Travel
the South Seas, all the way to spring
three days when wildflowers led the way before people did
it took me five hours to get from Seoul to Namhae, the last hour of which was the longest.
the main road narrows, the narrower road narrows even more, and eventually you turn onto a street in town that barely passes a single car,
and there you have it.
in the South Seas in May, the streets are more bike-friendly than car-friendly.
spring in the South Sea is late. long after the April cherry blossoms have faded, wildflowers slowly take over the roadsides.
flowers that no one had ever intentionally planted bloomed in the cracks and crevices of stone walls, in abandoned courtyards and at the edges of abandoned fields.
the village of Darangi was full of people, as the name suggests. one stop into the next village, the scenery was similar, but there were no people. The sameoceansame slope, same stone wall. i drove past the photogenic spot and stopped at a less photogenic spot.
they bloom the most luxuriantly where no one planted them.
lunch was at a nondescript white-brick restaurant. they didn't have a menu, just a plate of whatever side dishes were available that day.
dodo soup a bowl and aanchovy Ssamandsesame Leaf Pickles. the boss is silent for a while,
"the wormwood was canned yesterday" I said one word.
i went down to Mizo Port in the evening. not the restaurant district of the big harbor, but the alley behind it. fishing boats were just coming in,
the harbor was slowly dipping into the evening light.
the light was moving too fast to take a single photo.
seven o'clock on a May evening in Mizohang. it darkens most slowly.
on the second day, I did very little driving. i walked down to a small beach within walking distance of the hostel and sat there for about two hours. i realized that the waves were not consistent.
one big wave, seven small waves. i listened to the rhythm for a while.
on the morning of my last day in the South Seas, I saw the ocean one more time from the observation deck above the village of Gacheon Darangi.
we didn't stay long because of the crowds. instead, I turned around and drove back into the cobblestone streets of the neighboring village I had visited yesterday,
i walked slowly there for a long time. spring seemed to end this way - with a
picking a spot you want to go back to one more time, but with fewer people.