Chillin in Chungju

 Another change in the weather!  95% rain predicted!  I did hear some last night, but when I peeped out the blinds, it was just misty...  Not bad for riding in, but the cruise-control has set in and after all, even the Lord rested on the 7th day - why not me? :)

so after a peanut butter and banana sandwich and coffee of course, I went down to discuss whether I could stay another night.  Of course of course, so pay up 60,000 won (yesterday it was 70,000) ($148 for 1 nights) and I'm set for a rest day!  I spotted a washing machine and dryer in the Women's toilet, so asked whether I was allowed to use it - yes and it was free!  so all my clothes were tossed in and with the help of Papago, I managed to get it going!  When I went to check if it had finished washing, the boss cleaning lady said only 5 more mins and that she would put it in the dryer for me!  an hour later - beautiful clean clothes!  magic!  Of course I hand-wash my riding clothes each day, but to give them a proper wash can't be denied!  and the clothes I wore on the plane at last got a wash too!  Winning!

by now it was almost lunch time, so I walked down town to a row of cafes and restaurants.  Again, it appeared the choice was fish, chicken or beef...  I walked back to another cafe and it looked a bit more promising, so in I went - OK, a bakery!  Black coffee please and a savoury bun, not the yellow cheesy thing looked OK and it was.  

While sipping my coffee, I watched the steady stream of cars passing.  It soon became obvious that the colour for cars (large sedans and SUV - none looking totally electric, maybe some hybrids...) was from white to shade of grey to black, with black being the most common.  Heavily tinted windows made me think of gangsters, but maybe not here!

Then onto the museum.  In an interactive section I played the Taekkyeon - Korea's form of Tai Chi.  A "master" showed me some moves, all of which were beyond me :)

Then I had fun, (but probably painful if anyone was listening), playing the Gayageum, a stringed instrument that would sound beautiful played by a proper player.  These two activites were all electronic.  There was even some lesson on calligraphy, electronic of course.  All fun!

Then into a gallery with a lot of very old pottery, some really fine work and not broken!  most of it was all in Korean (surprise!!), but there were a couple of dates.  There was no mention of the recent war between the north and the south.  Though there was mention of the Japanese invasion back in 1500's maybe till 1800's.  Korea makes me think of Finland - pushed and shoved by 2 bigger neighbours - China and Japan (yes I know Japan is tiny but was/is quite powerful!)  But they have managed to keep their own culture alive - strengthened by their leader in 1800's who created their own alphabet - much simpler than Chinese...  

Outside I found the 7-tiered Pagoda.  Supposed to have been built in the Unified Silla period, 676-935CE, it is believed to be the tallest one in Korea.  Its a very tall stone column, 12.95metres tall.  Its has been dismantled several times and restored.  During one restoration, several ancient relics were found inside the column.  Quite impressive!  It was built in a period when Chungju was the capital of Korea..  such ancient civilisations!

As I headed back to the Guest House, I spotted a "traditional" building, which looked like a clothing museum.  It was in fact, a place where one can hire a Hanbok - traditional Korean costumes (plus all sorts of other costumes, from spider man to Snow White).  The woman was a little embarassed as she told me because it was raining, I couldn't hire anything today!  I quickly assured her, I was only here to look!  :)

I strolled back to the guest house through the park that has a variety of modern sculptures.  Back at the guest house I spotted a bike hire place just outside the front door.  I got cheeky and asked if I could borrow a bike pump.  After a little bit of discussion, helped by the lady who had been on the desk last night, it was handed over.  I rushed up to Hennie and pumped up both her tyres and quickly returned it!   Ready for departure in the morning!  

So, the last 2 hours have been spent downloading photos and getting the last 2 days of blogs - just for you!!  Oh some pringles and a cup of peach tea helped!

so here are the pics from today.