South Korea is not just about urban landscapes and the skyscrapers of Gangnam. It is easy to see why. To swiftly traverse the Korean peninsula by train, one can hop onto one of the tourist trains: O-Train, V-Train, G-Train, S-Train, B-Train, or DMZ-Train. Each has its own unique features and takes passengers to specific regions of South Korea. Tickets and routes can be found on the railway company’s website or directly at Seoul Station. We took the O-Train and V-Train (the “O” because the route is circular and number One, and “V” from the word valley).
Essentially, each train is like a regular commuter train but very charming, impeccably clean, with soft rotating seats and a restaurant car (providing coffee, ramen, and other small Korean joys of life).
Initially, the journey passed through monotonous and slightly dreary landscapes. Therefore, the card game “Svinus Zombie,” wisely prepared by our friends (and food, of course), helped us endure the 5-hour journey. Meanwhile, a real show was unfolding in the next car. Female conductors sang, danced, and played the violin, entertaining the passenger children. This could be watched through monitors attached to the ceiling. Ultimately, after several short stops, the O-Train brought us to the starting point of our hiking route. Here it should be noted that Korea is not only the land of morning calm but also a land of hiking.
Hiking is a type of sports tourism that involves walking through mountainous areas using marked and prepared trails, usually traveling light.
This pastime is especially popular among the older generation. Even in the heart of Seoul, you can always see elderly Korean men and women with backpacks, fully equipped: waterproof sportswear, boots, sun hats, and walking sticks. We too, on this fine April day, suddenly became hikers.
To transfer to the V-Train, you must walk 6 kilometers. Not too much, but what kilometers they were! Climbing continuously up stairs and mountain trails, jumping from boulder to boulder — this is a balm for a mountaineer’s heart, but a challenge for the calf muscles.
Ahead of us, lively Korean pensioners walked at a cruising speed, moving further and further away from us. Apparently, it’s all about the ginseng.
North Chungcheong (충청북도), where our route lay, is located in the center of Korea. It is the only Korean province not bordered by any sea or ocean. It is home only to mountains, rivers, lakes, and forests (and also two national parks and a Buddhist temple that Bruce Lee chose for filming “Game of Death,” but which was cut from the movie after his death and script changes). These are beautiful places! Their beauty is cold and pure, like the water in a mountain river. And this comparison is not overly ornate. The air here seems clearer, and in the mind, a dramatic oriental lute begins to play by itself.
After 5 kilometers of continuous hiking, you begin to realize how nice and great it is to just sit and do nothing 🙂
The absolutely peaceful atmosphere of these places encourages such zen pastimes. Along the way, there is hardly a soul around, and the quiet is broken only by the noise of the river.
The road is generally quite clearly marked, but occasionally, we needed to check to make sure we were going in the right direction. And the markers helped us. Sometimes these were just arrows on the asphalt, and sometimes record discs with English lessons hanging on trees. You can start the route as a Beginner and finish as an Intermediate 🙂
To catch the next train, always strictly on schedule (like all transport in Korea), we had to cover the last kilometers at a waltz pace, regardless of our fatigue. The warning sign “Beware of snakes!” inspired us and helped us speed up.
Upon reaching the station, we found a sculpture depicting a popular Asian game… Stop, stop, stop. Some clarification is needed here 🙂
This is a children’s joke game, widespread in Japan under the name “kancho” — カンチョ, in South Korea (“ttongchim” — 떵침), in the Philippines (“bembong” — bembong), and even on another continent, in Mexico (“el saca-caca” — el saca-caca).
The essence of the game is to sneak up on a friend (or not-so-friend), form your fingers into a gun, and catch the victim by surprise at the most unexpected moment. It’s a scary thing. This is not like spitting paper balls from pens at classmates. In Korea, it came to the point that regulating “ttongchim” at the legislative level became necessary. That is, little kids can still do it, but similar behavior by adults can be qualified as sexual harassment.
In Japan, it forms a whole cultural layer. Kancho (translated from Japanese—enema) can be seen in manga (Japanese comics), cartoons, and on television. There are even arcade machines—kancho simulators. In fact, according to supporters of kancho-ttongchim-bembong-sacakaka, this is all absolutely innocent, and children (and not just children) do such things exclusively for a laugh, a playful game, without any obscenity. In general, everyone is happy. Although, that depends on which side you are on. Judge for yourselves!
The sculpture we found probably depicts a variation of ttongchim using “rock-paper-scissors.” The lowered pants are an exaggeration (one hopes).
Our V-Train turned out to be a wonderful pink-green retro train with large opening windows.
And it looks not too shabby in complete darkness in a tunnel.
The route is quite short, taking less than an hour, and the pink train simply takes us back to the O-Train, which allows us to return to Seoul. But the views from the V-Train are very beautiful.
“You wait for a train. A train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you can’t know for sure. But it doesn’t matter—because we’ll be together“
Travel more, press the heart button below, and share on social media if you found the article interesting ❤️
Leave a Reply