Life in the slow lane on Geomundo
Written by Kyle on Monday, March 01, 2010 in Korea, Republic of
Feelin' normal
You can describe Korea in many words: dynamic, fast, and vibrant, just to name a few. Slow and relaxed are usually not included in that list. However, we finally found a place in Korea far enough away from the center of it all that life seemed to slow down a bit. Yes, we had to travel nearly 6 hours away from Seoul to a little spec of land called Geoumundo to find it, but we found it. Feelin' normal
To be fair, this isn't the kind of laid-back, laissez faire attitude that we've found in Latin America; we're still in Korea after all. Many people seemed like they were on their way to doing something important, whatever that might be on the tiny island. But there were a couple of glimpses into the slow paced Korean life: the ajuma shop keeper who uses an abacus to do calulations; the bike rental attendant who has to be fetched from his house in order to rent his bikes; and the one-speed green cruiser bike that we kept running into as we walked about town.
In any case, we were happy to finally take some photos outside of the cacophony of rectangles known as Seoul. Here are some of our favorite shots from the area. We hope you enjoy them!
Comments on "Life in the slow lane on Geomundo"
We went through Adventure Korea. I don't think it should be too expensive to stay there as there are plenty of Minbaks all over the island.
we took a bus hired through Adventure Korea, but I saw some Koreans in a KTX tour group, so maybe KTX runs around there somewhere. I think the port city we left through was Nokpjeong or something similar - it was more industrial than touristy there.
Great photos.....loved the lightbulbs(?)
I believe they are for squid fishing; they attract the squid at night.
Only cool people are named Kyle :)
That's what I keep telling my wife, but she doesn't believe me. Maybe I'm a bad example :)
Brings back lots of memories! My boyfriend and I lived in Bucheon, near Seoul, for a year teaching. It's so true that people in Seoul always seem to be in a rush. We used to laugh at how often we'd see women in high heals suddenly start sprinting for a crosswalk only to start walking again 10 feet later. I hope you enjoy the rest of your time!
I totally saw a woman sprinting like that in heeled boots in the snow the other day - I was sort of rooting for a wipe out. :) Thanks for the well wishes.
Gorgeous photos. Thanks for sharing!
I came across one of your videos of the national park in Seoul and then noticed your website. My husband is in the Army so we're here in Korea until Sept. 2011. It's very interesting here to say the least. This site is awesome and I love the pictures and blogs. I wish we could travel more (around korea now, that is) but it's hard because we have a 1, 2, and 4 year old. We're lucky we made it to Korea ! =) Great job on the site and good luck with your future travels!
Thanks for the compliments! Seoul Grand Park would be a great place to take kids - we posted about it in April - (http://www.onourownpath.com/korea-republic-of/its-a-1950s-world-fair-and-a-zoo-and-an-art-museum-and/253/post)
Hope you enjoy it here!!
Really cool pictures, I bet they would look neat in a scattered collage frame. See you guys soon ! When you guys are about to retire this site will be so awesome... "We have been traveling for 19,443 days" "planets visited: 4" "Shuttles ridden: 11"
XOXO,
Ben+
Thanks, dude. :) Someday we'll have our photos up all over the place. Hugs!
Bessie and Kyle,
The pictures are great! I loved the flowers and mountains! You have some talent going there.
Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Love
Shawna
Looks cool, how do you get there? Was it expensive to stay there?
by Alex at March 12, 2010 02:11 AM