Gwangyang Maehwa Festival (but not a festival this year) – Blossoms in Korea

Back in the spring of 2019, we were lucky enough to enjoy the Gwangyang Maehwa Festival. This was back before I had a ‘real’ camera and before I had any notion of maybe wanting to share our travels on a blog.

I have very few photos, but the memories and the impressions have stuck. I was SO unimpressed with the traffic going into the festival area. Luckily (or unluckily?), you might not have that to deal with this year. Our then four-year-old was so desperate to go to the toilet while stuck in traffic that I offered her little brother’s nappy to wee in. She refused and held on!

After hours on the road, the big, sprawling, ugly car park, they directed us into did nothing to brighten my spirits. My husband knows how I hate big crowds, and yet another ‘festival’ was not really peaking my enthusiasm. But then we made it a little way up the hill…

We loved the particularly spectacular views over the lake, but all the way up the hill, and then down a quieter village street on the other side, we were even more delighted by the beauty.

This was back in the spring of 2019: pre-Covid, pre-blog, and pre-fancy camera. If you manage to get there safely, amid restrictions, send me some prettier pics! xo

If you’re reading this in March, check out the Gurye Sansuyu Villlage for some gorgeous yellow spring flowers!