Sunday, February 3, 2008

A trip to Gungnamji Pond

'Stammtisch' introduced me to a lot of interesting people. Carol, an English professor and a photography enthusiast invited me to an outing to a place called Buyeo, around 70 kms from Daejon where I live. It was on saturday and Anshuman had finished with his deadline at work, so he also opted to join us. Buyeo is a very small town and there was no direct bus..so we had to make a break journey from Gongju, each being half hour drive.

It all started with a very happening morning...we reached the bus station after a LOT of walk from our room, getting lost following a deficient map, getting late while finding our way back and just managing to reach the meeting place to catch the group. The group was a vary hybrid one, varying from 20-50 year olds..Carol [a New Zealander raised in USA and a passionate traveler], Ann [Carol's student who also works in KAIST], Adam [English teacher, an American staying in Korea for 4 years now] & Mr. Maeng [a planning and inspection officer], Anshuman & me. We left at around 10 am.



After around an hour's travel we reached Buyeo and warming up in the morning sun headed towards Gungnamji through the town.



It took us some time to get in gears...idling our way taking pictures as if warming the cameras for a heavy exercise ahead!




A statue at crossroads..common sight in India but not in Korea

I was really impressed by the design of the street lights for such a small time place.


A Streetlight in Buyeo

And just as we were walking leisurely we saw this board and suddenly we all geared up.



But after traveling the said distance we came to this marshland with weeds growing all over it.



A closer look told that they were not weeds but Lotus plants..we just caught them at the wrong time. But this can't be it!























So we continued walking though the zigzag way we can find..





































Through a inverted 'U' tube..

..and reached the place which made all the efforts since morning worth. It was a beautiful sight with trees surrounding a pond which had a small shelter at its center.









The ducks in the pond were having a nice swim in the sun but half the lake was frozen..


..so they just walked/stood over the ice after a nice swim in the water!


There were a couple of signages which told the stories about the pond..






After spending some time there we went of to see this structure which caught our eye but was not clearly visible from where we were..and it was amazing!


A memorial of an historic event..obviously a war looking at the sculpture! It was really peaceful there..really giving a special effect to the monument.



It was almost 1 pm and now our stomachs were making there presence felt...so we decided to have lunch somewhere in the town and then make the plan for the rest of the afternoon. Some pics on our way back..




































A wheel to transfer water from one level to other

We walked down the streets of Buyeo looking for a nice restaurant. It was really interesting going through the small town..


A crowded Bus Stop


Street Vendors selling vegetables...


...and Fish






Finally in a small street we found a place to eat and had a nice meal, during which we decided to check out a five tiered Pagoda which was nearby and then walk down to the riverside and click more pictures at dusk. So after lunch we headed towards the Pagoda.



A Potato Barbecue..its just one potato winding each stick! I could not resist it despite a full stomach..



A traditional old Korean house





The Pagoda

Mr.Maeng & Adam had to return after this for other engagements..so we took a group picture together..and then parted our ways.



The remaining four of us started towards the river which was a long walk through plains and farms..



















To the Geumgang River


Green House Farms



Sand & Ice..a strange but interesting combination









































After spending some time there we started on our back journey..saw this aero-modeling hobbyist who was flying his planes on the plains..




A plastic plane with an engine!


An electronically powered plane made of thermocol!

I shot this video of it flying..



After a small walk we reached back to the bus station..and got a ticket straight back..no break journey needed this time!



I still haven't managed to find my way through the Korean names...


These are two different places!
And this is not all..there are variations in the spelling as well..Daejon is sometimes spelled as Taejon! God help me till I am here!

But finally after a drive of an hour or so during which we all slept off after a long fun tiring trip..we reached back..had dinner at a nice little place called Ali Baba's treasure..the place by the way has Indian Samosas on its menu!

Dinner at Ali Baba's

We bid each other good bye after that and returned to our homes...but wait this doesn't end here..there was something which I had not shared earlier but reserved till end because I thought it might disturb my Indian readers and they might not continue..

See the following pictures at your own risk..These were taken at a beef shop in Buyeo..










The big red thing is the liver which has special demand.

Sorry! but not all endings are pleasing..

13 comments:

SachinT said...

Very nicely written. According to me, this is one of your best posts.

Making a book of all these blogs will be expensive as there are so many photos, but it will be a great e-book.

Unknown said...

Good summary of a pleasing day! Cheers
Carol

Unknown said...

Not all endings are pleasing, but the ending of this post was in your hands. Hope you had made it pleasant.
keep writing though.

Sarang said...

cool man.... great place and pics... and ofcourse a nice post..

TheFeeFighter said...

Hi

I'm an English teacher living in Buyeo for the last 5 months, I just came across your post about Gungnamji -you should come visit Buyeo now since the all the lotuses have blossomed and it looks beautiful at the moment. In fact, a week ago, the annual two-week Lotus Festival was held and it was amazing.
Buyeo really is a lovely little town with lot's of traditional Korean history. If you and your friends want to visit again and need a tour guide, mail me...

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Anonymous said...


Прошу народ поделится опытом, кто как получал права в Москве или МО, имея ограниченные физ. возможности (рука, нога т.п).



Особо интересуют координаты организаций (автошкол) где можно освоить, а ГЛАВНОЕ СДАТЬ ЭКЗАМЕН вождения инспектору ГИБДД на машине с ручным управлением.

В обычной автошколе можно отучиться, но сдавать возможно только на авто переоборудованном согласно медсправке. И вот здесь самая большая проблема.

Насколько знаю, сейчас ведет обучение только Шереметьевский Реабилитац. центр в г. Долгопрудный, но ездить туда днем 63 рабочих дня, никак не получается (это только увольняться надо).

О других подобных центрах Москвы в инете, к сожалению, нет инфы или их нет

Другой вариант - сдавать экстерном в ГИБДД, но опять же, не станут принимать вождение на обычном авто если в мед.справке требуется переоборудованное под тебя, а у них таких нет.

Совсем последний, нехороший вариант - покупать, но только полностью легальные, проведенные по всем базам.

Причем, прошу заметить - освоить органы управления авто, научится водить (и даже купить авто) - наименьшая из проблем с которой я столкнулся (совсем совсем даже не проблема), но как доказать, что я способен управлять ТС и заполучить легально долгожданное удостоверение - не вижу такой возможности в Москве сейчас, как ни странно звучит.



Кто в курсе, прошу, лейте любую инфу по теме.
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