Giant mounds of kimchi at Yangdong Market
If you are hungry for some kimchi (김치), and some other pickled side items then Yangdong Market in Gwangju, South Korea is sure to satisfy your every craving (and then some).
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Posts tagged gwangju
Yongji Lotus Pond
Photomerge of Dragon Lotus Pond (용지) @ CNU in Gwangju, Korea
My office on the Chonnam National University (전남대학교) campus is in the Yongji Building which is right across the road from this lovely lotus pond with the same name. The pond is actually larger than this photo makes it look. This is a photomerge of about six images so it includes about 180 degrees of view. During the current rainy season seeing the pond looking like this is rare as the more typical gray sky usually makes it look rather drab. I grabbed the chance to take this photo when a rare bit of sun and blue sky came poking through the clouds one day.
Chungjangsa Shrine (충장사) in Mount Mudeung National Park
Chungjangsa Shrine (충장사)
I had a day with no plans in Gwangju, and the weather forecast was for “clear” (for once). I wanted to check out the nearby national park. My guidebook said to get on Bus 1187 at the bus terminal. I had never been to the bus terminal before, and my map was pretty bad. I finally gave up trying to get there by bike, parked, and walked over the train tracks via a foot bridge. On the other side I realized I wasn’t going to find the bus terminal easily, it was hot, and I was frustrated so I caught a cab. I told the cab driver I wanted to go to Mt. Mudeung. He made it sound like that wasn’t possible. I’m not sure if he thought I meant I wanted him to actually take me to top or if he just didn’t want to go there because it was morning and he would have to come back down with an empty cab. In any event, I assumed the former and tried to explain that I wanted him to take me to where the buses drop people off. He understood bus, and proceeded to take me to a bus stop. Oh well. At least I could now take a bus into the park.
Bus 1187 (fare only 1200 Won or about $1), it turns out, stops all over the place including the Gwangju Train Station, a place I could have easily found had I known it stopped there.
The park was incredible–like entering another world. I hiked around for four hours or so before ending up at Chungjansa, pictured here. This isn’t one of the more famous shrines or temples in the park, but it was pretty darn cool since the weather was fantastic and I had the place to myself.
Next time I’ll take a different route. You can easily head into Mt. Mudeung National Park (무등산국립공원) numerous times and never hike the same trail twice.
Ramen in Korea
Honkki Japanese Restaurant menu (near back gate of Chonnam National University, Gwangju, South Korea)
Most Korean restaurants aren’t set up for single, foreign travelers. The menus are only in Korean, the portion sizes (and prices) are for two to four people ordering one thing, and the tables are set up for parties of four (or less frequently parties of two). Some places even turn you away if you come in by yourself. One workaround if you can read Japanese is to patronize Japanese restaurants in Korea. Although the employees won’t likely be able to speak English or Japanese, the two that I have been to have menus in both Korean and Japanese so at least I know what I’m ordering.
On this day I went with the Miso Ramen (みそら～めん).
It was good, one of the better bowls of ramen I’ve had outside Japan. The half a hard-boiled egg was a little different than how eggs are usually served in Japanese Ramen, but other than that it seemed pretty authentic.
Kaiten Sushi in Shinsegae Department Store basement
回転寿司 in Gwangju, South Korea
It’s not unusual to see conveyor belt sushi in Japan, but this was the first time I saw it in Korea. The location was particularly unusual as it was in a department store of all places. With double-rows of sushi (and some Korean food items) going around and around, and having eaten nothing but a piece of bread and a bag of chips all day long, I was ready to give it a try. However, there were no empty seats (the above photo shows only about a one third of the filled seats) so I had to opt for something else.
Gwangju stadium panorama
Gwangju’s new baseball stadium
Let me introduce you to my bike while in Gwangju. This is Squeaky. I call my bike Squeaky because it squeaks, a lot. Squeaky isn’t a comfortable bike to ride. Nor does it do well on even mild inclines. But I’m still glad to have Squeaky as it allows me the opportunity to see much more of Gwangju than I otherwise would.
The big stadium behind the river is still under construction. It is scheduled to open for the next baseball season in 2014. They haven’t named it yet. At the KIA Tigers game I went to fans were given stickers to place on the name of the stadium they preferred. Since I can’t read or understand Korean, I’m not sure what name I voted for, but I was thanked for voting.