Penis Park



What a beauty...

Yup. Penises everywhere. But I'll start at the beginning.


This past weekend was a three day weekend in celebration of Buddha's birthday, so Aaron, John, and I joined a group to go on a good ol' fashioned road trip. We met at what seemed like the crack of dawn (7:30am on a Saturday). There were ten of us total, including Pedro, the South Korean hero who organized the trip. We all squeezed into Pedro's tiny mom-mini-van and the adventure began. Things started out well enough with a little bit of Toto's "Africa" (that one was for you Jim) and Paul Simon's "You Can Call me Al" (you're welcome Sean). Shortly after that, however, the music took a turn for the worse. I am a self proclaimed music snob and when the stereotypical "road trip music" came on, I was horrified. "Life is a Highway", "Born to be Wild", "Love Shack" and "She Works Hard for her Money" were just a few of the gems that had me in earphones for the majority of the day (sorry if this offends anyone on the trip).

We drove through the country towards the ocean on the east coast. It was a beautiful drive. Korea is incredibly green and there are verdant mountains everywhere you turn. About five hours into the trip we stopped at what was to be the highlight of the weekend for me...the penis park. As we approached the park Pedro warned us not to expect too much, so I entered with some apprehension. I was blown away right off the bat. Pecker wind chimes, phallic statues, knob fence posts, ball-sack stools, wang benches, schlong carvings...literally everywhere you looked = penises. We did manage to stumble upon a very romantic pathway with only a few wooden peter benches and a breathtaking view. (Thank you wikisaurus for the penis synonyms, I wasn't able to include them all so a few favorites are baloney pony, love truncheon, meatstick, and pink cigar).

Wind chimes.

Fence.

Stools.

Bench.

Posts.

Chair.

Too far.

?

I love his nose.

It was beautiful.

:)

Lily pads.

The cove at the Penis park.

I would have been content to go home after the willy park (that was for you, Mom) but the weekend had just begun. We made our way to the biggest limestone cave in Korea, Hwaseon-gu. The network of tunnels, crevices, and pools was astounding. The experience would have been more " The Descent-scary" if there wasn't a metal staircase lined with neon colored lights throughout the whole thing. Oh, Korea, you never cease to amaze me. 

On our way to the cave.

The entrance.

That night we found ourselves a cozy minbak with Pedro cooking some mouth-watering Korean BBQ for us. Minbaks are very interesting for those who have never spent the night on a Korean floor. They are small rooms fully equipped with a shower, toilet, sink, dishes, fridge, TV, etc. The only thing they lack is a bed. You are provided with a mattress pad of sorts, pillows, and blankets. The warm floors do help make for a pretty decent night's sleep though. 


On Sunday we drove around to see some of the east coast's beautiful beaches. There was some hubbub about a train station on the beach that was famous for being a romantic TV set...but frankly it was a little anti-climactic since we aren't avid followers of Korean TV dramas. 

Hour-glass style clock.

The East Sea.

Train station on the beach.

Our journey then landed us at a unification center. There was the only land-based Korean war ship (donated by the US) and a North Korean submarine. The sub had crashed and part of the crew escaped and murdered civilians until they were killed 50 days later. The submarine was so small it was hard for us to imagine 26 people living and working in it, I guess North Koreans are just itty-bitty.

Titanic.

Pirates.

Hard hats for the submarine.

In the tiny sub.

North Korean submarine.

Destroyer.

By the time we finally arrived at the beach to swim, tan, and relax, the rain started (of course). We grabbed lunch at a restaurant and listened to the rain. Next we headed up the road a bit more to our next sleeping destination, the Vancouver Motel. Finally we were able to relax on the beach, although at this point it was 6:00pm and the wind had picked up so there was no  chance for the much anticipated tanning or swimming :(. We all pitched in to make chicken kebabs and feasted once again. The highlight of our stay at the Vancouver was a dazzling fireworks display put on by John and Susan. We wanted to have a bonfire but couldn't because at that point we were so close to North Korea and fires could be used as signals to soldiers on the other side. During our firework extravaganza two South Korean soldiers came up to us and had a good long stare at all of our faces before stepping back to be wowed by the sparklers like the rest of us.

The fireworks display was almost this good....

Early on Monday morning we drove up to the Goseoung Unification observation center to peek at North Korea. There were beaches on either side of the view point that are untouched and simply gorgeous. It was strange to look through binoculars at a building a few miles away knowing that there were people on that side doing the exact same thing. The stare-down went on for a few minutes before Aaron and I ventured into the Korean War memorial. A very disconcerting noise clip was playing gun fire and screams as we entered a tunnel plastered with obscene pictures of the war. It was a shock to the system. After filling our heads with war pictures we jumped back into the van and drove ten hours back to Gwangju. 

Those mountains are in North Korea!

Buddha.

Facing the north, hoping for peace.

Aaron peeking at North Korea.

The road trip crew (minus a few).

The trip was a great way to get out of town and explore some more of the country that would otherwise be inaccessible. Korea amazes me more and more every day. For those few stragglers still reading this novel, thanks for doing so. I miss everyone at home (and those I have met around the world) and I hope to hear from you all soon.