Fresh air with the kiddos: Field trip to the Korea National Arboretum

Some wonderful Fall foliage pics here to share with you as I talk about my final field trip for this semester. The kiddos were sent to the Korea National Arboretum up in Pocheon, which is slightly north of Seoul.

Our day was blessed with little cloud cover, warm air and wonderful colors along the way.

You might be asking yourself, "What is an arboretum, that sounds familiar?" Well this is likened to a collection of trees, so in essence this park was a tree-park. What does every tree park need? A museum to enlighten you on the varieties of wood out there and it's many uses, of course!

In one exhibit they reminded viewers the destruction that Japanese occupiers left on the forests here, which was kind of sad. However, the organization of the museum was quite nice and it also had a lovely lingering smell of fresh cut wood.

Also in the museum was a gallery space with shadow boxes full of hand crafted sceneries made from wooden items.

After our stint around the museum we headed over to a greenhouse for some humid air and to take a look at some greenery.

The most of this trip was spent wandering through the many paths admiring the changing colors in the leaves, and mostly for me taking in the fresh forest smell.

In fact the fresh air and Fall foliage reminded me of my small-town home back in California, so I became a bit homesick and nostalgic at the same time. But the kids constantly kicked me into remembering where I was, and Fall in Korea is certainly a special time.

We enjoyed lunch in a opening under the trees, where unfortunately bees also had a good time checking out what we brought.

For the final leg of our trip we walked up a trail admiring the forest once more, before heading back to the busses.

Now is the peak time for fall foliage it seems, as the trees are in full bursts of color. I can't help but think by the end of next week the trees might look like sticks, and winter will be around the corner. Time surely does fly!

Soswaewon Garden (소쇄원)

On my second day in the lush green city of Damyang I decided to head into the mountains to see the Soswaewon garden. Somewhat of a famous landmark and I figured I would try and venture around beyond the city limits.

When you get out of Seoul and try your luck at traveling around the countryside you can end up in the middle of nowhere. This happened to me as I tried to bus my way to the garden location. Using my naver bus-map app I was told to get off at a certain bus stop, cross the street and transfer to the 2-1 bus. Well when I got across the street I noticed on the bus stop sign that it didn't list the 2-1 bus. I checked my app and tried to see if there were other bus stops around. But it seemed I was stuck out in the middle of nowhere. To boost the sidewalk made better use for drying crops than for letting pedestrians use them.

I turned around and looked at my prospects for help. There was a store selling only fish nets, and besides this a police station. I thought I was in luck seeing the police station, as throughout my life the police in this sort of situation have been helpful.

I walked into the police station and there behind the counter were 4 police men sitting comfortably with the air conditioner blowing on them. I asked them (in Korean) where was the bus I was looking for and gave them my hand written note of today's journey (with Korean on it). They chatted amongst themselves and then one of the officer's stood up and said, "Ok. You come with me."

The next thing I knew I was in a Korean police car being escorted to the garden site, while trying to keep my excitement down. He didn't put on his seat belt and neither did I. Throughout the ride I tried to talk to him but my Korean wasn't up to par. Anyways it was a fun ride and he did point out things along the way such as a grape farm and a lake. I got to hear radio chatter on his system in the car, and notice the difference in people driving around him.

He stopped at my destination and let me out, and we said goodbye. But this was by far one of the best experiences I have had in Korea and I'm sure gave him something to remember too.

Entering the garden you first pay a little fee then head up a hill where you see a small stream and more bamboo trees.

There really weren't many trail markers and I sort of just followed other people around to figure out where to go. However, it turns out this garden is compact and not really big enough to get lost in. It comprises of several structures, walls, a stream and of course gardens with budding trees.

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Korean gardens are meant to be at harmony with the surrounding nature and follows a Confucian attitude built during the Joseon period.

So Yang made this garden to seclude himself from social position. The part of the garden was burnt down during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), but the buildings were reconstructed by his descendants, and the present Sosweawon was renovated by Yang Taek-ji, Yang san-bo's descendant in the fifth generation. An 18th-century map of Sosweawon remains. It is carved on wood in the 31st year of King Yeongjo (1755), and shows the original design of the garden.

For the most part you enjoy walking up and down the dirt path along the stone wall. As you do so a variety of trees shade your way and traditional Korean structures peek above the walls. The bubbling stream that passes through is a soothing sound for sore ears. Yet you do enjoy this attraction with many other people, and I think I got there early enough to beat the huge crowds.

For the most part I saw families and couples enjoying a light snack or boxed lunch under pavilions. Babies got their picture taken in the stream, despite their protests.

Overall a lovely stop to visit when in Damyang, but don't make it your whole day's adventure as there isn't much in the surrounding area.

I noticed these ducks in the stream on my way back and considered that they were quite larger than the ones I see down in Seoul.

When I finished up with the Soswaewon Garden I decided to walk down the road to where the lake was, thinking there would be a trail or some kind of place to look out over the lake. However, I didn't find such a thing and the hot weather was getting to me. So I headed back to the nearest bus stop and tried my luck.

Along the way I walked past some lovely farmland scenery.

At the bus stop I used my bus-app again to figure out which bus to take to get me back to Damyang or someplace familiar. Thankfully a young lady was with me and she suggested taking her bus to Gwangju. I did just that and ended up in the city, had a bite to eat then headed home. It wasn't the most packed day, but I was feeling a bit beat and figured I would rest in the pension (which I paid for).

During my time in Damyang I enjoyed the amount of walking I did, especially when I got off at the last stop and walked up a sloping hill to my pension. Along this walk I passed a hanok village which was set in front of a lovely mountain scene. Mostly, all that walking was good meditation to clear the troubles that were on my mind from last semester.

Damyang: 죽녹원 Bamboo Forest

When I first arrived at Damyang I made my way to my pension (more detail on that later). The owners of the place gave me a lift to the nearest grocery store, and on the way back got me some local treats. This was bamboo shoot bread, and was very delicious with small pieces of bamboo (edible) inside, along with a slight sweet taste from the bread.

On my first full day in Damyang I headed to the bamboo forest ( 죽녹원) to have a lovely walk through tall stalks of leafy bamboo. Getting around Damyang is pretty easy and it was a short walk from my pension to the forest entrance.

On this day I got there around 10 AM, and that proved to be a good decision as I was able to meander through the forest trails without much bother from the crowds. I have never wandered through a bamboo forest and have always thought the idea of this to be enticing.

As I entered the thicker part of the forest and the light grew dim and shaded in lovely ways by the leaves and stalks, I knew this was a special place.

Damyang is located a bit north of Gwangju in the Jeollanam-do province on the Southwestern side of Korea. Of all my time here in Korea I have never ventured to this slice of Korea, and for my vacation figured I would cover this ground.

When walking through the forest I looked up and admired the leaves through the sunlight, making lovely silhouettes.

As you make your way through the forest you pass water fountains, benches and other little spots to stop and enjoy the scenery. Carved into the bamboo were names of couples who had left their mark.

The forest is of course the location of many famous filming spots, and also where Korea's officials have ventured.

The only panda's in this forest were fake, yet still quite cute.

In one area I noticed a bird close to the pathway, that didn't mind getting it's picture taken.

When you get to the back of the forest you enter into the "experience village", where there are traditional houses (hanok), grassy fields and fountains. I didn't really know what there was to "experience" but I had an enjoyable time sitting on the deck of one of the hanoks and taking a rest. Generally, the path throughout the forest is not to laborious but there are some hills here and there.

One of the fun parts of going through the forest were when random people said hello to me. "Where are you from?" Was one of the many questions, and even one visitor gave me a cold drink they got out of a vending machine. It's one of the charms of traveling around Korea, that is of running into nice people along the way.

Heading out of the experience village I admired the walk back to the entrance, and stopped in at the souvenir shop and cafe.

Of all the bamboo trinkets including fans, whacking sticks and back scratchers, I decided to go home with a bamboo cup.

When you get out of the forest you make your way to the left and there is a pavilion where you can rest and look out over Damyang.

In the above picture you see a water fountain area in the front, where kids enjoyed running through and then in the background you see a line of tall trees poking up. That was the meta-sequoia drive walk that is also famous in this area. However, I didn't partake in that as I have experienced tree lined streets before in Korea.

But stay tuned for more posts about my visit to Damyang, including some fun stories of getting lost and finding my way.