Amazing Race: Korea Edition

I have been so grateful to have an amazing friend group here in Korea and luckily, COVID restrictions haven’t gotten in the way too much to this point. But then Omnicron happened. As a solid friend group of five, learning that the new COVID restrictions included only allowing groups of up to four to meet was a big bummer. So, we had to be a bit more creative in the way we hung out.

We came up with a plan as follows: we would split up into two groups randomly and each group would secretly choose a new city or county we had yet to explore in our province. On Saturday, you and your group would go to your chosen place and create a perfect itinerary for the other group to follow the next day.

As it turns out the very “type A” people (myself being one of them) got put into a pair and the more easy-going gang got put into the other group. Me and my friend, Katie, drew our slip of paper to see where we would be going and got to planning. What followed was a very fun but very exhausting whirlwind of a weekend. Welcome to Amazing Race: Korea edition!

Saturday, Our Chosen Place

After pulling our slip from the many places possible, I was excited to see 순천 written down. 순천 is Suncheon, a city not too far from Gwangju and right above Yeosu, which I have previously been to. I was very happy with our choice because I had been wanting to go to Suncheon for a while, but other plans always got in the way. I knew Suncheon had a ton of sights to see and now I could make a firm plan to go see some of them.  

I arrived at the bus terminal around 10:30 to buy tickets for the 10:50 bus to Suncheon. I was surprised to see not only the 10:50 bus was sold out but so was the following 11:20 bus. So, unfortunately, we had to buy tickets to leave at 12:00 which was later than we wanted but we rolled with the punches. Suncheon is a great place for people of Gwangju to take a day trip and with students just starting on winter break, it’s no surprise that the buses were more popular than normal.

Suncheon Open Film Set

Nevertheless, we arrived at Suncheon Bus Terminal at 1:00 and immediately got a bus to the Suncheon Open Film Set. This filming set, as far as I’m aware, is the largest open film set in Korea. There are three villages in the set each based on a different decade from the 1950s to the 1970s. As an avid fan of Korean dramas and films, I was SUPER excited. None of my favorite dramas were filmed there but some films and dramas I adored were. Check out this list of dramas and films that were shot here.

As soon as you enter (the entrance ticket was ₩3,000), you feel like you were transported back into the past. Right near the center, there is an area where you can rent costumes to fit right in with the retro vibe. So, of course, we rented high school boys’ uniforms. I had such a fun time walking around the set, dressed the part.

There are also many traditional games you can play (including squid game). If you’re hungry, there is a retro food stand. You can peek into some buildings and get an up-close look at what life was like during different periods in Korea. There is also the full-scale village that sits on a hill. You can walk up the side of the hill and wind your way through the village on the way down. After an hour, our rental time was up so we said goodbye to the past and headed towards a futuristic place.

Suncheon Bay National Garden

Suncheon Bay National Garden was created in 2014 to drive traffic away from Suncheon Bay for preservation reasons. The National Garden is sprawling land filled with thousands of plant and tree varieties from all over the world.

The main part of the gardens is these winding hills that look like the set of a sci-fi movie. As you venture outside of the main area, you can view themed gardens mainly based on other countries. There were French, Chinese, Japanese, and many more gardens to explore. They also have many light shows throughout the year to view once the sun goes down.

There is the “dream bridge” which was put together by an artist who gathered thousands and thousands of children’s drawings of their dream. The drawings are on tiles that line the walls of this very long bridge.

You could spend hours and hours walking around here and still not see everything. It was lucky that we went on a winter day where the sun was out, but it definitely made me want to come back in the summer when everything is a vibrant green. We were running on low stomachs at this point, so we headed out a bit earlier to grab some dinner.

One thing we also learned is Suncheon is much more spread out than we originally thought. Most other places we have visited tend to keep all the tourist spots around the same area or at least accessible by bus. Suncheon was a bit more difficult to navigate by bus so if you plan to visit, save a little extra money for taxis.

Four Seasons Pantry

After getting a taxi back to the bus terminal area, we settled on going to a new western restaurant nearby. One thing you will learn in Korea is when a restaurant is advertised as “western” it means Italian. The restaurant is called Four Seasons Pantry and I highly recommend it if you happen to be in Suncheon. The pasta and wine were great, and the staff was kind enough to try and speak in English. They also gave us bread and olives for free! It was a great way to relax a bit after a long day of activities before we headed back to Gwangju to prepare for what the other team had in store for us.

Our Sunday Adventure

We showed up the next morning at the bus terminal to get instructions from the other group on today’s secret destination. Our friends gave us some random things like badminton rackets and party poppers for what I was sure to be, a much more chaotic day than the day before.

We found out we were heading to Naju, a city just outside of Gwangju. You don’t need to take an express bus to Naju, you can take a regular city bus instead.

Naju Pear Museum

The first place we were instructed to go was the National Pear Museum. Naju is known for its pears, so we were excited to learn a bit more about the popular fruit of the city but unfortunately, the museum was closed that day. It was also, quite frankly, in the middle of nowhere so we had to wait for a bit to get the next bus back into the main part of the city. But, as with all my adventures in Korea, it is less about the destination and more about the journey.

Bit Garam Lake Park and Observatory

After getting back on the bus, we headed to Bitgaram Lake Park. This park was just recently built in the center of Naju. The park is quite large, and, in the center, there is a lake that leads up to the observatory.

We wandered around the park for a bit before hiking up to the top so we could go to the observatory. For regular travelers, this won’t take you too long but remember, this is our amazing race. Our friends were having us do random tasks along the way like playing on the playground and dancing on a stage in the middle of the park.

After some time of messing around and scaring the souls out of some Korean men when I launched a party popper off at the top of the hill, we reached the observatory. This observatory is almost identical to the one in Gwangju. If you are deciding between going to the Gwangju or Naju observatory, I would recommend the Gwangju one. The cityscape of Naju is not yet up to par with that of Gwangju.

Nevertheless, it was relaxing to look out over the small city. We then took the small cable car that descends from the observatory. After getting some coffee and a bagel at a nearby café, we kept walking around the park.

The park was very beautiful, and it reminded me of parks you would see in Denver, so it was nice to feel at home. As part of our tasks, we stopped and played badminton for a short time at some of the courts.

5 Block Cafe

It was starting to get windy and chilly, so we only walked around the downtown area for a bit more before heading to another café recommended by our friends. 5 Block is located near the park and has a renovated warehouse feel. As a plus, they have oat milk if you are vegan, and all their desserts were to die for. If you are in Naju, I highly recommend this café.

After two days of exploring and being on our feet a lot, we were feeling very exhausted, so we headed back to Gwangju.

Silver Linings

The pandemic has gone on for two years now. It seems crazy that that much time has passed and yet, here we are. It is a given that at some point, everyone starts to feel worn down by it. When we got the message that restrictions would be increasing dramatically, I’m going to be honest, I felt like crying. I was following the rules since the start and yet, two years later restrictions were higher than they ever were. I felt exhausted.

Most of all, I was sad that I wouldn’t be able to hang out with my friends all in one place. That’s when I got the idea to do this amazing race weekend. And I am so glad we did. Although we couldn’t all be together, it was something new and exciting. It made me feel like I had when I first got here six months ago.

Three weeks later and restrictions are already easing up again and luckily, we can meet as a group of five! This pandemic sucks. There’s no better way to put it. And it can beat you down physically and mentally. But I also realize that I have been extremely privileged throughout this pandemic. So, I keep finding those silver linings. And who knows, we might hold another amazing race just for the fun of it!