Wonju: The Simple Life

After some research (fifteen minutes on ChatGPT), I settled on Wonju as my next stop before returning to Seoul. Wonju is a mid-sized city in South Korea's interior with zero tourism. When I told the man at the front desk of my hostel that my next stop was Wonju, he laughed and then said, "Why?" For the love of the game of course. First, a train!

Some views from the train.

I learned the hard way that Google Maps is pretty unreliable once you leave Seoul. I sat in the cold outside the train station for almost an hour before this bus pulled up. I felt like I was on the Knight Bus (I Googled the spelling) from Harry Potter. I almost fell on the small Korean lady standing next to me. My bags went sliding around multiple times. We stopped and started and lurched and jerked for 40 minutes into the city. I was nauseous when I finally stepped off that bus. I took a taxi for my return trip to the train station.

Welcome to Wonju. Take it all in.

After dropping my bags I explored the city.

I was staying in the older, slightly grittier part of town.

The steam billowing from this kimchi bun stand drew me in.

I always try to keep it honest with my readers so they know when I praise food I mean it. In that vein, these buns were terrible. The only thing that makes me more upset than bad food is wasted money, so I choked all six down.

I wandered the market in search of more food with no success.

I took a quick detour to explore some old palace grounds.

Complete with augmented reality!

I returned to the market to find food. At first I thought I came too early and it would pick up later into the night. And then I thought I had come too late. I don't know what was going on, but every single place that seemed to offer food was closed. Tough.

Admitting defeat, I found a pizza place on Google Maps. It was about as mid as one would expect from pizza in Wonju, South Korea.

I returned to my hotel room - a Wonju highlight. They had robes. Every time a hotel room has a robe I always wear it. I love hotel robes.

I tucked myself into bed and decided it was a fitting time to rewatch Parasite. Great movie.

I started my one full day in Wonju looking for a baked good. Through some miscommunication I ended up ordering a full loaf of bread. I of course ate the entire loaf. I'm also using the term "bread" to make myself feel like less of a fat*ss because what I actually ordered was some type of Korean sponge cake. This was by far the best thing I ate in Wonju.

I decided to walk outside the main city area and explore the surrounding hills.

I hiked up some steps and made it to a secluded temple.

The Wonju woods had a calming effect on me. I loved strolling along the rolling path. I had nothing to do and nowhere to be. Just me and Wonju.

Eventually the trail fed into a rural road, and I began my walk back into the city. 

I found some hearty soup to warm me up post-hike. Again, I'm gonna be honest, this soup was not the truth. It had a 3:1 ratio of mushrooms to meat. I also got jumpscared by one of the side dishes that turned out to be squid, not noodles like I assumed. Tough.

I tucked myself into bed and watched another movie. This time it was Dune. Another fantastic movie.

The next morning, having struck out on food multiple times and short on time before my train, it was time for the ol' reliable.

I justify my McDonald's with two points. First, low opportunity cost. The food in Wonju failed to deliver, especially compared to Seoul, and I try to get McDonald's in every country I visit. Second, I ordered items only available in Korea which is a version of cultural immersion in its own right.

No one in America is getting the double bulgogi burger or McCrispy Mala Hash.

And then I was on a train back to Seoul. I was thinking for a while on what to name this post. The first idea was, "Wonju: Mid" but that felt too harsh. The next was "Dopamine Detox" but that rang a bit untrue since I did watch two movies on back to back nights. So I settled on "The Simple Life." Out of all the places I've visited, Wonju felt like one of the most foreign. I couldn't even find refuge in food. I was left with wandering and observing. This city also made me realize how blessed I have been on the food front for this whole trip. So thank you, Wonju.