Road Trip! (Day Four ~ Gomso and Gochang)

I woke up early and got my camera battery and cell phone charged. I asked the lady what time checkout was and she told me at noon. So I took advantage of this time to sort out my backpack. Although my guidebook had survived the rain on day one, my phrasebook had not. Once again though it seems I’m lucky as my meager language skills have been getting me by. Also I have an Eng-Kor-Eng dictionary and phrasebook as a fallback on my ipod which is sealed in a waterproof baggie whenever not in use. Throughout the morning the Hotel lady has been feeding me, first potatoes, then bottled water and grapes. Finally a vitamin C drink as dessert about a half hour before checkout time. Talk about hospitable! So lunch time rolls around and I roll out. It’s a beautiful hot sunny day so I apply my sunscreen and call a friend before hitting the road to check in since we’ve planned to meet up and do some hiking during his vacation. My next destination is Naejangsan National park. On the way over, I checked out the Gosmo salt flats. At the salt flats they produce… you guessed it! Salt. The water is collected in shallow pools where it evaporates and crystals form. The pools are lined with black tiles. The crystals are then collected in shacks and bagged.

The sun was really beating down! A beautiful day for driving. The salt flats in Gosmo are actually a small part of Korea’s tidal flats on the west coast. The contrast between the flats and Korea’s mountains is breathtaking. I was really enjoying the scenery as I drove along. So after Gosmo I went to the Julpo section of the tidal flats. These lands have been cultivated for farming.

I hit the road again and this time I was going for hours. On the way to Naejangsan I saw a brown sign which read ‘Gochang Dolmen world heritage site’, and I though ‘Why not? I won’t be hiking today anyways’. So I took a couple of hours to visit the site. I started with the museum first, it was pretty interesting, they had some recrations of of prehistoric village life on the main floor, other areas had the usual museum artifact/explanation stuff.

Once I got outside, I consulted the Museum’s complimentry dolmen map when one of the staff saw me and suggested some quick walking routes in broken English. Once he learned I could speak some Korean, it turned into a guided tour with on one the museum carts (similar to a golf cart). Only four days in and already I’m getting spoiled.

It may only look like some rocks in the fields, but the Dolmens are actually prehistoric tombs from the first millenia BC. Gochang also had an interesting fortress which I checked out before I left. It was built sometime in the 16th century and has been restored to its former glory over the last 20 years. Within the fortress there’s a pond, numerous goverment buildings and even a jail with wooden bars!

I left Gochang armed with Kimbap and water for and tomorrow’s hike. I got into Naejangsan around 6:00. The mountain makes quite a striking impression as you drive into the park.

After taking in the view for a few moments, I drove in and set up camp. Some kids saw me and immediately started in and practicing some textbook English on me which I thought was quite cute, so I was glad to oblige.

‘Hello, what’s your name?’
‘My name’s …., what’s yours?’
‘My name’s Charles and this is my brother Carlos’

A few more short short sentences later and I was on my own again. I went into the village at the base of the mountain to have some supper and check out the shops. Unfortunately once you’ve seen a couple of the gift shops, you’ve kind of seen them all. However I collect park bandanas and I was able to get one for Naejangsan. Ah-sah! I went into a restaurant and had a nice bi-bim-bap and some Gochang bok-bun-ja, raspberry wine. It’s always my goal to try regional food and drink when I have the oppurtunity. I love the eating new foods when I travel. It was dark now so I headed back for camp. My little tent has been amazing, mosquitoes can’t get in and the screens provide good ventilation. I fall asleep listening to ‘On the road’ by Jack Kerouac.