Weekend in Wando

It’s Sunday afternoon and we have just got back to Gwangju after a long weekend away. We had Friday off work as it was a national holiday celebrating Korea’s creation (something to do with a bear which sounds slightly far-fetched, but we’re not complaining). After studying the lonely planet we decided to head South for the island of Wando. Friday morning we got a taxi to the bus station and bought our tickets, managing to fight our way forward past the old Korean women who seem prepared to mow down anyone who stands in their way (queuing in general is a bit of a foreign concept in Korea). We then made the mistake of hanging back until our bus arrived, not knowing that when it did everyone would surge onto it and we would be left without a place. Luckily, there was another one half an hour later and we managed to get a seat. The journey took about two and a half hours and we were surprised to see how much countryside there really is in Korea.

When we arrived in Wando we walked down to the port to explore. It seemed like a pretty busy little fishing port but everything was quiet because of the holiday so we had a bit of lunch and decided to try and find a motel from the lonely planet that was a bit out of the way, on top of a hill. We waved down a taxi and were reassured when he nodded at the name of the hotel and drove off purposefully. Unfortunately, he pulled over about a minute and a half later outside a hotel we had just walked past. After studying the lonely planet, a phone call to a friend and questions to a few other drivers, we were off again. Eventually we pulled up outside a stunning hotel on top of a hill. Worrying that we might not be able to afford it, we walked in and found the whole place deserted. It made me think of the shining, wandering around the empty corridors. Half an hour later we managed to find someone and mime to her that we wanted somewhere to sleep, and for less than fifteen quid we got a nice 1950’s style hotel room. The view from the hotel was amazing and it was only a ten minute walk down to a little stony beach. We spent the rest of the day wandering around convincing ourselves that the hotel would open it’s little bar in the evening and we would be able to find something to eat. By about eight in the evening, however, there was still no sign of life and we had to face the fact that we were going to have to find another source of food. We set off down the very very dark road in the direction of another guest house that we had noticed from the taxi. When we got there, there was a family eating a tasty looking soup outside and a man ushered us over and sat us down on a platform. Unfortunately he called someone else who through various gestures told us that we couldn’t get food. Back on the road and we eventually reached a tiny village with a shop the size of a large wardrobe where we managed to get some crisps, biscuits and a couple of beers. We carried our feast back to the hotel and ate on top of the hill outside.

 

The next morning, there seemed to be a little more energy in the hotel and it had lost some of it’s mysteriousness, there was even a little group of Koreans sitting outside drinking coffee, who got very excited and started clapping their hands when we said that we were from England. We’ve had this reaction a few times and can only assume it’s because we’re not American. Despite this, we felt that we should move on and see a bit more of Wando, and maybe find somewhere to have a proper meal, so we trudged back to the little village, this time through a small wood, where miraculously we managed to get ourselves onto a bus back to the main port.