Written by Sarah Muller from Germany
This week I had the chance to go on a bus tour with foreign influencers from all over the world. We had a whole day together on our trip to Jeongseon to enjoy the cultural and historical hotspots there and spread them into the (digital) world.
The G-Shuttle Bus picked us up in Seoul at 8 am. After some instructions and a little sleep time, we arrived at the first rest stop. Finally some breakfast! I love the Korean way of a warm breakfast, often they eat rice! I got myself a Korean hotdog, which is like a corndog – just a bit better in my opinion! It is filled with cheese/dough and sausage and if you want, you can put potato cubes on top (you should try it at least one time!!!).
In the late morning, we arrived at Jinbu train Station which was built for the Winter Olympics 2018. The two statues of the Olympic mascots greeted us there and we took some photos there.
Because I am from Germany and a huge ice hockey fan, seeing a station of the games where the German National Ice Hockey Team won their first silver medal at the Olympic Games was something really special (sorry, I got a bit emotional by that^^).
At Jinbu we transferred to the WaWa-Bus, a double-decker bus, which brought us to Jeongseon around an hour. On our way, we could see the beautiful landscape of the area of Jeongseon, the Olympic Ski course, and the Resort. We also drove through tunnels which was an interesting experience in a double-decker with an open roof.
Arriving in Jeongseon we went to the traditional market and had some time to walk around and grab our lunch. Korean markets are crowded and everywhere you look you can see food.
Finally, we found a space where we could sit down and eat something “in Korean 빨리 빨리”-Style… as fast as possible, because we had a tight schedule.
After a trot back to our bus, we drove to the Arari Village. The Arari Village is a reconstruction from a village of the Joseon Dynasty and shows typical housing. Statues of people from that time show how they interacted with each other.
Next to the village lies the Jeongseon Arirang Center where we watched an Arirang Performance which was quite impressive! The story is about Gimok, who lives in the Joseon Dynasty and leaves his wife Jeongseon and his newborn daughter Ari to go to Hanyang to help with the construction of the Gyeongbokgung Palace. After 15 years without hearing anything from each other, the family finally reunites. The musical is colorful and it is a lot of fun to watch the performance even when you can’t speak Korean! They have English subtitles on both sides of the stage which help to understand the story.
And that Arirang Song sticks in your head like glue! We all sang or hummed it afterward while driving to our last stop: the Napjeon Station. It is an old train station which got transformed into a café. You can try on the conductor uniform and sit in the nicely decorated café and enjoy the local drinks.
To be honest, I ordered something without having an idea what it was. Well… it was bright GREEN?! It wasn’t my favorite drink so far in Korea but it is worth a try (and a picture to confuse other people).
After finishing our drinks, we jumped onto the bus for the last time and drove back to Seoul. It was a fun day and nice to see the Jeongseon area which is definitely worth a visit! The Wawa-Bus takes a great route through the countryside, you can see a lot from the second floor of the double-decker. My personal highlight was definitely the Arirang Performance – after over two years of theatre abstinence due to Corona it was great sitting in an auditorium again and seeing and listening to the great performers and their amazing voices and drum and dancing skills.
A big Thank You again to G-Shuttle Bus, WaWa-Bus, and of course Adventure Korea who made that trip possible for me!
