Yeongsan River ~ Damyang

One of the more enjoyed parts of my trip to Damyang this summer was the simple time I had wondering along the Yeongsan river at dusk. Located near the restaurants and bamboo forest, it was a great place to relax and unwind.

You could rent family wagons to ride around in or bicycles if you like.

The river seemed to stretch on and on, I guessed you could keep walking for quite some time.

If you are in Damyang and have the time I would suggest taking a lovely stroll down this river path.

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.

Joy in Jeju: A Day at the Beach

One of the major reasons I wanted to go to Jeju was to spend a day at the beach. It's summer and I for one enjoy the hot weather because it pushes you to want to jump into a cool pool of water. However, Seoul seems to lack in this concept of public places to swim. Sure there are several along the Han river, but just a simple local place to go take a dive is out of the question.

Deciding which beach to visit on Jeju presents itself as quite a task. According to JejuLife.net there are about 13 to choose from, some of which being secluded, others with different color sand and some that are near local attractions. However, since we were close to Udo island I decided to head over there and enjoy the white sand it had to offer.

A closer look at Udo:

Our destination was to go from the Cheonjinhang port on the south side of the island up to the Hagosudong Beach on the North side of the island. But first one needed to make sure they had a good start to their day and we did that by making pancakes for breakfast.

The pancakes came out really good and were accompanied by some Agave syrup, which was all right. 

We packed up our beach gear and headed towards the island, which is done by walking down to the ferry at Seongsan Port. The walk over provided an interesting view of large sea-side equipment.

You might be looking at those clouds and thinking it is going to rain on our beach day, but don't worry they cleared out practically at the same time we arrived on Udo.

The ferry terminal was buzzing with people buying tickets and lounging around waiting for their boat to arrive. Odd thing is we arrived just five minutes before our boat sailed off and so got our tickets and immediately got in line.

The ferry ride takes you out past Ilchulbong, which gives you a nice side view of it's rocky outcroppings. Udo is named as such because it resembles the shape of a cow when it is lying down. In other words, we were heading to "cow island"! 

Arriving on the island, one feels a little woozy and spaced out, but then quickly lightens up to figure out how to get across to the beach side. There were several options one could have chosen, such as renting a scooter, golf cart or taking a bus. We opted for none of those things and instead went by foot. Again, using my GPS naver map system on my Android phone, getting there was a breeze.

The walk across Udo was greeted by a lot of sunshine and farmland, all of which was a perfect set up for taking a dip in the sea.

Some farmer and a scene with actual cows on a "cow island"...

One knew they were getting closer to the beach when you could see the water on the horizon. Indeed, I couldn't wait to get in the water. 

It seemed we had gotten there early enough as the beach was still not very crowded and you could rent a platform tent without any troubles. The platform tent cost 30,000 won for the whole day and was made of a flat large bottom, with a canopy roof.

At first I wanted to run and dive into the water, but as soon as my feet touched it I realized this was going to take some time. The water was a bit cool and so I waded around a while till my body got acclimated and then took the dive.

You really could walk out that far and even further if you wanted to. Looking back now, as I sit at my desk here, diving into that water couldn't have been more perfect. I always love that first feeling of going under a pool of water and right now wish I could be transported back there.

The rest of the day we spent under our tent enjoying snacks, a book to read and I did some sketching. When we went shopping we found this bag of chips labeled as "Tacos" and with the word "Mexico" labeled on the front.

I had never seen this in Korea before and thought they would make for a great beach snack. The picture on the front is pretty accurate, but the taste just passed as a regular nacho chip. I am not sure what they seasoned it with to make it like a taco, but it didn't really taste that much different.

My friend caught some "zzzz" and I enjoyed walking along the beach admiring how the tide went really far out.

More people came at this part of the day and had fun on the beach.

Nearby were some statues of the famous woman divers known for Udo and Jeju island. Some of the beach folk would stop and get their picture taken. We decided to do the same.

Although Udo has a lot more to offer than just beaches, we didn't see any of it. My goal was to come and enjoy the beach for a day and we accomplished that. The ferry schedule has it's last drop off at 6pm and so it was time to head out. 

I do hope to get back to Udo some day and see it's lighthouse and geological features, so who knows maybe I will! If you are heading to Jeju I recommend exploring this island as it has some nice beaches and great scenery to check out. Plus the ferry ride wasn't too expensive and there was even fried chicken on the island which can be delivered to you for 18,000 won.