Exploring the Bamboo Forest

We have been very impressed with South Korea's emphasis on exercise and a healthy lifestyle.  Today's adventure would start with a trail that follows the Taehwa River that runs through Ulsan.  There is a walking path, with a separate bike path that runs beside it.  At regular intervals we find the ever-present exercise equipment.  We had to stop our walking and biking in order to exercise a little.

Cole and Camden rode their bikes, and we were so impressed that they didn't run over even one pedestrian on this ride.

Right along the path is the Taehwaru Pavilion.  Its restoration was just completed in 2014, and it includes a yard with traditional Korean games set up.

Of course we had to try all the games, feeling very Asian with the Pavilion in our backyard.


The pavilion was originally built in 643, and stands in stark contrast against the tall apartment complexes in the background.

The pictures from a distance just can't show the intricate painting process that goes into each rafter.  Here's a zoomed in version to try to show the details.

We are getting close to the bamboo forest, as we are seeing more and more bamboo shoots along the walking path.  We have traveled about 3 kilometers from the car, so these are hardy walkers and bikers in our group.


Walking along the river gives us constant views of the city of Ulsan.  The skyscrapers in the picture to the left are not office buildings, but apartment buildings.  We will visit one of those later to visit a friend that lives on the 53rd floor.

We finally arrive at the entrance that takes us deep into the bamboo forest.  At the entrance is more exercise equipment, including oversized and weighted hula hoops.  Two adults are using those, spinning them around their waist with little effort, but the pictures are too blurry to post.  The path into the forest is wide enough for three cute kids to stretch across.

The path through the forest is also shady with the tall bamboo making an arch over our heads.  We've never walked inside a bamboo forest before, and this is such a fun place in the middle of the city!

Since we are in Asia, Cole, Katrina, and Camden do their best panda bear imitations by trying to climb the bamboo.

There are multiple paths that split off within the forest.  As fun as it is to walk in the bamboo forest, Denisa spots a trail that takes us back out into the sunshine.  So we investigate that area and find a sea of flowering mums that stretches for close to a mile.

There is also a tunnel that has tall mums climbing up the sides.  Not quite in bloom yet, this tunnel should be bursting into color within a week, and we hope to come back for that.  The roof of the tunnel is covered by some kind of zucchini plant whose big leaves shade us.  The crop of vegetables is dangling down from the bottom of the plants, making for interesting roof ornaments.


Then we spot the bike rentals and check to see if we can get a couple of the surrey bikes.  Just as Koreans have lots of free exercise equipment in their parks, they also have free bikes.  Our group of six divides between two surrey bikes, and we are literally off to the races.  The girls' bike is powered by two adults and the oldest daughter, so we have lots of leg power.

But Mark's surrey could keep up with the girls with a little help from Camden.  We stopped the race so Alexia could take this six-person selfie that captured all of us on our two surreys.  You can't tell from our smiles, but we are missing Brian who had to work today.

There are more mum-covered sculptures in the park that should be bursting with color in the coming weeks.  This is a wonderful time of year to be in South Korea, as the trees along the walking path in the background are also turning into their autumn foliage colors.  As you can see in the picture, there are hills encircling the city that are covered by more trees that are changing color for us.

After returning our surrey bicycles, we walk back to the flower sculpture park for a picture in front of the heart that is starting to turn red with mums.


There are a few people riding through the area on segways, but these two guys catch our attention.  They are happy to stop and pose for pictures on their one-wheeled electric scooters.

Along our path back to the car we find boxes of more fun things to play with.  There were hacky sacks with bright streamers attached, so we get more exercise kicking the sack around.  Alexia is clearly the most coordinated sacker around. 

The sun is setting as we head towards the car.  This was a great adventure to the bamboo forest and another of the great parks that we are experiencing in South Korea.  Have we mentioned lately that we are loving our time here with people that we love?