Outskirts of Andong, South Korea - July 2019

Location: Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea
Date: July, 2019

What started as an unplanned riverside walk ended up being a day that taught me about 18th century Korean architecture, pre-refrigeration salmon shipping, and brought back some lovely memories.  On a fairly hot, muggy day in mid-July, 2019, I took a lovely walk alongside the mighty Nakdong River outside of Andong, a small city in North Gyeongsang province in South Korea.  It was between 84-87 degrees Fahrenheit, about 29-31 Celsius, and throughout the day, it sprinkled rain on and off.  But why let a little bit of rain deter me when there's a lovely river to walk alongside?

Though to be honest, I wasn't planning to take a riverside walk that day.  I have a bad (good? jury's still out) habit of looking at a map, or a sign, and thinking, hmm, that's only a couple miles away, that's a short enough walk, and then going towards whatever it is that caught my interest.  Problem is, I'll do this multiple times in the same direction, turning "oh that's only another mile" into "oh dear I'm six miles away from where I started."  

From the center of Andong, I recalled that several miles down the wide (seriously wide, like 1,000 feet wide at points) Nakdong River from where I was, there's a lovely wooden spanned bridge, called Woryeongyo, that's the widest of its kind in Korea.  It's a beautiful spot, and I had been there once before, on a date in 2013, so I thought it might be nice to see it again.  What I didn't realize, because last time, I had taken a bus, was just how far it was.  Thankfully, I get lost in my own thoughts quite easily, and before I knew it, twenty minutes had passed, and I was at the mighty Andong dam.  Crossing that dam led me to the start of this lovely half-forested riverside walk, which would lead me (in another thirty minutes or so) to the bridge.

There were several lovely spots to rest and take photos along the way to Woryeongyo, and I took this picture while enjoying the lovely mix of forest and water views.  The path also changed elevation quite a bit as the land around the river is mountainous.  Of particular interest while walking along that path were the occasional posts, one of which you can see in the photo.  Besides having a light at the top for illumination at night, each post had a speaker, out of which was playing pleasant background music.  As I walked, I got to enjoy the music, and passed by a number of other people out enjoying the day despite the on and off again rain.  After all, what else are travel sized umbrellas for?

One thing to note that you can see in the photo that I thought was thoughtful is the braided material covering the path.  This was like a thick rope of sorts, woven into what essentially was like a carpet. Besides softening the path, it also provided grip where the path could otherwise have gotten slippery.  I imagine this is particularly nice for seniors.  Physical activity is an important part of Korean culture, and it's quite normal to see people in their 80s out and about, walking, and exercising in public.  Most public parks in South Korea tend to have basic exercise equipment in them for this reason.  It provides a social space for seniors to stay active and healthy, something I wish more American towns would do.

When I got to Woryeongyo, before crossing the bridge itself and enjoying the sweeping views of the river, I got to take in some interesting local history.  There's a historical park of sorts near the bridge, off of the southeastern bank.  When the Andong dam was built, several villages would have been flooded, and the historic buildings from those areas were relocated.  These consisted of several "choga" which is a style of thatched house, hailing from the 1700s, unique to this part of North Gyeongsang province.  Many of the buildings were perfectly preserved examples, and each had little plaques explaining the type of building, and significance of its features.

I'm always interested in local histories and greatly enjoyed exploring that area.  When I lived in South Korea, I lived in Uiseong county, which is about 45 minutes south of Andong.  I'd go into Andong fairly regularly, either to socialize, or to shop for Western-style groceries at Homeplus, a large department store that carried a much wider range of goods than was available in the tiny rural town where I lived.  But even having lived so close, and having been to Woryeongyo, I never realized what a little treasure trove of history it was.  None of the articles I saw online about things to do in Andong included anything about the historical attractions here, which is a shame, since most of the plaques explaining the little local histories were written in both Korean and English. 

One of the things of particular interest was an old ice cave, built into the side of a large hill.  Ice would be stored here year-round, and it was used to ice salmon that would be shipped inland up the Nakdong river.  It was the further point fish could be shipped up the river without spoiling, so they would be put on ice here.  I had never really considered the logistics of pre-refrigeration fish shipping.  Learning about the way daily life worked in the past, or in other places, enriches my imagination.  I like to fantasize about what places looked like in the past when I take a walk, but on this particular day, I didn't really have to think too hard, since I was more or less walking through a living history park.

Spontaneous, unplanned walks are something of a hallmark of mine, both at home, and abroad.  At their best, these walks give me a wonderful quiet, in which I manage to finally shut myself up and simply enjoy the sensations of walking and looking.