A Day in Damyang - Lost in a Bamboo Forest in South Korea (죽녹원)
Along with the Boseong Green Tea Farms, I had been aching to visit the Damyang Bamboo Forest for as long as I could remember. One Friday morning while I was in Gwangju, I finally saw it with my own eyes!
From my AirBnb, I was able to hop on the local bus 311 that took me all the way to Damyang. You need to tell the bus driver what stop you want so that they can charge you the right amount - You’re going to 죽녹원/Juknokwon (sounds like “Jew”-k “No”-k “One”)
You’ll be dropped off right at the entrance, so all you need to do is cross the street (the bus stop is right at the cross walk!) and turn left so that you’re walking in the direction that the bus just came from. In about 30 seconds you’ll see a big staircase that is the entrance to the park.
The entry fee is 3,000won (personally I would recommend skipping the art center which is another 1,000won) and you can walk right in. The park is really stunning. I sort of thought it would be a mini tourist-trap because of how popular it is, but it’s genuinely worth the hype. So much so, that I brought my husband back to it the next day and he loved it too!
The temperature drops the second you enter the grove and there are benches and lounge chairs scattered all throughout the park. The grounds are huge so even on Saturday when it was more crowded, there were many many times that we didn’t see another person. There are waterfalls and playgrounds hidden throughout the park :)
After walking around for about an hour, I went to the cafe at the bottom of the Art Center (near the entrance, you can’t miss it) and tried Bamboo Ice Cream and bamboo tea. The ice cream was delicious - sort of a mix of green tea and thai tea. Really creamy and yummy. The tea on the other hand…well, it tasted like grass water haha. Not really worth the money in my opinion.
Around the cafe are shops selling everything from bags to back scratchers made from bamboo. Kurt bought a spoon and chopstick set! If you aren’t ready to shop or to get ice cream yet, the surrounding town has plenty of places offering similar things so you are free to leave the park and get it later!
I was hungry for a proper meal so I cross the river and headed to Damyang Noodle Road (담양국수거리), which is exactly what it sounds like. It is an entire road dedicated to noodle shops. There are picnic tables lining the river (some have indoor seating for cooler days!) and it was packed both on Friday and Saturday! On Saturday there was a huge line for the place I went to, so be prepared for a wait (or try to have an early lunch)
I ended up at Old Times Jinmi Noodles (옛날진미국수) had the Yeolmu Bibimguksu which is a spicy noodle dish with yeolmu (a vegetable) piled on top. It was absolutely delicious! I ate my fill while watching people rent bikes and swan boats along the river.
After my lunch, I walked along the river all the way to the Meta Sequoia Road. It was quite a walk but it was gorgeous and shady so I didn’t mind. If I hadn’t been trying to film, I might have rented a bike instead - the bike path is really extensive.
After about 30 minutes, I got to the Meta Sequoia Road. It was wildly crowded so I just took a peak and headed up the road to Meta Provence, a shopping center made to look like Provence, France (I think haha it looked like a strip mall in California to me…) I grabbed a coffee and cookie and then headed back to my bus stop and all the way back to Gwangju. The 311 comes about every 15 minutes so it was easy to get home :)
Even thought Damyang is definitely a tourist destination, it was really charming and very laid back. I loved my time there and definitely think its a wonderful day trip, whether you’re solo or with a group!
If you like meat like my husband does, also check out their ddeokgalbi restaurants! Apparently along with Kuksu and bamboo, Damyang is famous for Ddeokgalbi :) Also be sure to check out some of these cute shops like Wooahan Macaron , True Bread, and Sun Nana!