My first and likely last solo trip in Korea.
When I first moved to Korea, I decided one of my main goals was to go on at least one solo trip. I wanted to be able to look back and say that I had the courage to travel around Korea on my own. Face down my fear of the unknown without leaning on someone else.
So, during the Chuseok holiday break (after my misadventure in hiking), I planned to take an overnight trip to Damyang, South Korea. Damyang is a smaller town and its claim to fame is a massive bamboo forest known as Juknokwon Bamboo Forest.
While it is not the only bamboo forest in Korea, it is one of the most popular to visit for locals and foreigners alike. It opened in 2005 and there are 8 trails you can follow throughout the forest. The trails weave their way through the bamboo, taking you past bamboo hammocks, chairs and loungers that allow you to stare up into the vast ceiling of the forest, a children's playground, and a collection of art installations that are interspersed throughout.
I wanted to take advantage of the warmer weather and visit one of Korea's more natural attractions. And this time, I was going to do it on my own.
When I am the only person I have to be responsble for, I tend to take a more laid back approach to planning (as we discovered during my hiking misadventure) . The same can be said for this trip. I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do, and the rest I would figure out once I arrived.
I took the bus for about three hours from Daegu to Gwangju, which is the nearest city to Damyang with direct transportation options. There is a bus that runs from Gwangju to Damyang, but it only runs once every hour. So, I decided I would spend the majority of that first day exploring Gwangju, and then head to Damyang in the early evening to walk around Juknokwon once the temperature cooled down a little.
First up on my Gwangju tour was Sajik park. I choose this park specifically because of its observation tower. You can catch an elevator up to the outside observation deck, which provides an excellent 360 degree view of the city!
Since this trip was only two days after my Apsan hike, the mile or so walk to get to the park from the bus stop was more tiring than I expected.
It also came to my attention that the weather forecast was looking increasingly like rain for the following day, and I started worrying that I wouldn't have a chance to see as much of Damyang as I wanted because I could get rained out.
So, I decided to just wing it and take a taxi and get to Damyang earlier than planned so that I had more time to explore the city...just in case.
The taxi ride to Damyang, more than anything else I have experienced in Korea so far, motivated me to start taking Korean language lessons. It was a 40 minute taxi ride to Damyang and my taxi driver did his absolute best to try and talk to me with his very, very limited knowledge of English, and I contributed next to nothing during our conversation except for some vigourous nodding as I understood a word here or there.
Turns out it is extremely frustrating not to be able to express yourself the way you want to.
The taxi dropped me off right in front of the entrance to Juknokwon. Wasting no time, I bought my entrance ticket and proceeded on a very tranquil walk through the bamboo.
As I wandered throughout the trails, I was able to see most of the bamboo forest. And what I saw was quite splendid, indeed.
Bamboo forests have a magic that is unique to them. From the soft rustling of the leaves to the solid green color of the shoots from root to tip, it feels like stepping into another world. There were several art installations throughout the forest that were very cool. Some were made of bamboo and some were made to compliment it.
There were a surprising number of people walking around, so the timing of most of these photos was pure luck. The great thing about Korea is that Koreans are not embarrassed to stop and set up a great picutre for their friends or family, so if anyone noticed I was taking a picture, they were pretty respectful about trying not to get in the frame...and obviously, I tried to do likewise for them.
After about an hour and a half I was ready to move on. Just outside of Juknokwon, they sell the famous "bamboo" ice cream. So, of course, I HAD to try some.
I definitely expected it to taste similar to grass or bark, so color me shocked when it turned out to have a very pleasant flavor! In my opinion, it is similar to the "green tea" flavor some of you might be familiar with, but with a slightly sweeter aftertaste. I finished the whole thing and had zero regrets.
There wasn't anything else specific I had planned to do in Damyang, and there weren't any other major tourist attractions to visit, so I headed down to the river nearby and found a spot to read. The river seemed to be a popular place for the locals to visit, and in the hour or so I was there I saw many families and couples walking or playing along its banks. After an hour or so, I went to find my Airbnb before it got too dark. Korea is full of little side streets and alleys that can be easy to miss in the dark. I figured once I found the place, I could head out for dinner and then circle back around to the Airbnb.
The place I was staying was a shared room situation, very similar to the hostels in Europe. It was a little bit of a struggle figuring out how to check-in since the instruction packet in the house was all handwritten in Korean, which gave my translation app a nervous breakdown.
When I finally found it (after wandering around for a solid 20 min), the outside was so charming. There was a little fountain in the back near the main house, and it made everything feel so serene.
It was nice, clean, and had all the ammenitities I needed, but it was a difficult stay because I don't really know the "unspoken rules" of Korean etiquette. I didn't want to be rude to any of the other Koreans who were sharing a room with me, but it resulted in the overhead light being on until after 1AM. I was in bed before anyone else in the room and left the light on to be poilte. I don't know if they continued to leave it on because I left it on, or what? They were all super quiet when moving around the room, but the light continued to stay on even after they got into bed. I really wonder if it would have stayed on all night if I hadn't gotten up to finally turn it off at 1 AM.
The next morning, as predicted, it was raining pretty hard. My plan for the day had been to go back to the river and walk around, look at some souvenir shops, and eat breakfast (not necessarily in that order). After that, I would take a taxi back to Gwangju and visit the Asia Cultural Center. But by the time I had packed up and was ready to head into the town, it was POURING.
So now I was faced with two choices. I could either exchange my bus ticket and head home early, or I could stick to my plan but get soaked walking around in the rain.
I really did not want to get soaked.
And, honestly, it had been pretty lonely traveling around by myself so I wasn't enjoying the trip as much as I had thought I would.
In the end, I went to the bus station in Gwangju, switched my ticket, and went home.
It was a lesson learned about solo travel. I, surprisingly, did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. In my opinion, there is something about having someone else to share your experiences with that can really change a trip for the better, or at least help to fill the silence a little.
As an introvert, I sometimes need someone to keep me from sinking too far inside my own head that I stop noticing what is happening around me. Without that, I can sometimes tune out too much to appreciate the journey.
So, at the end of the day, I was one part satisfied that I did what I set out to do by completing a solo trip while in Korea, and I was one part dissastified, since it turned out not to be a very enjoyable experience.
Until next time!
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