One feast after another in Damyang

South Korea – April 2023

It’s spring in Seoul and I’m staying with Sinae, whom I met in a guest house in Jeju a few weeks earlier. She is an author and writes about her travels. One evening before going to bed, Sinae suddenly says: “Do you want to go south to Damyang with 2 friends and me for 2 days next week?”. She adds that she has been invited by a reader who has recently opened a small lodge in the small town. She had already booked the bus tickets for us. How can I say no to that?

So a week later we set off. First we take the metro to the express bus terminal, where we devour a plate of gimbap with kimchi before continuing our journey. Then we find the right gate and shortly afterward we are already sitting in the comfortable coach. Due to the numerous departures per day and the remote destination, the bus is pretty empty. So we lean back, enjoy the comfortable seats and take a nap until we stop halfway at a highway service station.

Just like in Japan, it is very well-equipped and we buy a few snacks. Back on the bus, we spend the rest of the time listening to music and social media. When we arrive in Damyang, it is just after 1pm. Our hosts want to pick us up from the center by car at around 2.30 pm. Of course, Sinae, an experienced foodie, already has the perfect plan to pass the waiting time: we’re going to lunch at a restaurant she knows from TV.

부부식당 is run by a grandmother, who places a huge silver tray with lots of small bowls of typical Korean food on the table shortly after we order Sinae. We fill our bellies for the equivalent of less than 10 euros. We are both known as good eaters, but even we can’t finish this amount of side dishes. We wistfully leave the old lady with the remains of our midday feast and make our way to the café where we are to meet our hosts.

We place our order and only sit down briefly when Garam and her boyfriend Philipp enter the restaurant. Both sides are surprised by each others foreign company. And when Philipp introduces himself as German, we quickly find something to talk about. The drive to the “Laze Damyang” guest house is entertaining and on arrival Garam introduces us to her mother. A brief tour of the house follows, and then Su and Ashley arrive. Their journey from Busan was much longer than ours. The two of them also work as freelance creatives, Sinae got to know them through their shared experience of traveling alone for long periods of time and the three of them have since become good friends.

So the four of us are now looking at the various small houses that make up Laze Damyang. The colors are natural and the design is minimalist. The different materials radiate warmth and the pool is of course a highlight. Inside, it has everything you need for a short stay: kitchen, 1 bedroom, 1 open-plan living room with a second sleeping area with futon and a great bathroom!

While Su & Ashley work briefly on their assignment, Sinae and I get ready for the shoot for her collaboration with a Korean drinks label. She has brought a bottle of “Singleton” with her, which is now being staged on the garden table next to the pool with us as models. After a while, Garam and Philipp join our lively group and we are invited by Garam’s mom to try one of her many teas on the terrace. She has different varieties from all over the world and listening to her stories almost makes me feel like I’m at a tea ceremony.

Then Su discovers the sound system, which is controlled via a tablet on which Spotify is also available. She is eager to show us her current favorite song and soon “Monkey Magic” is blaring through the small house. A short dance battle follows and then it’s back to work. I learn this weekend that real freelancers and content creators never have time off. At least not when they are as passionate as the three Koreans.

Of course, you can decide when and where you want to work. We talk about this advantage over dinner at the barbecue restaurant that Philipp and Garam’s mother take us to. Once again there is an unbelievable variety of side dishes and we must have spent 2.5 hours just eating. The conversations in between are held simultaneously in Korean, English and German and revolve around our respective travels and life abroad.

As different as our lives are, we share many of the same experiences and it quickly seems as if we have known each other for a long time. So it’s no surprise that on the way home, we stop off at a local supermarket somewhere along a country road to buy snacks to extend the evening. In addition to potato chips, cheese from Europe, some wine and beer, a hollowed-out bamboo trunk filled with Korean schnapps also ends up in the bag.

Back at the Laze, we make ourselves comfortable in the kitchen corner of the house and let the “Monkey Magic” playlist continue to play. Now the conversation turns to favorite destinations, but also to more serious topics such as future plans and fears, travel laziness and the pitfalls of bureaucracy and self-employment. At some point after midnight, to lighten the mood, someone suddenly asks which animal they would like to be.

This leads to another lively conversation and we end the evening with the idea of how one would like to be petrified in a Pompeii-like situation. Everyone agrees that the best answer to this question is “Pee Boy” (like the statue in Brussels). A short night follows (Su and Ashley are back at work long before Sinae and I). We toss and turn on the comfortable futon until we also have breakfast and then test out the pool. Of course, we can’t do this without a mini photo shoot. The location is just too good.

Around midday, we pack the little luggage we have into the 2 cars and set off for the last feast in Damyang. We drive past the famous bamboo forest and straight to the restaurant that Garam’s mother recommends. To my delight, the cold noodles with sesame sauce are also served here. And of course, as always, dozens of other sidedishes. This time the conversation turns to the different types of kimchi available and that Su particularly likes Sinae’s mother’s cucumber kimchi, although Sinae herself is not a fan of it.

After lunch, Philipp says goodbye and we women set off sightseeing with full bellies. Garam’s mother wants to show us the Metasequoia Path with its many tall trees. There is also a café nearby where we satisfy the Korean community’s coffee cravings. Now we still have some time before the train leaves for Seoul. So we spontaneously make a detour to Baegyangsa Temple. It is located just outside the city in the mountains around Damyang and the drive through the road lined with trees and colorful paper lanterns alone is worth the visit. Arriving at the temple, we meet some of the monks and an Italian volunteer preparing gochujang.

We enjoy the peace and quiet and the good weather before heading back to the city. There we say goodbye to our hosts and wait at the small train station for the local train that will take us north to the capital, accompanied by the setting sun.