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Danyang appears to be a pretty quiet city, but it still has Daemyung Resort and Aquaworld.  Pretty big resort.  We arrived at about 3:30pm.  The plan is to meet around the Aquaworld lobby at 4pm.  James and I always try to stick to the time.  When we came down at Daemyung’s basement level where Aquaworld is, Irene can only comment, "you’re always on time!"  hahahah…
We brought our swimwear and towels from our room.  Irene is already negotiating with the clerk.  Probably, as part of keeping the pool clean, you have to rent or bring your own swimcaps.  Renting the cap is only 1,000 Won, but just to make sure you return the cap, you must pay 2,000 Won.  Aquaworld lobby is beside a shop that sells souvenirs and swimwear items.
Securing your stuffs is unique here.  First, the "concierge" gives you a key to a numbered footlocker.  The footlocker then has a key to locker room.  You must leave your shoes at the footlocker.  This arrangement was a bit confusing to us at first.  Irene explains to us, men, the arrangement, and note that  locker room is through that other door.  Am sure she wish to point out some other intricacies, but "I’m a woman, I can not go there with you!".  Hard to describe here, but I found it to be a humorous exchange.  I was thinking "yeah, you can’t because you’ll get arrested."  Hahaha…
Irene explained to us that Korean people tend to be more relaxed with being naked in a public bath.  Well, at least if among the same gender.  The locker room is big.  There are men walking about.  Some, naked, and not minding.  The locker room is adjacent to the spa, a weighing scale, and a grooming room.
Time to switch to our trunks.  We hit the showers before going to Aquaworld proper.  Aquaworld has a very very big  pool, lots of fountains.  We’re informed you can get massage.  It also has the famed Dr. Fish.  Dr. Fish are very small fish that eat unsightly skin.  We think it could be from Ripley’s Believe It or Not.  There’s a restaurant nearby.  Kids can play at the slide.  James and I proceed to swim around the big pool.  There’s plenty of gushing water coming out at very high pressure.  They’re designed as water massagers.  It’s so stress relieving.  The high pressure water come in various forms.  There’s the shower type, a sitting type.  Stand around long enough and you’ll see your back turning bright red.  Our friend Ryneth, sat on one type of the jetting water.  She sat so long that she still felt the effects later.  But it feels ssssooooo gggooodddd…
After a couple or so hours, we got up.  Aquaworld closes at about 7:30pm.  The sky looks like it’s only 5:30 if you’re back home at Pinas though.  We cleaned up and noticed the digital scale.  We weighed ourselves to find out.  Wow, less than 59 kilos for each of us.
After getting dressed, we went back to our room, change and rest and go back down for dinner.  The basement level of Daemyung features pretty much the same shops and services as the one in Gyeongju.  We had mushroom casserole.  There must be a Korean name to it, but we have no idea what it was.  The dish is composed of, duh, mushroom.  But it also has petchay,  some pork, bit of vermicelli and the biggest tauge we’ve ever seen.  Our guides’ tables ordered a vegetable dish with gochujang.  The tourbus driver went his own way that night.  So, there’s Irene and Imelda who’ll eat their own dish.  However, Imelda can’t stand spicy dish herself.  So, Imelda takes some from our tourgroups mushroom casserole.  And they share some of the spicy stew with us.  The stew has fewer mushroom, has eggplants I think.  If we must follow the saying do as the Romans do, then next time we’ll try to eat Korean cuisine with more gusto.
After finishing dinner, we exchanged stories.  Soon, it’s time to retire, but James, Ryneth and I hope to check out the city.  But we only got so far as the parking lot and stairways.  Danyang is so quiet at night, it kind of reminds me of Legaspi.  There must be something to give the locals a lively night, but wherever it is, it’s not so close to Daemyung.  With nothing to do, we retire for the night.

The pictures show how quiet it is around Daemyung resort.  It’s even quieter than Incheon.

One thing I have to say about our pork and cuttlefish bulgogi, the cuttlefish was not hardly chewy.  So, it was easy to chew and not so tiring to the jaw.  The restaurant along with several other shops are beside the road.  Just outside the restaurant are large ceramic pots containing spices.  At first, we thought it contained kimchi, but Irene said they are spices (gochujang etc.). 
Like I said in my previous post, the Gosu Cave (고수동굴, Gosu Donggul) is just a stone’s throw from the restaurant.  There is an entrance fee, of course.  Irene explains once you go inside, there’s no turning back.  So, those who have bad arthritis, or claustrophobic better back out.  All but one enter, Ryneth’s mom.   At this point, our camera’s battery is getting low.  Eventually, we had to borrow Ryneth’s camera, and just share the pics back in Manila. 
Gosu Cave is about a kilometer from the entrance all the way to  exit.  The cave is not so cold.  If you really work out inside, you can sweat.  It has plenty of beautiful stalactite and stalagmite formations.  There are some formations that resemble something.  Like a monkey, or turtle.  Even one that looks like the Virgin Mary.

You walk through every nook and cranny.  The ways are constructed with metal steps and stairs.  There are a couple parts of  the cave that are photo points with a photographer sitting on his/her desk.  He/she can photograph you and give a bigger blow up of the picture (for a fee of course).   There are plenty of points also in the cave where it is off-limits to tourists.  Probably due to safety, or it’s a dead end.  You have to watch out for puddles of water.  I nearly got my foot wet at the Turtle Rock (거북 파위)point.  1 kilometer must have taken us an hour due to all the photo points and looking at interesting formations.
Finally, we reach the exit.  About a couple dozen meters are stalls selling I’m not sure what.  This makes me wish we brought one camera for each of us.  There are mushrooms, and dried seafoods.  Go further is the road, more restaurants, stalls, and foodcarts that sell popcorns and what looks like cocoons.  Across the road is a downhill rocky river. There’s also a watermill with interesting design.

That’s James and me in the picture at the watermill.  There’s a restaurant that specializes in bibimbap.  Must try next time, if ever. 

Our tourbus arrives to meet us from the exit.  We proceed to Danyang’s Daemyung Resort.  Danyang, a very quiet city an hour away…

Travel to Danyang is a stark contrast from the more hi-tech amenities of Seoul, Yeosu and Gyeongju.  Near the way to Chungju Lake, the setting is very rural.  There are a few houses.  The road is more winding here.  In some ways, it reminds me of travelling to Bicol via Camarines Norte but comparably less winding.
We first stop at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere.  Kind of like stopping at the restaurant at Sariaia if you were going to Bicol.   The restroom is worse than Sariaia.  The restaurant has considerable diners.  There’s a vending machine just outside that serves hot coffee or what seems to be a very popular drink, Pokari Sweat.  There is a stall where local, mostly dried, produce are sold.  Wish we made some shots.  Hahah..
15 minutes and we are off to Chungju Lake.  The stop is at a higher point.  To get to the dock, you have to climb down steps. At the middle is a souvenir stall with some kinky items which we’ll go back to later.  There are two ferryboats.  We all board on one of them.  At the same time there’s a big group of old ladies who seem to be in a very fun mood.  They board both boats.  They have a CD player playing a very lively Korean song.  The women are dancing.  The boat starts moving.  Yeah, lively music.  One of the women brought fresh mushroom with gochujang (hot pepper paste).  She shares it to everyone, including us!  The mushroom is raw, very wet, and cold.  Dipped in gochujang, it had a intersting flavor.  Popcorns are also served.  Some of our members also bought popcorn.  We go outside the room.  And there is a loudspeaker describing the  natural geographic formations you can see while travelling the lake.  The recorded speaker speaks in Korean, then in English.  We have a hard time following  the speaker.  We even wonder if it’s in sync with what we see.  Eventually, we just admire the natural wonder on our own.  Some of the mountains naturally resemble something such as human faces.  There are bridges along the way.  Those bridges are sometimes used for bungee jumping.  Ryneth’s mom, who is not one to walk around a lot, got to dancing with the women.  We later learn, they are Red Cross workers from Busan.  This is their way to have fun and beat the stress.
At a certain point, the ferry turns around and we eventually are back to dock.  We stop by the souvenir stall.  We saw a mechanical doll stand.  Turn this doll on, and you have Janet (the name of the doll) flashing her boobs.  Ryneth bought several Janets, one for her boyfriend.
We go back to the bus, and proceed first to lunch at a restaurant which is just a stone’s throw to Gosu (or Kosu) Cave.  Lunch served is pork and cuttlefish bulgogi.  The standouts for our lunch were the homemade kim wraps (seaweed wraps), and fish cake.  There’s two kimchis in the banchan, the cabbage and radish.
Now that we are filled, it’s time to have some exercise and experience Kosu Cave…

The following morning, we had breakfast near the top of Daemyung Resort.  Breakfast is a vast improvement compared to Best Western- Inchon.  We had brown-shelled eggs, enoki mushroom soup (white long strand mushroom), sausage, some rice, and fruits.  You can see the panoramic view of Bomun Lake (보문호수) . 

After breakfast, we go ahead to Bulguksa (佛國寺; Fu Guo Si).  Reading in Chinese it really simply means Buddhist temple.  If you can’t read the Korean and Chinese characters in this blog, I suggest installing the East Asian language pack of Windows.  Back to Bulguksa.  This is one place you shouldn’t miss if you’re in this city.  It ain’t a UNESCO Heritage Site for nothing.  The architecture is well thought out.  The designs have meaning and purpose.  The number of steps in the main entrance, the roof designs, even the symbols.  Chinese and Buddhist influence really show and is a main part of Silla character of Korea.  It would take very long to give you full details of the place.

Everyone enter’s the gate save for Ryneth’s mom.  Unique trees and plants have a smallcard with their name and specie.  There is a gate that says 天王門 (Royal heavenly door?).  Hanja (韓字) in Bulguksa reads from right to left, compared to Tumuli Park where it’s left to right.  Each side of the gate has goulish statues which is for warding evil spirits.  Some more walking and we reach the front of the temple.  Outside the temple is a storage house where there are tiles.  For 500 Won donation, you can write your name and wishes on the tile.  The tiles will be used for construction.  There’s also a water construct where water is pouring.  The water comes from the mountain and is very clean.  I made sure to taste it before leaving. 
The Korean local government really make sure the site is well preserved.  You can’t use the main steps of the entrance.  You’ll have to use the backdoor.  Inside, there are a number of halls, the two pagodas.  One of the pagodas, Seokgotap, and also a stone stupa contains sarira.  I remember when Papa was cremated, we had the crematorium people pick little light greenish stones and put in a small bag.  That is sarira.  Irene is excited and interested by James retelling this story.  As I said before, most Koreans prefer burial even though Buddhists practice cremation.  Temples have temple stay service if you’re the type to immerse in that much Buddhist culture.  There are four objects that signal you to wake up: a gong, drum, big metallic fish and horn.  If those don’t wake you up, I don’t know what will.


The halls house several national treasures.  There are several interpretations of Buddha statues inside, and very big too.  Once again, like yesterday, students arrive as part of their field trip.  We kind of hustle to finish.  One hall got our attention.  It’s Museoljeon (무설전;  無說殿).  In Wikipedia, it means Hall of No Words.  Irene has a wonderful oxymoronic translation: No Lecture Hall.  This hall is where you meditate in silence and part of learning Buddha’s teachings which is not done by imparting teachings or lectures alone.  So, it’s a lecture hall with no lecturing.

Soon it’s time to go, and we must go now for it’s going to be about 2hr ride to our next itinerary, Chungju Lake (충주호수).  Yes, Bulguksa is one temple you shouldn’t miss visiting.