After borrowing some rather basic bikes from a friend, we left a night out early (pre-12pm) with the plan to spend Sunday cycling to Damyang (home of the bamboo forest). We’d heard that all you needed to do was to get to the river that runs through Gwangju and choose your direction either heading towards Mokpo or Damyang. We chose Damyang, Mokpo apparently took 9 hours – er, tempting? No. What we didn’t realise though was just how difficult it was to get to the river! As novice cyclers and, as usual for us, being totally unprepared (basic bikes, no snacks and no real idea where we were going once our GPS locator started playing up on our phone), it took us a full hour to get to the river. This was because we were navigating our way through the bumpy backstreets of Gwangju and trying to avoid vehicles parked over pavements, grumpy ajummas (older women) yelling at us and the potential of ending up on the motorway (highway).
Finally, we hit the river; we had quite seriously nearly given up so this was a huge achievement. We were glad to finally start, what we believed to be, the actual cycle ride. It was a hot day but we were lucky as it was slightly overcast which gave us some cover as much of the trail had zero shade. We cycled along the river over a variation of terrains, some bits were bumpy and some bits were purpose-built red cycle trails, all with blue markers along it telling us how far we had left to Damyang. At points it was confusing working out where the trail went as it crossed over the river and then went back in the direction we’d just come from. This was very odd but after clocking that we must be following a forking river, we relaxed, happily saw another marker and continued.
The route went past marshlands, wide parts of river, farms (with actual cows – rare in Korea) and at one point, apricot trees. I picked two very small apricots, minding the huge spiders sat in their sprawling webs, and we had a small bite. Sadly, the apricots weren’t ready and were way too sour. As the route continued we noticed that according to our phone GPS, we were nearly there. Yet the markets still said we had another 10k. Odd but we plodded on. After about 3 hours of cycling we were starting to lag now.
Suddenly we started to see more people, the river continued next to us but we noticed more shops lining it and restaurants with people sitting outside. I commented, wondering what village outside of Damyang this was, turned out, it was Damyang! We were there. Or at least, we were at what we understood Damyang to be i.e. where the bamboo forest. Not concerning ourselves with where the path ended, we were happy to end the cycle ride and grab some well-earned food. If I did this again, I would take some snacks!!
We briefly looked at the restaurants and what they were offering and quickly, plonked ourselves down at a random one lining the river as we realised they were all selling pretty much the same three things. Red noodles, anchovy noodle soup and boiled eggs. We decided that would do – we were starving. We found a restaurant that didn’t have floor-seating (not sure our stiff limbs could take that) and we sat down outside looking over the river. The restaurant was manically busy but after a while we got our seriously needed Heit beers. Then followed our boiled eggs with salt (so good), red noodles and anchovy noodle soup which though sounds horrendous actually doesn’t taste of anchovy and so for me, it’s good.
After lunch, we wanted to head to the Damyang Fortress that was apparently a 30-40 minute hike up a hill and thankfully had a jimjilbang (onsen/spa) at the bottom. We cycled our bikes to the bus terminal, hooked them up and then tried to find a bus to the Fortress. As per usual our Google map was telling us one thing and the lack of bus told us another. We eventually got a taxi. For 10.000 won, it was worth it to get to the Fortress. The hike wasn’t too tough, it had steep bits where you scampered up rocks and it had steep paths, but after Wolchusan last week, it was nothing in comparison. Having said that after a 4 hour cycle ride it was definitely harder than I expected. There was a little café near the top of the hike and the cool mini can of coke I purchased was absolute bliss and I think got me to the top!
As we approached the top we were welcomed with two temples that were effectively ornate gate huts with pebbled paths leading through them. It was impressive to see some real history where you could imagine horses scaling up these old paths many years ago. The temples themselves were standard Korean temples, streaked with bright red, blue and green colours. In each temple, a group of older hikers were taking a break in the shade admiring the view. It was truly a magnificent view. In one direction, there were rolling, towering mountains and in the other farmlands stretching out as far as the eye could see. As we reached the higher temple, we looked down to the other one which appeared to be stretching out on a path and peak of its own. It was stunning.
After resting for a while and checking out the general surroundings, we headed down. We were in serious need of that rumoured jimjilbang. The trek was much easier on the way down and as we got to the bottom, we heard an amazing sound, people and splashing! We walked onto the main round and found the entrance to the resort where the sound was coming from, Damyang Spa. Looking incredibly disheveled and stinking to high hell, I doubted we’d be allowed in to this luxurious-looking establishment. Luckily for us, they weren’t that judgmental, in hindsight, they’re probably used to sweaty hikers wandering in. As we entered we were welcomed with a beautiful few of an incredible outdoor pool, something we don’t see a lot of in Gwangju. The sight itself tempted us to splash out and pay extra to jump in it. We paid 15,000 won each for access to the jimjilbang and the outside pool. We showered in our gender specific areas and then met outside in our swimwear. Jumping into that pool was just incredible after all the hardship from the day, it was just glorious. Our aching bones couldn’t take us far up the pool though and we soon opted for the very small ‘rapids’ and then the natural hot spring tub.
After soaking and one more dip in the pool, we headed to our separate jimjilbangs again. For me, the nakedness was almost normal by now, this was Tom’s first time though! This spa had similar pools to the one I go to in Gwangju, it just had a bigger outdoor pool and loungers. The saunas were scented and housed women who were genuinely meditating or stretching (avert eyes). I also really enjoyed the scalding hot bamboo-scented pool after all, when in Damyang everything must be bamboo themed! I also got involved in the hard streams of water coming from the ceiling that you position yourself under so that it massages your back, just what I needed!
Being aware that we needed to get back to Gwangju, we limited our time in the saunas to half an hour. After a shower and being pointed at by an aghast young girl, I changed and headed out to meet Tom who was having a beer on the veranda by the pool – one can only take a certain amount of naked guy time I guess. We chilled a little longer and then luckily grabbed a bus back to the bus terminal. We picked up our bikes and tried to get a bus back to Gwangju only to find that the ticket booth had shut and the taking of bikes was at the bus drivers discretion (despite the research we’d done earlier about this).
Finally, one of the drivers was in a good mood, grinned and let us plonk them underneath. Knackered and relieved, we flopped into our seats on the bus bound for Gwangju. Pushing the realisation that we still had to cycle home from U Square Bus Terminal from our minds, we settled down and relished the memories of our amazing day!
On arrival, we managed to sneak in a quick pre-drink and some shoddy bar chicken before we headed up the hill to where the fireworks were being held, Yongdusan Park. The top of the hill was suitably crowded with a well-behaved Korean audience (ignoring pushing, shoving and lack of respect for personal space). There was a temple structure at the top with a huge bell located in the middle that had large spotlights focused upon it. More lights swiveled around the edges of the temples, pointed out into the crowd and up into the sky. I expected more from them around 12 midnight.
A few Egg McMuffins later, we headed to the beach for the finale. There was a stage and some music playing and we planted ourselves along the shoreline. Just a sprinkling of a crowd had started to gather. We stood and waited and as the sky began to lighten. The crowd around us started to grow. People were sending lanterns off into the air and had red balloons firmly in hand ready to release.
We began to turn away from the sea to find a taxi. We were approached by a reporter for a major Korean news channel who wanted to interview us about our New Year’s Resolutions. In need of sleep yet still wanting to do it, I volunteered. Sadly my tired and alcohol-warmed brain wasn’t as quick as my enthusiasm and I came out with some rubbish about making the most of opportunities this year. My friend struggled similarly as she claimed this year she wanted to ‘focus more on what was going on’ – always a good one!
