Jeonju gear shops in a pinch

[Tleex]

I went on an impromptu gear-finding excursion in Jeonju on Friday. The helpful ladies at the train station tourist booth supplied me with a map and even tracked down a hiking store for me.

The store in question turned out to be a Black Yak shop. It's just by the enormous Chonbuk Ilbo (Chonbuk news) building; pass the Ilbo building on your left, then turn left at the intersection. It's nearly a straight shot from the train station, and our taxi ride there cost about 4000 won. Not much in the way of gear and rather pricey (biners ran from 10-14 thousand, quickdraws about 34 thousand), but the owner was willing to give us a discount.

We ran into a better-equipped store on the way back to the train station. It's a Lowe Alpine shop just past the Home Plus (from the train station) and across the street. It has a vertical green sign that says "Dungsan Jangbi" (hiking equipment) in hangeul and a number of climbing equipment logos. They were also expensive, but they offered a selection of everything from rope to shoes.

Neither of these stores are easy on your wallet, but if you happened to be on your way to Maisan and decided that you needed a helmet, it's nice to know that you could pop into a store before you head out.