Gwangju Bound

As promised to you 3 or 4 weeks ago, last weekend Shayne and I finally made the trek out to Jeollanamdo (a province in Korea's south-western corner), to Korea's most famous student protest city: Gwangju. Being that Gwangju is 5-6 hours away and that the things we wanted to see were far apart, we decided to rent a car for the weekend. Rent one we did and on Saturday morning we were on our way.

The great thing about road-tripping in Korea is the ample amenities provided on the highways. Every 30 kilometres or so, there's a rest stop. They have these in Canada too, except that they're little more than a place to rest and an outhouse. In Korea, on the other hand, they're full-service: gas station, gift shops, well-maintained washrooms, and a plethora of food options. We decided to skip the deep-fried hotdogs and giant dumplings, though, and went with a simple bowl of udon, which you can witness Shayne enjoying yourself above (Shayne's note: Why eat just one noodle at a time when you can stuff your face instead?).

After experiencing only one traffic jam in Deagu, we made it to Gwangju in good time and in relatively one piece. I say "relatively" because we took what we thought was the right exit into the city center, only to find a dead-end construction site and no way out except to go back up the exit with hazards blinking and our tails between our legs. I suppose we should have guessed by the pylons lined up along the exit, but it's not entirely our fault due to the highway worker who waved us on instead of indicating that we might want to turn back onto the highway. Then again, I'm sure that plenty of foreign couples in rent-a-cars have business on a exit closed for construction. Douchebag.

Anyways. We were pretty impressed by the city itself. Most Korean cities look fairly similar, but Gwangju has an almost European feel. By that I mean that it has a nice riverfront with nice bridges and fountains, and the downtown city streets are filled with art. Here's a few shots to help you visualize...

This piece is entitled "man coming out of shower". Note his confused expression as he discovers a strange naked man squatting on his bathroom floor.

This one's called "Pensive girl standing in tree house". She seems to be ignoring Mr. Feathers, who's just there for a visit and maybe some birdseed.

Okay, now this one is deep. It's called "Crazy monster man". I'm not quite sure how this thing survives, considering it has no brains in any of its four heads, and virtually no internal organs.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my insightful commentary on Gwangju's many and diverse statuary. I think I should go into Art History or write a book or something...I seem to have a knack for these things.

After wandering through the downtown core, we made it to the small riverside that runs through the city. There's really not much to say about it other than it was a pleasant walk, so I'll add more pics...

One of the coolest bridges along the river. This one is for pedestrians only and is the coolest suspension bridge I've ever seen (Shayne's note - That's cool that you find it so cool).

Further down the river we tried out a simpler version of the pedestrian bridge: stepping stones. They really go for variety in Gwangju.

We also decided to take in Gwangju's National Museum. To be honest, the exhibits were a little ho-hum, but it's housed in a beautiful building:

The next day we took in some sights outside of the city. The first stop was the May 18th Memorial Cemetery. I guess I should give some background information here, as I'd never heard of the "1980 Massacre" until I arrived in Korea.

After a coup in December '79, there were student protests all over Korea in the spring of 1980. In response, General Chun Doo-Hwan declared martial law, and on May 18th soldiers brutally murdered dozens of student protesters (with bayonets, no less) in Gwangju. Thousands of citizens soon joined the students and formed civil militias (looting weapons from police stations and armories), eventually forcing the army out of the city. This event sowed the seeds of democratic change in Korea, leading to the severing of military control over the presidency.

Here I am at the entrance to the Memorial Cemetery. Most of those killed during the 1980 Massacre have been re-buried here, and all those who participated in the uprising may be buried here when they die.

The above two photos are of a relief depicting the events of May 1980.

The cemetery itself.

Me looking at the photos of those who died.

I took a photo of this grave because the girl was only 15 when she died in the fighting.

What was remarkable about this place was that even though it was incredibly somber (especially the memorial hall with photos of all who died), there was a certain element of celebration for the successes that came out of the tragedy. I think the city of Gwangju is really proud of its citizens for standing up for justice and democracy. It definitely shows with the care that went into this memorial.

After the memorial we headed further into Jeollanamdo to a famous green tea plantation in Boseong. At first the trip was easy, given the frequency of English signage at every junction. Then, just after a sign indicated that the plantation was only 7 km away, the English signage ended and many, many intersections followed. Luckily for us we learned how to read Korean and we know the Korean word for "tea", otherwise we would've been hooped. Anyways, we made it there (eventually), along with about 10,000 other Korean day-trippers.

Here we are half-way up the hillside overlooking row after row of terraced tea bushes. They really are green.

After sweating it on the tea hills, we headed for some lunch. Befitting such a place, everything they offered included green tea in some form. We ordered bibimbap with green tea rice and jajangmyun (black "Chinese" noodles) with green tea noodles:

The bibimbap was okay, and the jajangmyun tasted like Chef Boyardee ravioli. But this meal was more about the experience.

Well, that was our trip to Gwangju. We made it back to Ulsan without incident and encountering (again) only one traffic jam...although this one was far longer and more frustrating. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the condensed version of Gwangju and area sans the six hours either way it took to get there.

Until next time,
Jo