Exploring the Smallest County in My Province

When I found out my province placement, I immediately took to Google to prep myself for any county I could be placed in. I researched from the biggest county of Yeosu all the way down to the smallest county of Gurye. In fact, Gurye is the 10th smallest county in all of Korea with only 22,000 people compared to 1.5 million people in my city of Gwangju. Besides a couple old videos, it was hard to find any information in English about the small county.

This past weekend, my friends and I decided to head to Gurye to check out their famous daffodils and explore the city some. I was curious to see what this small rural town had to offer.

From Gwangju to Gurye it is an hour and a half bus ride. I was expecting a tiny, run-down bus terminal to await us as we arrive, but the building and facilities were nicer than in some big cities I had gone to.

From the terminal, we set out for our main viewing of the day, daffodils! These fields of yellow can be found at Jirisan Cheese Land. Although Cheese Land is technically in Gurye, it’s very far from the city center. You can drive or take a taxi there and it will only take about 15 minutes. However, my friends and I were fine saving some money and taking in the countryside views on the bus. The bus to Cheese Land comes about every hour so it’s pretty frequent for a rural bus. You can check the bus times at the terminal.

After a 30-minute bus ride, we arrived at Cheese Land. It cost 3,000 won each to enter. There was a sprawling field of bright yellow flowers right next to a shimmering river. It felt like something out of a storybook. There is also a mini petting zoo where you can see baby sheep with their mothers and a few cows as well. After petting some soft baby sheep heads, we of course had to go get some pictures by the flowers.

What is most confusing about Cheese Land is the name. Although it might be called Cheese Land, there is no cheese to be had here. Instead, they specialize in milk. We bought some muffins and a couple bottles of strawberry milk from the café and headed to a shady spot up on the hill to enjoy it all. The milk was less of milk and more of a yogurt drink. It was very yummy but very thick in consistency so one bottle goes a long way.

On our way out of Cheese Land, we saw a dock set up where you can go on a speed boat. Never the type to turn down a mini adventure, my friends and I decided to go. Once you pay, you grab a life jacket and away you go. The driver was enthusiastic and gave us a few opportunities to snap some pics on the boat. It only lasted about 5 minutes so I can’t say the 15,000 won fee is justified but it was fun nonetheless!

With the help of a group of nice hiker ladies, we got back to the terminal by bus just as easily as we got there. Once we were back in the county of Gurye, we set out for a late lunch before catching the bus at 4:45. We chose bibimbap and went to the closest place. It seemed like a family-run place, and they were all very welcoming. It’s hard to go wrong with bibimbap but this is definitely some of the best I’ve had in Korea. The breeze coming in from the outside and a full belly made it a very pleasant meal.

After a long day in the sun, we all needed a bit of a caffeine boost so we walked over to a café we had seen earlier along the way. On our way there though we saw a cute dog in the window of a restaurant and the owner brought her out so we could pet her. The owner spoke English very well and she said she was friends with the foreign teachers in Gurye. After talking for a while with her she invited us to come back to Gurye again and visit her restaurant (they were on break). I am excited to go back and try the food because it looks delicious!

Despite the distractions along the way, we made it to Jaem Inneun (“It’s fun”) Café. The Café is quite small and narrow, and the walls are lined with vintage cameras and memorabilia. The dim lighting and quirkiness had a very relaxing feeling. The owner also spoke good English and as he made our artisan coffee, he told us about a spot not many tourists know about that overlooks the city called bongseongsan. He drew us a map on how to get there before we left.

We checked the clock and we wouldn’t have been able to make the 4:45 bus if we went on the impromptu hike but, we were enjoying our time in Gurye so much we agreed to catch the next bus instead.

It was very warm out for the first time in a while so the hike to the top of this small mountain was a bit tiring but not too difficult. And yes, the view was worth it. On the way up to the top, there was a small temple tucked away in the trees.

At the very top, there was a pavilion surrendered by cherry blossoms that overlooked the city. It was spectacular, I felt I was transported into a Studio Ghibli movie. We couldn’t spend too long to catch the next bus so we headed back down and to the terminal so we could be back in Gwangju by night.

I didn’t know what to expect from Gurye, but I didn’t expect it to be as magical as it was. All the people were so nice, and the atmosphere was so beautiful. Although it’s such a small place, I still think there’s so much left to uncover.

This leads me to my advice for those coming to live in Korea. I know Seoul is the crown jewel of Korea and the city everyone comes to see. I just took a trip there a few weeks ago and had a splendid time. But I decided not to write a blog post about it because anything I could say about Seoul has most likely already been said. Instead, I wanted to write a blog post about the 10th smallest county in Korea. Because while it might not have the glitz and glam of Seoul, it is just as worthy of being explored. I don’t mean to sound pretentious, and I think anyone should explore where they want in Korea. But whether you are living in a big city or a small county in Korea, I highly recommend visiting hidden corners here. There is so much magic to be found once you step outside the well-researched places. If you can’t find anything online about a place in Korea, visit it and be the first to write about it instead!