8 April 2026
Refamiliarized with all the dongs
Daejeon Dunsan area
I am staying in the new downtown area, which I just found out is called Dunsan Dong, everything is a Dong. I stayed in this Dong last time, but on a previous trip I stayed in the old down town area, which is where the station I came in on is located, which is apparently called Eunhaeng Dong, Dunasn is easier to type than Eunhaeng, so for that reason, Dunsan is my preferred Dong.
Earlier I remarked that the station area looked different to what I remembered, however Dunsan Dong was very familiar, I suspect it was 'finished' already on my previous visit, and is not yet ready for 'renew'.
There are lots of neon lit streets, some department stores, and about a million restaurants.
My hotel is about a km away from the city centre, located in between a bunch of government buildings and parks, so there are a few different ways to walk between the hotel and the city centre, and so I did, and I found another area of Daejeon, I shall call it mystery dong.
Here in the new downtown area, all the buildings are new.
This is probably the main street, department store area on the right.
As you can see, there are a few buildings joined by elevated walkways. They have decided to go with the overused name of 'galleria'.
The nearby streets are a mix of nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and claw machines... so many claw machines, so much money laundering.
I remembered this area from my last trip.
Dinner tonight was a beef and mushroom hotpot. Many kinds of mushrooms. Is this my beef wellington moment?
And then I discovered mystery dong. At first I thought it was a red light district (it is right next to the government buildings after all), but upon somewhat close inspection, it is mainly restaurants.
Now ordinarily, tomorrow would be a hiking day, but the forecast says all day rain. In good news, I am here for 4 days and 5 nights, so I can move my hiking days around without missing one, and without having to pull off a double. So tomorrow is a non hiking day, with no plan. I guess I will see a lot more dongs.