Jeongeup is a city in the North Jeolla province, about halfway between Gwangju and Jeonju (which is where we were headed tomorrow). Like many cities in Korea, it had a hyanggyo, or Confucian school, back in the day where people were trained in Confucian ways. This building is a tourist attraction today, but is weirdly not open to the public. Additionally, a maple festival around Naejangsan is held annually, as the maple leaves here are widely regarded as some of the most beautiful in the country. We saw some as we rode into town and can attest to that claim.
Otherwise, it’s a nondescript small town, with a distinct central area where all of the “action” (there is no action) happens, and a whole lot of nothing otherwise. It was so underwhelming that we wondered if we might have actually been better off staying by that quaint vacation spot next to Naejangsan National Park that we rolled through earlier, as it would at least have been more suited for holidaymakers like ourselves. Certainly the setting was prettier.
After riding through Motel Row, where the majority of them looked perfectly serviceable but from Medieval times, we finally settled on the H Motel on Sigi-dong Street due to our loose requirements (new/shiny = clean, modern amenities, and good value for money). At 50,000 won per night, it was none of those things, but as we were beat, we just swallowed the cost. Unfortunately, we didn’t take any photos of the room either as it just made us sad. But take our word for it - you could probably do better.
What you get when you’re fired here.
We weren’t kidding when we said that our friend Da-Woon is very famous in this area.
Food here is still incredibly cheap, and we found a cute chuck wagon that was still serving, where two servings of dumplings, a pork and rice hot pot, and a beef and rice hot pot cost us 23,500 won.
Jess’s annual hayfever bonanza was starting to really bother her at this point, so we went back to our motel after that to rest. A shorter day awaits us tomorrow but so does another climb. Seems to be the theme around these parts.
All in all, Jeongeup was as forgettable as they come.
Fat and happy.