Traveling around Korea – Damyang
Its hard to believe that I’ve begun the final countdown in Korea. I’m going to make a better effort at posting my final time here. My boyfriend came and went already, the second time. There’s always a sort of excitement and nervousness after periods of separation. Also, I’m so accustomed to living alone and doing a lot of things alone. It seems that I might be more of an introvert than I really believe.
Anyway, one thing I must admit about a partnership, is that its really nice to have someone to travel around with. I would probably not have explored this much of Korea otherwise. The next few posts will share my adventures in Korea with the time he was here.
First, we visited the South Jeolla Province and stayed in Gwangju. I booked what ended up being a sort of love motel. The one thing I must say about love motels in Korea, is that they aren’t always as seedy as they sound. The one we stayed in was quite nice, equipped with a flat screen TV, a computer, hairspray, brushes, etc. I will miss this about Korea!!
Anyway, there’s a bamboo forest in Damyang, nearby the big city of Gwangju. The weather was still a little chilly and the colors weren’t in full radiance at that time, but here’s some pictures from that day.
To get there from Busan we departed from the Sasang Bus Terminal. It took about 3 1/2 hours to go to Gwangju and then we had to take a smaller bus to Damyang. The bamboo forest is called Juknokwon. There wasn’t too many people when we first arrived, but it got more crowded by the time we left. I was so excited to eat bamboo food, but was greatly disappointed when the meal we chose wasn’t any different. If you go, which I already knew before, don’t go to the restaurants located right next to the forest. You’ll basically get “ripped” off.
It wasn’t that big of a forest, but it was nice to walk around and explore. We also decided to have our picture drawn. B knew that it would probably look nothing like us. We had seen the pictures the man was drawing of the other couples and they looked much more charming on paper than how they really looked. It isn’t to say these people were ugly, its only to say that Korea has a tendency to exaggerate the physical appearance. Ours wasn’t as different, but we do look like children. I told B that it’d be like if we’d been together when we were 16, but its still a cute memory.
I love that pencil drawing of you two! Looking like children isn’t such a bad thing..we should all remain childlike in some ways! <3
Thanks Tracy! Yes, its important to remain childlike…in some ways
Very cool. I might be teaching in Gwangju…next month!
Welcome to Korea!!!
Hi there,
may i ask if the motel u stayed in is near the Gwangju bus Terminal (U Square)? If yes, may i know the name pls?
Thanks….
No, we didn’t stay near the Gwangju Bus Terminal. I forgot the name of where we stayed, but it was near the Gwangju Holiday Inn