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Start
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Sunrise Park
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Apricot Flower Festival
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Hadong Hwagae Jangteo
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House of Choe Champan
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Guest house
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Unjoru
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Ssanggyesa Temple
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Hwaeom Temple
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Finish
A Friendly Chinese Restaurant By the Road in the Countryside, Gurye 'Oksan Sikdang(Oksan Restaurant)'
The weather was not so good when I was in Gurye, it was raining with cold wind. Cold weather makes us want to drink hot soup so we headed to Oksan Sikdang famous for Jjamppong.
Jjamppong is quite common food that you can eat in any region but I heard that Oksan Sikdang's Jjamppong is famous among country women that even people from other regions visit there to taste it. It's a small Chinese restaurant next to a health center in the country so the entrance was friendly.
Canon EOS 550D | f/5.0 | iso 100 | 2015:03:18 11:23:29 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
Oksan Sikdang is located in Pado-ri, Toji-myeon, Gurye-gun, right next to Toji health center, so it wouldn't be difficult to find it. It's not fancy but it looks friendly just as its history. It didn't look like open outside but a motorcycle showed up and said 'please come in'. lol
Canon EOS 550D | f/5.0 | iso 800 | 2015:03:18 11:23:52 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
Inside is just like the outside, small and plain. We were probably the first visitors so the restaurant was neat.
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Just like any other Chinese restaurant in a big city, it had proper menu. We ordered one Jjambbong and one Jjajangmyeon, the representative dishes of every Chinese restaurant as well as an unsolved problem for Koreans.
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The critical aspect of Chinese food is speed!! It's served so quickly.
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The vegetables, seafood and pork were fried first and they put soup and season with chilli powder to make it spicy. I liked soup that determines the taste of Jjambbong.
Chinese food is tasty but it often makes me nausea or burning feeling in my stomach since it contains a lot of synthetic flavoring matters. But the Jjambbong in Oksan Sikdang is not spicy but clean and refreshing that I can hardly taste the synthetic flavoring matters. Plus you could taste the fried pork when you chew.
Canon EOS 550D | f/4.0 | iso 1600 | 2015:03:18 11:35:56 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 40mm
Normally mussels are used to make the soup tasty but here manila clams were used so it was more refreshing and light. I've never seen Jjambbong with manila clams. That's why the soup was refreshing.
Canon EOS 550D | f/4.0 | iso 800 | 2015:03:18 11:32:10 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 39mm
There might be disagreement on the noodles though. They're thinner than the ones used in regular Chinese restaurant so they're not as chewy as before. However, the noodles were properly soaked in the soup since it's thin and it's soft.
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Jjajangmyeon is not as famous as Jjambbong but I heard it's not so bad. Well, I must say, the country people are generous when it comes to food.
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My wife said she liked Jjajangmyeon more than Jjambbong and I couldn't taste synthetic flavoring matters in Jjajangmyeon either, so it was neat, not cheesy at all. The sauce contained a little bit of sugar so you can feel the original taste of chunjang(a kind of fermented soybean product). The noodles were thin as expected so they're not chewy but soft.
We had Jjambbong and Jjajangmyeon that we can easily find and eat anywhere we live. So we didn't expect to eat them in Gurye. But it was quite an experience to order Jjajangmyeon in a Chinese restaurant in the country and it was neat and plain so I say it was a satisfying meal. If you're used to the taste of pungent Chinese food with a lot of synthetic flavoring matters, you might get disappointed so be careful.
+ Address : 857-75, Pado-ri, Toji-myeon, Gurye-gun, Jeollanamdo
+ Telephone : 061-781-2431
One of 3 Excellent Spots in Korea, Unjoru(雲鳥樓) in Gurye
In Omi-ri of Gurye at the southernmost of Jiri Mountain, there's a place called Unjori(雲鳥樓), one of the three excellent spots in Korea. Unjoru means a house that remains to be hidden like a bird behind clouds and it is a guesthouse of the Yu family in Omi-dong but the whole house is called Unjoru now. This was built by Yueeju(柳邇冑), who was the head of Nakan and and Samsu.
This house had 99 rooms (currently 70 rooms) and it's been one of the best places such that it's introduced by Murayama Chizyun who left a lot of documents regarding Korean traditions in Japanese colonial era as a geometric geographer.
Canon EOS 550D | f/5.6 | iso 100 | 2015:03:18 12:01:56 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
At the entrance, there's a deep pond and back of the house, the mountain looks like Oknyeo at Nogodan playing at Hyeongjebong dropped a gold ring, which is called Geumhwannakji(金環落地), that there's a saying that everyone will have their children living in splendor once they build a house here.
Canon EOS 550D | f/5.6 | iso 100 | 2015:03:18 12:02:36 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
I'll get inside through this high gate. I saw an old man selling tickets and he was reluctant to give me changes. If you go there, please take some 1,000 bills.
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The servants' quarters consist of 7 rooms to the right and 11 rooms to the left from the gate and you will assume their authority by the size of the house. Most of the servants' quarters are on both sides of the main gate for male servants and storage.
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As you enter the tally gate, you'll see the men's part of the guest room which consist of the room in the outer wing to the right and the big room(Unjoru) to the left.
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The reason why Unjoru has been getting attention is not only because it's one of the best sites in Korea but also because it has so much value as a historical heritage that follows the architectural styles of Yangban in the late Joseon era. It's known that it took 7 years to build this house so it must've been a big project at the time.
Canon EOS 550D | f/4.0 | iso 1600 | 2015:03:18 12:03:57 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 50mm
As I was going inside, the cat was taking shelter from the rain under the floor. What are you doing there, meow~
Canon EOS 550D | f/3.5 | iso 400 | 2015:03:18 12:04:28 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 38mm
The traces of 240 years of history still have remained. The doors remain as the same even when it must've been closed and open a hundreds of thousands times.
Canon EOS 550D | f/3.5 | iso 400 | 2015:03:18 12:05:18 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
The wooden door connecting the guest house and the main building shows the 240 years of history.
Canon EOS 550D | f/3.5 | iso 640 | 2015:03:18 12:21:12 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
This round thing is rice jar with Tainneunghae(他人能解) written on it. This means 'anyone can open this rice jar' and it was indeed open to people who were starving in years of poor harvest. On the wooden decks with Tainneunghae on it, there are two holes and if you turn the stick the rice comes out from the other hole. Unfortunately, the wooden stick was stolen.
Canon EOS 550D | f/4.0 | iso 100 | 2015:03:18 12:05:57 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
This is the main building. It's a square surrounded by the building and in the middle, there's a square space where you can see the sky. I've heard the owner has been living until currently but I don't know if they do now.
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There's another framed picture with Unjoru written on it in the main building as well.
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Have you heard that good things happen when the swallow makes its nest under the roof? I saw at least two nests in the main building.
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To the left and right of the main building, the 2-story house is attached, and the second floor to the left in the photo was for the elders and the second floor to the right was for the kids and daughters-in-law. The jangdokdae(platforms for crocks of sauces and condiments) gathering in the yard look friendly.
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It looks slack somehow and inefficient from a modern person's eyes but not even a door or a beam of sunlight was unintended.
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The walls of the outskirts are stairs depending on the level of the ground and it gives us more spatial depth as it lays one upon another.
Not only Unjoru was architecturally beautiful but also it maintained the old lifestyles as well as household goods. There are many places to visit in Gurye but I hope you visit one of the three excellent spots in Korea to get good spirits.
+ Address : 103, Omi-ri, Toji-myeon, Gurye-gun, Jeollanam-do
+ Telephone : 061-781-2644
+ Entrance fee : 1,000 won(Adult), 700 won(Adolescent), free(Child). (Closed on National Holidays)
