We find a decent, spacious, clean room in Namwon which seems to have more hotels than Jinju, thanks no doubt to the Jirisan National Park, which in seasons throngs with eager walkers kitted out in full gear and equal numbers of tourists, usually in suits and ties and high heels, oblivious to the rough terrain, keen to take in the splendours of the mountain range that is said to be Korea’s most beautiful.
We stroll through Gwanghalluwon, a traditional formal garden made almost 600 years ago and dedicated to the heroic love story of Chunhyang.
Dinner is a superb steaming mushroom soup, full of woodland goodness, that helps me fight off a chill from the unexpectedly cool mountain evening.
Wake to a crisp sunny morning, giving the green pine-clad peaks sharp relief against the endless blue sky, fuelling our anticipation of a day exploring the mountains. Driving through rural scenes of golden rice fields, persimmons still on the tree branches, and very traditional hamlets, we soon come to a lovely river bed carved through solid, massive granite, part of it one huge flattened boulder, giving on to a narrower channel with a gentle flow of clear, very cold water and a couple of pools deep enough to bathe in if one were brave enough.
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