Damyang

Today we went to Damyang, a city 13 miles North of Gwangju. The bus ride was about 40 minutes. On the ride there, we saw a ton of rice fields and saw the true beauty of Korean farmland.


Once in Damyang, you can immediately feel the change from big city Gwangju. We took a cab to the Damyang Tourist Hotel Resort and Spa. Of course we were hungry upon arrival and went to the hotel's restaurant. Definitely our most expensive meal at 17,000 won per person. We ordered the fish dish and had no idea what we were getting.

Our first course consisted of a dry black/grey soup.
The second course was a yummy kimchi along with a not so yummy other kimchi plus a piece of meat of some kind and tofu.
The third course I thought was our main meal. It was different pieces of fish in a fabulous tomato sauce. There wasn't much to it, so we thought that maybe it was 17,000 won total for us both to eat.

I was wrong, because then the waiter brought out the main course... a bowl of ice water (to drink we think) rice, cold spinach, cold boiled garlic, another type of kimchi, some type of green vegetable with kimchi sauce, and dried/ maybe heavily baked fish, cut open sideways, eyeballs and all.

After I got over what was in front of us, I tried the fish. Honestly, it was fantastic, it was salty and a bit oily (fish oil is good for you!)I also ordered cider, or sprite, just to get the fish taste out.

After lunch, we went on a small hike through their gardens and into their tiny bamboo forest.

The concierge hailed us a cab and off we went to the real bamboo forest on the outside of town. It was beautiful, and packed full of people. We even took a cheesy picture in the "tourist spot."

Across the street was a bamboo market where Adam bought a bamboo flute that we have yet to figure out how to play. There was a stepping stone path across the river, which of course we had to cross, and of course the Korean women do in heels.

After making it over without falling in, we high tailed it to the bus station for fear of the on coming rain.

I must let you in on a little secret though. From the moment we got off the bus in Damyang, the real attraction ladies and gents, was me. Bare shouldered and round assed, the men, and women stared and stared. I felt like Beyonce'! It was fantastic, one boy yelled sexy. We laughed. Regardless of Adam standing right next to me, the looks were very apparent and became fun to watch. I guess you had to be there. But for a girl that has had so many image issues in th
e states, here I seem to really value my curves and bare shoulders!