DAY 13
(Reading time: 6 minutes)
The farewell with our host on the morning of our departure was conducted with a ritual that people probably have been practicing since this accommodation opened. The host takes a Polaroid photo of each group of guests, who then must write a note on the photo. The photos are then photographed again in an arranged photo corner (yes, you take pictures of pictures). Finally, one is clipped to a kitchen bulletin board, and the other is given to the guests as a souvenir.
We willingly complied, as we’re not delinquents escaping without pay—sorry, I mean without a photo!
Before returning to Seoul, we had one more destination ahead of us: Suwon. Located 30 km south of the capital, it’s home to a million residents.
Mokpo is both the starting and endpoint of the KTX high-speed rail line on the western route, which we planned to use for our northbound journey. However, it’s not a direct connection—we had to transfer in Seoul to an extended metro line to Suwon. Buying tickets three days in advance turned out to be a good idea, as some connections were already sold out. Even so, we couldn’t sit together.
A middle-aged Korean man took the seat next to me and naturally wanted to chat with a foreigner speaking Korean. While he didn’t know where the Czech Republic was (a first in South Korea), he enthusiastically complimented my “handsome, stylish husband”, “so tall”, “with facial hair”…how rare for Koreans, as it doesn’t grow much there. Thanks! And could you perhaps say something nice about his wife too?
When someone says, “Suwon is just for living,” I get what they mean.
The apartments are still quite expensive, but definitely cheaper than in Seoul, and you have everything you need for life here. Every complex includes a guarded entrance gate for residents, underground parking, small parks with seating, playgrounds, shops, and even a church. The cherry on top is the names of these apartment areas. How do you like names like Skypark, Paradise, Moon House, or We City? We don’t—not because of the cheesy but because of the sheer number of people. When the zombie apocalypse comes, this will be its ground zero.
Walking around these multi-floor monstrosities with eyes wide open was still enjoyable. The endless sprawl of high-rises—both horizontally and vertically—has its charm, and in Suwon, you’ll find them almost everywhere except in the historic center, which is the main reason tourists visit Suwon.
We spent part of the afternoon there immediately after our arrival and hotel check-in. The area is surrounded by walls that we planned to walk along the next day. Souvenir shops, restaurants, cafes (including one themed after Van Gogh), and the famous chicken street (lined with eateries specializing in fried chicken, a Korean favorite) abound.
According to the “rescuer” who drove us from the Purple Islands to Mokpo (see article XYZ), staying in Suwon for more than a day is a waste of time. We stayed three days and could’ve easily done a week—that’s how much Suwon stole our hearts.
First, though, food! We ducked into an Italian restaurant, as we kinda craved European cuisine.
It wasn’t exactly cheap; all the imported ingredients looked authentic—the pizza dough wasn’t puff pastry, the cheese, ham, and olives were genuine, and the European beer was outrageously expensive—but everything tasted amazing. However, Koreans simply cannot forgo their side dishes, not even in the most stylish restaurants serving foreign cuisine. So, we got some pickles and a bit of kimchi, so we wouldn’t have to eat the pizza plain. Lucky us.
The subsequent evening stroll through the old town paid off. Can you name the big-eyed beauty painted on the wall?
Oh, and Taehyung from BTS is there with him too.
Under the walls near the southern gate are two Buddhist temples, one boasting a giant gilded Buddha statue…
…the other featuring many smaller statues and charming quiet corners.
On the way from the old town to our hotel, we passed a self-service laundry… ah, the delightful coincidences life blesses us with! After humid Seoul, rainy Jeju, and hot Mokpo, it was laundry time again. Just a few hours earlier, we’d asked the reception how much their hotel laundry service for personal clothes would cost. The receptionist wasn’t sure and told us to pack everything into a bag, and we’d find out the cost after it was washed… yeah, right!
Armed with our experience of using a washing machine in the Seoul hotel, we confidently walked 2 km to the randomly discovered laundromat. We brought everything, from jackets to underwear—why bother sorting it?
Self-service laundromats, a rarity in our country, are essentially social spaces for residents of nearby apartment complexes. You can sit, chat with neighbors over coffee, read something, or watch TV while your laundry is done in an hour. If you’re not the social type, you just toss your clothes in the machine and return when it’s done, without ever worrying about someone stealing your stuff. That just doesn’t happen here.
The honor system also applies to the fridge with soft drinks—you open it, take what you need, and leave 1,000 won per item in the box above. Woe betide anyone who doesn’t! Big Brother CCTV will report you to the authorities (like the woman in the photo).
The “laundry yearbook” we found on a shelf is proof that laundromats here truly have a community vibe. People paste in notes, drawings, and messages. After a year, someone swaps the old journal for a new one, and it continues.
The hotel staff in Seoul had labeled their washing machine with English instructions, but Suwon’s laundromat didn’t bother, so we had to google a bit, observe, and use trial and error to figure out what to buy, where to put it, and how to start the machine
The coin machine will exchange any Korean banknote for 500-won coins. With those, you can buy (from top to bottom): a green or pink dryer sheet, a fragrance booster for the washer, and a laundry bag for bedding. All optional, as the high-performance machines work well even without these extras.
Based on the laundry load, you choose the washer and dryer size (they even had a machine just for shoes), select a program (we went with a basic one for 30 minutes), and insert the coins.
The atmosphere is pleasant, and if you enjoy watching fire, you’ll find that a regularly rotating drum isn’t too bad either… true story. 😀
-endy-
DONKEY’S SPECIAL NOTES:
-mj-