Mungyeong Hospitality Captivates Foreigners
Hiking up a mountain in the dark to look for mushrooms isn’t how most people wish to spend their Saturdays. None the less, that’s where I was one late October morning, trudging along behind a pack of Korean teachers.
They had lectured me all morning on the special properties of the songyi mushroom (which I was predictably informed are a “well-being food, good for skin”), teaching me how to recognize them and their distinct smell. However, I wasn’t really there for the mushrooms; I was there for the experience.
You won’t find “mushroom hunting with locals” in your South Korea Lonely Planet, but in Mungyeong, it’s far from unexpected. Situated an hour away from Daegu, in the northeast corner of Gyeongsangbukdo, Mungyeong is far from everything except Korean traditions.
Here, the people still pick mushrooms on the weekend, clean tombs for Chuseok, pray to their ancestors on Seollal, line their roofs with kimchi pots, and dry their chillies on the pavement.
You won’t see these things in Seoul or Daegu, but you will in Mungyeong - one of the few and ever decreasing places in K
Apr 29, 2010