Jerry Conner

Wolhwa Walking Street, a Gangneung treasure

Upper Wolhwa Walking Street is nice. Tourists love it, and I've got a favorite old school restaurant there.

First full day in Gangneung

Still hot and quite sticky in the middle of the day, but not too bad in the mornings and evenings. How many places have a mountain right by the train station?

Train from Pyeongtaek-Seoul-Gangneung left the station at 20220819-1216. Arrived in Gangneung three and a half hours later at 15:56. Fast, efficient, and comfortable. Also, my compliments to Korea Rail on the excellent signage. Even I, fumbler and bumbler that I am, made no mistakes. The employees responsible for the signage are doing an excellent job. Fumbler and Bumbler has spoken.

Excellent signage even in the train cars.

Always let you know where you are, and where you're going.

One small part of the massive Seoul Station.

Plenty of room for a piece of carry-on luggage in the overhead bin.

Another day in Pyeongtaek

Still walking around Pyeongtaek on 20220818.

I know. I can't help it. I always take a photo of the poor pig's head.

I admit that I may be one of only a few interested in this old U.S. Army MC-88 Signal Corps typewriter.

평택 / 平澤 / Pyeongtaek

To say that Pyeongtaek has grown would be an understatement. And it's still growing!!! Thank you, citizens of Pyeongtaek for your kind acceptance of an old, bald stranger from your past.

I walked so many kilometers for fruit.

Don't drink soju unless you want to puke orange.

But if you're going to drink soju, this is the real soju.

The green bottles are for boy men and girl women.

On the morning after, look at the bottom of the bottle cap.

That is exactly how you feel.

안정리 / 安停里 / Anjeong-ri: Another return.

Well, I made it back one more time. One of the biggest changes is what somebody tried to explain to me in the fairly recent past, but I couldn't grasp it until I saw it with my own eyes. The main drag from the late '70s is now Anjeong-ri Rodeo Street. What was the Main Gate back in the day is now a walk-through gate leading to Rodeo Street. I saw plenty of soldiers and civilians pass through the gate on their way to lunch in the ville. There are a number of different drive-through gates now that the base has grown.

If you used to ride your bicycle around the base like I did, some of those towns no longer exist. I visited the remnants of Daechuri, site of the Daechuri Protests, probably in January 2007. It was a long, cold walk out to the remains of that town, where protesters' signs still hung. In the end, they lost--or they won. Compensation was paid out to residents, and what was Daechuri is now inside Camp Humphreys' perimeter.

P.S. Thanks to the kind gentleman, possibly a government employee, who so kindly gave me a ride back to my hotel that late afternoon in January 2007. All of us who were there know how cold and strong The Hawk blows right through your layers there in Anjeong-ri in January.

Photos below are all from 20220817.

Still a few old school buildings remain.

The drive-through gate closest to the walk-through gate.

This is where the #20 K-6 bus drops you off.

2022 walk-through gate = late '70s main gate.

Anjeong-ri Rodeo Street

Happy Mountain (Nongseong Fortress)

Another old school building still standing.

The red peppers will always be...

인천 / 仁川 / Incheon: In and out. Will I spend some time there at the end of the trip?

I arrived at Incheon International Airport on 20220816, Bird Nest Day. (Anniversary of the day you leave your home after high school.) From the airport, I took a bus to my old stomping grounds in Pyeongtaek. The extent of my visit was the bus ride out of town. I can report that Incheon still has plenty of mud flats when the tide is out.

I got the Cashbee Card, which has worked for all buses and taxis, but not in most convenience stores.

It's possible that the Tmoney card is a better choice.

20220816

OCD Jerry I may be, but "a man has to know his limitations"

Quite a good rain here in Gangneung City, Pine Tree City, The Healing City. I managed a five-kilometer walk in the early afternoon when it was raining softly. In the hard rain of this evening, I got only as far as the 7-11 around the corner. That was enough. Nothing wrong with sitting in a downtown Gangneung motel room with the window open listening to the rain.

We all knew the rain was coming. I bought my size 280-mm EVA PVC sandals at HomePlus yesterday evening in preparation. As you can imagine, they smelled like petroleum when I opened the bag. They still smell like petroleum after a couple of walks in the rain. Maybe the petroleum is inside me now. As always happens with new sandals for all of us, I've got a big blister, this time on my right little toe. That could be a good thing. My right foot has been hurting bad, and maybe the pain will move from the bone structure to the blister. We shall see.

I will forever be unable to forget that line from the Talking Heads song Life During Wartime: "I got some groceries / some peanut butter / to last a couple of days." I think about that line all the time in Thailand, where peanut butter toast is one of the staples of my existence. Here in Korea, my peanut butter is 오징어 / dried squid. Pro tip for young travellers: Always have some dried squid in your backpack as emergency food. Don't let your stock get down to zero. Old Grizzled has spoken.