Explore South Korea with Jordann! - Chuseok Day 1: Gwangmyeong Cave (광명동굴)

Hello, and welcome to my first blog post! My first couple of blogs will be part of my Chuseok series, separated by what I did each day of Chuseok! First, let me break down what Chuseok is.

Chuseok (추석) is a major mid-autumn harvest festival celebrated on the Korean peninsula. South Korea celebrates Chuseok for three days, while North Korea only celebrates Chuseok on the day that Chuseok falls. Chuseok is similar to the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节) in China (and is actually celebrated on the same days that the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated), though both have their own unique traditions, activities and celebrations. Many people liken Chuseok to Korean Thanksgiving. This year, the celebration of Chuseok fell from Monday, September 16, 2024, to Wednesday, September 18, 2024. However, the actual date of Chuseok was September 17, 2024.

Now that you know a little more about Chuseok, let me tell you about the first day of my Chuseok adventure! Since Chuseok fell from Monday to Wednesday, I had a five-day (5-day) weekend (Saturday through Wednesday). Because of this, some friends and I decided to start our Chuseok adventure early: on Saturday, September 14, 2024!

On Saturday, my friends and I decided to go to Gwangmyeong Cave (광명동굴)! First, we headed to the train station to purchase tickets from Seoul Station to Gwangmyeong Station. Once we arrived at Gwangmyeong Station, we had to take a bus to reach the beginning of the climb to the cave. When we departed from the bus, my friends and I were immediately accosted by an older lady, who took it upon herself to herd us up the hill whilst stopping us often to borrow one of my friends’ phones and take photos of us as a group. We were all baffled, so we let her lead us up the hill, where we purchased tickets to get into the cave, where we departed from her. I will never forget that experience.

Stepping into the cave felt like drinking a glass of ice-cold water after being stuck in the desert for days. During the entirety of Chuseok, the weather was scorching and humid, making it miserable for anyone stuck outside. Luckily, the cave was air-conditioned! (This was also why we chose to go to the cave lol.) I actually got cold down in the cave, it was wonderful.

The cave was breathtaking. Korean labourers once dug the cave during the Japanese colonial rule of the Korean peninsula. There’s a lot of vibrant history about this cave that I won’t spoil for you; you’ll have to go see it for yourself! The cave isn’t just an empty cave; no, they have turned it into a huge tourist attraction (though I’m pretty sure my friends and I were the only foreigners there), complete with different sculptures, light shows, and lots and lots (and lots) of stairs. Be ready to climb down (and up ㅠㅠ) many stairs as the cave goes deep underground. There’s also a wine bar near the end of the cave! I don’t drink, but I thought that was really cool. (For you nerds out there, there is also a Lord of the Rings section of the cave (completely random, I know)!)

Exploring Gwangmyeong Cave took a couple of hours because my friends and I kept stopping to take tonnes of pictures and just looking in awe around the cave. After the cave (and climbing back down the hill), we took another bus to the main part of Gwangmyeong city (광명시) to eat. Unfortunately, they did not have anything vegetarian at the place we went to, so I had to wait until we were back home to eat. They did serve a probiotic drink at the end of the meal that was really good, though; 10/10 would drink again. After that, we all went home to rest for our excursion on Sunday.

Take a look at the photos at the top of the blog for pictures of some scenery and some parts of the cave! I’ll leave the rest of the cave exploring to you; have fun!

Stay tuned for the second day of my Chuseok series! See you soon <3

P.S. I don't know why my vertical photos keep getting turned horizontally; I apologise about that ㅠㅠ