yellow raincoat that was waving a flag warning us to slow down. The bus was then thoroughly sprayed down with water by some other automated machine installed on the road, and we carried on to the bus terminal. Don't even try to bring your dirty-ass vehicle into Andong! This is the Queen's hood!!
If you ever take the bus to Andong you should know this important slice of information: the bus terminal has moved. It's shiny, new and on the other side of town from where it's shown on the guide map you brought with you. There is nothing at all around the terminal now. Don't even bother walking anywhere, it's just surrounded by farmland and apartment buildings for farther than you would ever want to walk. Not realizing this, we followed the map that we brought for about 10 minutes before realizing that something was up, so we hailed a taxi and got the driver to take us to a motel. Any motel that he likes, we said. He dropped us off god knows where, but it was a hotbed of love motels- there must have been over a dozen of them, so we found a nice place (PC, tub and big screen TV- but no whirlpool, sadly) and read about the earthquake online before watching Idol and going to sleep.
You know you're in a fine quality motel when your door looks like this :)
In the morning we tried to get our bearings. We didn't really have any clue where we were. I'd read that Andong was pretty small and since we seemed to be in such a flashy, motel-filled area last night, I assumed we were in the vicinity of the main market. Nope! The area where we stayed looked much quieter in the morning without all the love motel lights flashing... we were clearly not in any type of city center. Regardless, we decided to get some lunch at a Kimbap Nara before heading to the soju museum. My donkatsu was pretty good, but what's with the ketchup and mayonaise salad dressing on my veg? Do people like this?Quick montage of funny signs on the street we woke up on in Andong:
Lotteria: A Delicious Burger (looking fun)
A cafe called "Gag Story". Sounds like they brew a nice coffee!
After lunch, we took a quick taxi ride to the Soju Museum. On the ride we passed through the city center and finally got a feel for where we were. As we approached the empty-looking building we suddenly got a very Museum of Drinking Water-feel about the place.
When we walked in the front door a young girl was standing there as if she'd been waiting for us all day. Speechless, she ushered us to a nearby room and turned on a well-worn VHS tape about soju production. Still speechless, she pointed at the TV and disappeared, as the video began. We never saw her again. There were no seats or anything, so we just kind of stood there in this empty room watching as videotaped ajummas fermented grain cakes to make soju. It sounded like a lot of work for such an unappealing drink.
A model of the fermentation process.
We weren't allowed to take pictures in the museum- who knows why, it's so small and they could use the promotion- and after the soju video finished we were shadowed by an adjosshi who made sure that we didn't photograph anything as we looked around. He stuck so close, but didn't say anything to us at all, which made it very awkward see the exhibits. As we left, we asked him to phone a taxi for us, and while we waited for it he offered to let us try a shot of his soju. It was A LITTLE EARLY for soju, but I tried it, to be polite. Andong soju is 45% alcohol- double the alcohol content of normal soju- so it was pretty damn strong, though I have to say it had a more agreeable taste than regular soju.
We had our taxi drive us to Andong Station, where we knew we could catch a bus to the Hahoe Folk Village. The bus ride took about 50 minutes and drove through some very rural areas. We were in the type of place where your bus has to slow down because there's a farm tractor on the road, and trust me- you don't see that very often in Korea! It reminded me of my Grampy and I was momentarily homesick.
After buying admission tickets to the folk village (less than $2/CAN) there's a 1Km hike to the actual village. The hike is actually really scenic and passes by a pretty river, with lots of hills in the distance. At 15 degrees, it was the prefect day to be sightseeing outdoors.
Before entering the folk village, there was a small exhibit about Queen Elizabeth's visit in 1999. This was a pretty remote-feeling place, and certainly would have been far more so a decade ago, so it must have been huge when she came into town.
The feast that was laid out for the Queen. I can just imagine her seeing all this ddoek and kimchi and politely saying, "Oh no thanks, pet, I'll just have a cup of tea".
"As I visit the Pongjong temple in the peaceful mountains, I feel the beauty of a Korean spring day." -Liz
The cool thing about the Hahoe Folk Village is that it's real. People actually live here (229 people and 121 housesholds). It hasn't been rebuilt or recreated- it's really over 600 years old. It was a charming place to wander on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Here's some pictures from our walk:
Just because the homes themselves are 600 years old doesn't mean that the residents are left wanting for modern conveniences. Everyone had electricity and one adjoshi even proudly showed off his modern toilet. Hey, it's nicer than my officetel bathroom!
This family, and many others, even had HD satellites installed on the side of their straw-covered homes.
On the edge of the community is a handsome little pine forest, with park benches and a nice view of the river and a layered rock-faced mountain.
The edge of the pine forest.
As we walked back to our bus we were alarmed by the huge amount of smoke billowing from the nearby hills. A large group had formed to watch the fire. It appeared to be out of control, but no one seemed to be making any attempt to put out the fire. It didn't look like a good day to be hanging out in a town full of houses made of straw.
It was time to say goodbye!
We took the bus back to Andong Station where earlier in the day we'd seen a food street that looked promising for supper. The street name on the gate literally translates to, "Food's Street."
We decided to try Andong's most famous dish, Andong jjimdalk chicken. There are quite a few places to get this dish in Seoul, but we'd only tried it once or twice and found it a little too spicy. We were seated in a small room that looked and felt like someone's living room. We were the only ones there, so we were handed some pillows, the TV remote and some free (service-uh) Coke to drink while we waited for our food. Shockingly, the woman working at the restaurant asked us how spicy we'd like our jjimdalk (this choice is rarely offered in Korea, where more spice=more deliciousness). We asked for NO spice, because even though we like a little spice we knew they'd try to sneak a little in there anyway.
Here it is, a huge dish of bone-in chicken, potatoes, glass noodles and carrots in a sweet-soy sauce. Not a lick of spice at all! It was the best jjimdalk I've ever had, though if someone can show me an easy way to eat bony, saucy chicken, I'm eager to learn.With that, we took a quick taxi back to the bus terminal and got on a bus back to Seoul. It was a quick trip back and we still got in early enough to relax a bit before bed and since it was Saturday night, we still had all of Sunday off to chill, too!
Andong was a pretty fun trip, and I would recommend a day there whether you're a queen or just a couple of Canadian bums looking for something to do.
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