The Olympic Addendum Part IV: Gangneung, the place where we are staying.

We made it to the city where we are staying for the games without a hitch. We got to the KTX station, and the owner and proprietor of our pension (think cheaper version of bed and breakfast) picked us up at the station. He and his wife speak little English, but are incredibly nice.  Upon arrival, we were given a tour of the place, and then unpacked.  As we were settling in, the lady of the house provided us with a plate of dumplings, which were delicious.

Many of the indoor Olympic events are being held in Gangneung. It could be said that Gangneung is pronounced GawngLung, so I’m curious what those Olympic announcers are saying.  This almost caused trouble for us ourselves because I read the English spelling so much so that I ordered ticket for “Gangneung” and got tickets for the next station down the line, “Gangmyeon.”  Luckily we noticed, and promptly exchanged them.

A view of the city from a hill above Gyeongpo

The city on the East coast of South Korea, and features a beautiful lake. We are on the far side of the lake in the district of Gyeongpo, which is a tourist destination.  In true Korean form, the water feature is surrounded by landscaped parks and green ways. The parks in Korea are one of the best things, especially because they can be used as transportation pathways for things like your daily commute.  In America, one must go out of one’s way to visit a park. The upstream portion of the lake contains a marsh with a large population of prickly water lilies, which appear to be somehow unique, and give the park its name. Being winter, we had to fill in some blanks with imagination, since nothing was in bloom. Elsewhere in the park were a series of statues depicting what appeared to be some kind of mythical spirits, or a traditional story, completely unknown to us.  I’ll probably edit this later to give you all more pictures, and links to Korean blogs with better summer pictures.

Margaret and the lake

We are on the other side of the lake from Gangneung, next to a temple complex in the Gyeongpo district, which has paintings of the area back in the 1700s, when the lake was much higher. They are painted in the traditional Korean style. Since then, some genius visionaries decided that draining the lake partially would be good idea.  However this had the unfortunate side effect of creating an unhealthy wetland that smelled terrible.  Given that there was no way to fill the lake back up, they decided to bring in some folks who knew what they were doing. The fix was to facilitate the growth of a healthy marsh land, which has attracted an array of Korean wildlife, including egrets, night herons, grey herons, mandarin ducks, spot billed ducks, coots, and more. It appears the distinguishing feature of this place is the prickly water lily, for which the park is named.  Being a swamp girl, this was Margaret’s favorite part.

A shrine in Geyongpo, dedicated to an event that took place in the 5th century. Distinct from the temple.