Trip to Damyang with Girlfriendoseyo

Well, I was going to exercise the full extent of my researching and sleuthing skills (step aside, Popular Gusts: there's a new kid in town), and google "Korean Ghost Stories" and then post the first four hits for a spine-tingling halloween post. . . but Brian and FatmanSeoul beat me to the punch. (I'll link to the first stages of my research, though, so you can get a feeling for the kind of terror I would have laid at your shivering feet. . . were I so inclined.)

So instead, here's a slide show and some great pictures of the gorgeous little town of Damyang in Jeolla Province, where I travelled last weekend with Girlfriendoseyo.

It's a pretty town, with a gorgeous (but crowded on Saturdays in Autumn) Bamboo Forest, and a riverside park right next to the forest. Perfect place to rent a bike. The food was fantastic (it being Jeollado) and as Brian mentioned in a facebook message: it's kind of a travesty that there isn't a Korea food blogger living in Jeolla-do and exploring the local specialties down there. (However, whenever Tourism Jeolla offers me a six figure salary (in Euros, thanks), I'm their man!)

At night, we walked back into the forest, now empty, with green lights planted all along the paths, creating ghostly, lovely shadows between the bamboo stalks. And it was silent. Almost dead silent. I haven't heard true silence (other than "I've stuffed my head under five pillows" silence) in Seoul just about. . . ever . . . so being able to actually not hear anything was a bit shocking, and glorious.

Great place. Wonderful. Can't wait to go back.

That slide show, then. The song is "The Naming of Things" by Andrew Bird, a favorite artist of mine.

rented bikes and hit a biking trail

in the forest proper: it's a popular movie filming location, too.  can't imagine why.

this street was just MADE for couples.

the photo doesn't do a single iota of justice to the scene in the forest after dark.  

I'll be back there again.  Oh yeah.