I had heard so much about these fields and really wanted to go. Other foreign teachers had been and returned with great pictures and remarks about the place but for a while we just hadn’t found time to go. Finally, this changed and we were headed to Boseong with a group of friends who also hadn’t yet got around to it.
The bus from U Square Bus Terminal took about an hour and a half. Most trips out of Gwangju seem to take a similar time which is odd. Once we arrived in Boseong we realised we didn’t know actually where the fields were. I’d kind of assumed it would be obvious on arrival. One of our friends said we needed to ask for Daehan Dawon when we got into the taxi. We split two taxis and on plonking ourselves in, realised the friend who knew where we were going was in the taxi in front and we couldn’t remember where we were supposed to ask for.
‘Follow the cab in front’, we directed with urgency! The taxi driver got it somehow, I think he understood a certain level of English and probably also knew that we’d want to head to the Tea Fields as I’m not really sure what else there is for tourists in Boseong!
When we got there we bought entry to the fields for a minimal fee and wandered into the forested area. As we turned around the bend, the tea fields towered up above us in terraces on the side of a tall hill. They were magnificent. The greenery shone in the sun and the terraces layered up to an impressive height.
We followed the path up and stopped at the various lookout points that allowed us to look over the fields. Although it was November it was still warm and in shorts, the hike up to the top was somewhat less painful than it could have been. Once at the top, the view was outstanding, not just down at the terraces but also the view for miles around.
As well as the fields, the park also includes a small bamboo forest and a Yew Tree forest as well as waterfall – which was pretty small but we went to see all of these anyway.
We’d heard a lot about the green tea icecream and tried it before lunch. This was really good, it was sweeter than I expected and tasted a little like pistachio icecream but you could definitely get that green tea taste. The restaurant on site was Korean in style and sold, you guessed it, green tea-infused food. Amongst our group we opted for, green tea bimimbap, green tea noodles and a hot and spicy soup (devoid of green tea – I think but who can be sure!) The hot and spicy soup totally blew my socks off, they did not lie. It was a nice day out in the sun to see a pretty impressive sight.
We went back again a few months later, but this time to see their Light Festival which was in the evening.
It was definitely busier this time and there were so many food stalls and pop-restaurants which made the food choice wider.
The light festival was really impressive and included a dragon’s head, a light tunnel, light hearts and so much more.
There don’t seem to be taxi ranks at Boseong Tea Fields so it’s important to get the number of the taxi that brings you there. Getting a taxi back from the light festival was difficult and we nearly missed the last bus back to Gwangju because we’d forgotten to do this.
As a day out or early evening entertainment for the Light Festival, Boseong was good fun and had impressive views. There isn’t a huge amount to do there but we were content on the way back both times we went. A little less content the first time when we went during the day as we were ‘lucky’ enough to have a Korean singer on our bus who screeched/sung loudly all the way home. Perfect!