24+ hours on a bus, 3 festivals, 5 days later

Hi Everyone,

Hope all is well back home! I spent the past five days traveling around Gwangju, the only province I had yet to see. Like the title suggests, I spent over 24 hours in a bus during the five days and went to three festivals. I also got to spend time with friends and had a great time seeing everything I wanted to see. Here's a short summary of my trip (see pictures in Around Korea- I should have them up in a day or so):

Friday evening- left for Mokpo, via Gwangju (approx. 4.5 hours) Met up with friends.

Saturday- woke up, ate breakfast with friends' homestay family, then met up with friends at Dunkin Donuts (new to Mokpo and a big deal!) Walked down to the water (Mokpo's a harbor) and walked along the coast, it was pretty- nice weather and hot! Had lunch at a restaurant near the beach. Went to the Maritime and Natural History museum of Mokpo. Went to another part of the city and ate dinner watching the sun set. Then met up with another friend downtown Mokpo- walked around, had a cup of tea.

Sunday- woke up really early and went to the bus station. Took a bus to Gwangju (1.5 hours). Had breakfast in the terminal and then took a bus to Damyang for the bamboo festival (2 hours round trip). The festival was cool and there was even a bamboo park which was neat. I just hung out and relaxed. In the afternoon I met up with a friend and we went downtown in Gwangju for dinner and a movie, Ironman. It was really good!

Monday- we woke up and then headed out for Jindo and the "Mysterious Sea Parting Festival", yes, I hope you're thinking Moses here (8 hours bus round trip). Every year at a particular time, the tides recede in this one place from Jindo (the mainland) to an island close by. The point is that this creates a land bridge and you can walk across it to the island. It's a pretty neat thing and a ton of people come every year. I did not walk across because I did not have boots, but it was still neat to see. I also was able to get the footage of a special dish, live octopus, here. See below. If you're squeamish I'd advise not watching. ^^ Later that night we had dinner at TGIF's.

Tuesday- woke up and went to Boseong, to see green tea fields/plantation (3 hours round trip). It was a beautiful day and it was cool to see all the bushes. I also had green tea noddle soup, a pot of green tea, and green tea ice cream- yum! In the evening we went to try and see the national cemetery of Gwangju/memorial to the May 18th Independence movement, but we got on the wrong bus and went to a different memorial park (1.5 hours round trip). It was okay.

Wednesday- woke up and went to the national cemetery of Gwangju/memorial (1.5 hours round trip). I was really happy we found it. It was really interesting to see. Pretty much in 1980 the government in Korea was a dictatorship and many people wanted democracy. Over a series of days in May the people in Gwangju protested- then the government came in and brutally suppressed the movement. Those who died are buried in this memorial. There is also a small museum about the event. Gwangju is famous for this in Korean history and it's super recent, which is really interesting. After this, I hopped on a bus bound for Daegu (3 hours).

Overall I had a really great trip, even if I did spend an inordinate amount of time on a bus! I got to see some great things and took some cool pics.

Have fun with the videos and pics!

me ^^