문경 moongyeong-ish area

Earlier, some of us went out on a road trip to find a rock face. And in that search we found some go carting and cool hang out spots. This being a long weekend, it seemed like a decent time to check out those sights again. Chungbuk (my province) is comprised of lots of farmland, so there is lots of natural beauty, but it doesn't always seem like there's much to do. But as we've discovered, there are some out in the middle of nowhere things to do. This being the type of day to reinforce that.

Two Buddhas carved into the rock, that we passed on the way to our destination.

This was a popular stopping point, as lots of cars had pulled to the side and people were hanging out at the river across the road from the Buddhas.

Along the way, we saw plenty of people using the pedal... carts on old railway tracks. It didn't look like the funnest activity, but a tonne of people were doing it.

 We stopped for some dongdongju (rice wine) and toast (which is really a sandwich) to take a break. And that's when a game of punch buggy started, except instead of beetles, we went with popped collars. Which is way too popular here.

 We checked out the pedal boat area. 10,000 won for 30 minutes. Not bad, but there was a long line up and only a small roped off area that you got to paddle around in. For me, it would've lost its appeal very quickly, just like pedaling along on old rail road tracks.

Horse rides. They had real horse rides as well. But the fake ones come with video screens, so it's a cheap substitution.

 And then onto go carting! 12,000 won for 10 minutes. Kinda pricey, but it's been a long time since I last went, so maybe that's a normal price? It wasn't as good as it could've been though, because there were lots of couple go carts (two people, one cart) which generally had a parent and their very young child. Doesn't really make you feel comfortable letting loose on the track.

 Then there was 오미자 makgeolli/rice wine with dinner. I'm not even sure what the berry is exactly, maybe currants? It seemed to be a local specialty. It was nice and sweet, but nothing special that I would go out of my way to get.

And dinner, my favourite standby, bibimbap, there was also pajeon (onion pancake) and kimchi jjigae. Along with a plethora of sides.

And then at a souvenir shop we came across this gem, penis wine. Basically, the ceramic part (penis) on top is a shot glass which you drink the wine out of. I'm not exactly sure what it's made of, but I had to try it.

And naturally the best place to try it is by the river. It smelled horrible, but it didn't taste as bad as I expected. But since it's apparently an alcohol to improve male performance, I think the whole experience was lost on me as a female. Oh well, at least I get to keep the nifty happy penis shot glasses.