Unjusa, Hwasun-gun, Wednesday 11 September, 10am. It’s not yet mid-morning, but the temperature is already uncomfortable despite the lack of sun. Once again, it’s pleasant to get inside the air-conditioned car to head back to Sancheong. As we drive back, I give Sena a call to arrange to see her later that afternoon. As LKL’s … [Read More]
Place: Gyeongsangnam-do (page 3)
Selected publications
- Michael Gibb: A Korean Odyssey: Island Hopping in Choppy Waters, Camphor Press 2020
- Vincent Brandt: An Affair with Korea: Memories of South Korea in the 1960s, University of Washington Press 2014
- Philip Gowman: Royal Ancestors and Ancient Remedies: a brief journey through Korea’s heritage, Korean Culture and Information Service 2011
- Ha Jin: War Trash, Vintage 2004
2013 Travel Diary #13: The Sancheong Oriental Medicinal Herb Institute
Sanchong-eup, Sancheong-gun, Monday 9 September, 10am. At the Institute, the chief researcher Dr Kim Yun-geun shows me round the various laboratories. It’s one of those scenarios where the guide has only a few words of English, the subject is extremely specialist and so Kyung-sook, who I discover later has been press-ganged into delivering the presentation … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #12: The recreation forest, and getting to know the Expo
Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Monday 9 September, 6am. Apart from the need to plan my future visit to the Expo, I also seem to be an unofficial English language consultant for the Sancheong Oriental Medicinal Herb Institute, so I need to find out more about what they do if I’m to redraft their publicity materials. And … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #11: Mother Mago, the Goddess of Jirisan
Jungsan-ri, Sancheong-gun, Sunday 8 September, 10:30am. It is pleasant to sit down in a comfortable seat in the cool environment of an air-conditioned car. After the hot, humid exertions on the mountain I am happy just to sit in the passenger seat not wanting any particular destination. But just outside Jungsan-ri we turn into a narrow … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #10: Breakfast at Beopgyesa
Beopgyesa Temple, Jirisan, Sancheong-gun, Sunday 8 September, 8:30am. Breakfast is again in the kitchen, and as usual (because I’m a foreigner unused to sitting on the floor) I’m allowed to sit with my back to the wall. I’m encouraged to stretch my legs out straight, and pummel my thighs and massage my knees, which are already … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #9: Sunrise on Cheonwangbong
Beopgyesa Temple, Jirisan, Sancheong-gun, Sunday 8 September, 4am. It’s still pitch black. In parts, the sky is thick with cloud, but one or two stars manage to find a break to peek through. We set off up the trail, I with my head torch, and Mr Yoon using the flashlight from his mobile phone (he has … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #8: Prayers to the Sanshin
Danseong-myeon, Sancheong-gun, Saturday 7 September, 4pm. After last year’s abortive attempt to get to the top of the highest mountain on mainland South Korea, I was determined to give it another go at a time of year when there was guaranteed not to be any ice on the path. As an added bonus, what would … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #7: Min Young-ki’s new directions
Danseong-myeon, Sancheong-gun, Saturday 7 September, 2pm. We’d had dinner with him the day before last, but this afternoon it was time to pay a more formal visit to Min Young-ki and to see his latest work. When I had visited the previous year, he had been preparing for an exhibition of his famous tea bowls … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #6: An editing project is born
Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Saturday 7 September, 7am. We must have done some good work on the Blue Label the previous evening, because I wake up very groggy. The forecast for later that day is for clear skies – good news for my Jirisan hike – but for now there is little but grey. In an … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #5: The official duties
Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Friday 6 September, 2pm. After lunch, I realise that I now have to perform my ambassadorial duties. My sense of gloom is at odds with the enthusiastic spiel that I have to present to the camera. We proceed to the Donguibogam Museum where we meet up with a few people in an … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #4: Honouring the spirits, feeling the gi
Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Friday 6 September, 9am. In the daylight, I am beginning to get my bearings. The Sancheong World Traditional Medicine Expo is set in a 109 hectare (269 acre) site dominated by the dramatic peaks of Pilbongsan (pencil-peak mountain) and Wangsan (the King’s mountain). The natural slopes of these mountains establish the geography … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #3: Preparing for the Expo
Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Friday 6 September, 7am. Four hundred years ago, a ground-breaking medical encyclopaedia was published. The Donguibogam, literally the Principles and Practice of Eastern Medicine, was compiled and edited by Heo Jun, a Korean royal doctor, with the support of a team of medical scholars and academics. The work had been commissioned by … [Read More]
2013 Travel Diary #2: Arrival in Sancheong
Incheon, Thursday 5 September, 2pm. As I leave the plane at Incheon, one of the hostesses says: “I hope it’s alright. We tried to get most of the tomato juice off…” Ah, so that’s what my neighbour had been apologising about in the first place, before he added to the offence by tipping water on … [Read More]
Hahaha – the first Hong Sang-soo film I’ve enjoyed without trying
OK, it was the second time I had seen it. The first time, I had slept through it. But that was because I had been entering into the spirit rather too much by indulging in a drinking session of Hongian proportions beforehand. The second time round, there was the anticipation of seeing the lead actress … [Read More]
Hong Sang-soo’s Hahaha to screen at BAFTA, with Moon So-ri Q&A
People who know me will be aware that my sincere appreciation of Hong Sang-soo’s work does not mean that I always stay awake during his movies. But having been to Tongyeong since the first time I went to the theatre when Hahaha was screening, I know I’ll be wide awake for the upcoming screening on … [Read More]
Postcard Teas, near Bond Street tube – for your supplies of Korean nokcha
One of my top tips for London is Postcard Teas, tucked away in Dering Street, close to Bond Street and Oxford Circus. The genial and knowledgeable proprieter Timothy D’Offay sources his teas from small family estates using traditional tea growing methods, and the impressive list includes fine teas from China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, India, Sri … [Read More]