Destination: Expo Park - wait, is that a radioactive overflowing wedding cake? (Samcheok, Gangwon-do)
We continued our Samcheok experience by checking out Expo Park. Within walking distance from Samcheok bus terminal, it’s one of the few tourist enterprises in the area worth coming all the way out here for. We had visited the other one (Haesindang Park – warning: NSFW) the day before, but this area looked interesting as well.
My girlfriend and I (who shall remain nameless and faceless – sorry, but she likes her low profile) had already visited Haesindang Park on Saturday, and made our way here the next day. We skipped waiting on the bus after realizing that the area was within walking distance (thanks to Lonely Planet putting in that device most Korean maps forget – a scale!).
About 1 1/2 kilometers later, we found our way to the first portion of the park: Jukseoro Pavilion.
The building, called a nugak, is a house whose floor in supported by a set of pillars that would in turn support the entire house. It was built during the Goryeo dynasty (sometime before the 12th century, as it was written about in a poem during the late 12th century) as a facility that belonged to the local government, but was destroyed by the regime change between the Goryeo dynasty and the Joseon dynasty. It was restored in 1403 during the reign of King Taejong, who used to be the governor of Samcheok.
Various signs inscribed in Chinese – many poems, along with a list of people’s names and the amounts of donations they’ve made. At least two of the poems are about the beauty of the place, which I have to agree. Two poem was translated into English inside the brochure; one written by Lee Seung-hyu (1224-1300) was written during the late Goryeo dynasty:
While the color and the height of the sky are increasing / the piece of cloud hiding the sunlight is dancing on the yongmaru and around the pillar / I see the crane flying askew over the blue rock / and count the number of fish in the water while holding the red corridor / The mountain makes a border around the field / whose village became very famous because of this high nugak / I suddenly want to leave my job and retire in piece [sic] / but I also wish to help the king become wiser with my little effort.
The front sign for Jukseoru – the author is unknown.
Yongmun Rock – a nice little arch and area to climb around to enjoy the beauty. The sign nearby explains the legend: “King Munmu became a dragon to protect the country in the East Sea after his death. One day, the dragon jumped into a river called Osipcheon [50,000?!] and made a beautiful cliff under Jukseoru. When the dragon jumped into Osipcheon, the dragon penetrated a rock beside Jukseoru. That is Yongmun Rock.” Um, sure, ok… but it’s still nice.
Not pictured at the top of the rock were 10 small holes, called Seong-hyeol. During the Chosun era, women that wanted to get pregnant or pray for sons would spill some grains of rice into the holes, then bring them back, hidden ‘under their skirt’…. Hmm…
On a more recent note, this park was one of many places where scenes for ‘April Snow’ were shot. A couple of maps and signs out front attested to the fact, although our opinion was ‘um, sure, OK’, and we moved on to enjoy the beauty.
The infinite wisdom of Korea’s tourism department had to put more ‘touristy’ in the area – a statue commemorating “Jeong Cheol’s legacy in the lyric literature tradition of Korea.”
A look from the back fence (a rope strung between trees to protect the hapless tourist from rolling down the cliff).
Quite a few people were fishing in the lake.
Moving on – around the corner of the Pavilion’s park and across a bridge, we see the following odd site:
If you guessed a radioactive overflowing wedding cake, you win a gold star – that was my initial assessment. As it turns out, it was the Cave Mystery Hall (also translated as ‘Hall of Mysterious Caves’) where you could tour a cave museum and watch an IMAX film. Sure, sounds like fun. 3,000 won to get into the museum a person – and you’re welcome to stick around for the show if you like.
Beyond the usual signs and pictures (almost entirely in Korean and English), we came across some interesting sights:
It’s almost like being in a cave without risking the claustrophobia, high humidity, or that odd dripping sound.
You have to work the humans in there somewhere.
A close-up of some of the animals on display – albeit in glass domes.
A rather psychadelic looking entrance – when you walked through, a montage of mostly Western movies showing people in caves…
A brief portrayal of how some Koreans would break off pieces of the cave as souvenirs.
From here, we made our way into the IMAX theater – your fairly standard dome with reclining seats you could fall asleep in.
One of the opening scenes – the 15-minute film was a bit old, but still quite watchable.
We made our way out, and passed by another interesting sight:
The Cave Exploration Hall – we didn’t have time to go inside, but, hey, look, a flower!
