In the Eastern Cape, there is such a word in isiXhosa as 'puntsha', pronounced 'puncher'. For non-Xhosa speakers, it translates to 'puncture'. Any car or bicycle owner knows that a puntsha is an unexpected thing and tends strike at the most inconvenient of times. It is also quite a chore to change a punctured tire. Puntshas for the Lower Albanian farmers can be a common thing because most of them live along bleddy horrible gravel roads. "And gravel roads", a Lower Albanian will say to anyone who has an ear to listen, "make us say horrible things like 'Gotta go less than sixty-kays here else I'll be drinking beer on my own at the club tonight'."
Anyway, the Cherry Blossom season is upon us here in South Korea. I kitted myself out for and bused myself to Gurye, a pretty little rural town at the foot of Jirisan. Once I got to the bus station, I walked myself the 5km to Gurye Train Station to meet up with Lina who was traveling from Seoul. The entire route was lined with cherry blossoms.
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| Along my walk to Gurye Train Station I said to myself, "Korea is a such a safe place, I'm yet to see one barbed-wire fence". Ironically enough... |
Lina and I then taxied to Hwaeomsa Temple. The monks were decorating the temple grounds in preparation for Buddha's Birthday next month.
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| Colorful |
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| Mountain Spring Water Turtles |
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| We helped out with the lawnmower work. Since there was no grass to speak of in or around the temple grounds we were done in no time at all. |
When we returned from Hwaeomsa Temple, we sat down to a double-treat - Lunch and Busking.
Anyway from there we carried on northwards with our adventure to Sansuyu Village. The village is nestled in a valley at the foot of Jirisan, too, and grows a pink fruit known as the village's namesake, sansuyu. The fruit is believed to have magical powers - it's supposed to fix any man's puntsha. The local convenience store owner further emphasised this point when he made rocket sounds and 'strong penis' gestures. It's funny thinking back on it now but hell that man was feeding me a suspicious amount of sansuyu makgeolli.
The day came to an end with some ChiMec. ChiMec is combination of fried chicken and beer. Once we'd had our healthy portions of both, we booked into a jimjilbang (a communal sleeping room). Although my energy levels were severely puntsha'ed, the other 30-odd people in the room were snoring like cardboard scraping along concrete on a windy day. Needless to say I still had a puntsha the next morning.
Good adventure, though.