Jeonju Paper museum and Hanok Village tour

Tuesday - a couple of hours on the bus, and we stopped at the large cultural city of Jeonju. Our first stop was the Jeonju Hanji Paper Mill and Museum. Firstly we all got to make some paper from Mulberry tree bark, which had been treated (boiled, beaten, and bleached) and was in almost liquid form. We dipped a wooden frame lined with a bamboo mat into the solution, shook it around for 10 seconds, then lifted it out, drained off the liquid, and then removed the thin bamboo mat. It was covered in a thin layer of sludgy liquid, which we then held over a special machine that sucked the moisture out of it, then it was laid on a hot metal plate for a couple of minutes, and wala - a sheet of paper. We then took it over and stamped it. The kids also got to use an old ink press, and made themselves a stamped picture - they had a lovely time. We then spent some time going through the museum, watching a short film on the different ways humans have recorded their stories since the beginning of time, carved on animal bones, on parchment, etc until the invention of paper which was a great step forward.

Next it was off to the Jeonju Hanok Village. A bit like Korea's huger version of Sovereign Hill, but with a lot of actual historic houses. Actually about 700 of them.We experienced a variety of different crafts, artwork, a palace, beautiful trees and gardens, museums, and of course lots and lots of little shops (some of them specialising in the local craft - papermaking).

We were all exhausted by the end of the day, and after eating dinner in a restaurant in the village, it was a bit of a walk dragging our suitcases up a narrow shopping street to our hotel. We are a little concerned about why there is a half empty can of bug spray in the rooms, but we are all tired, so will hopefully all sleep well. In Korea they do not have more than 3 beds in a room (mostly only 2), so a lot of the time the kids have been sleeping on futons (a doona on the bottom, and a doona on the top) on the floor. In all of the hotels the floor heating is always on, and very hot, so the first thing we always do when we arrive at a new hotel is try and figure out how to turn it off before we all cook.
Most nights after the children go to sleep we congregate in someone's room for a chat and a snack. We are having a great time with Bill and Liz (and especially Liz's stash's of Aussie chocolate that she brought with her - thank you Liz!!).