Geogeum-do Death March
By Isaiah Winters Every year, I subject myself to a figurative death march. These punitive pilgrimages always take place on one of Honam’s beautiful islands, and my patented poor planning … Read More
Category: Lost in Gwangju/Honam
Mudeung-san’s Valley Invaders
GIC Eco-Tour Uproots Invasive Wingstem Wildflower By Isaiah Winters While I’ve long associated the Gwangju International Center’s “GIC tours” with packed buses headed on epic overnight journeys to distant islands … Read More
A Tale of Two Valleys
Swimming Deep in the Mountains of Namwon By Isaiah Winters Last summer, I spent a week in Gokseong scouring Dongak-san’s best valleys for swimmable pools of pure, mountain spring water. … Read More
Jinwon-myeon’s Quintet of Anomalies
By Isaiah Winters Just outside Gwangju, in a sleepy little hillside township named Jinwon-myeon, lies a series of oddities fit for a novelty-seeking weirdo like me. Our grim quintet of … Read More
Finding Buddha and Goldmines in Yongjin-san
By Isaiah Winters Yongjin-san has hidden treasures inside and out. Located on Gwangju’s northwestern periphery, it gets very few visitors despite being the city’s sharpest peak and home to at … Read More
“Do Not Move. Just Stay Where You Are.” Revisiting the Sewol Ferry Ten Years On
By Isaiah Winters No decade ever emerges unscathed from the wreckage of human error. The Sewol Ferry’s tragic sinking, President Park’s ignominious ouster, and Itaewon’s horrid crowd crush are three … Read More
Against the Grain
By Isaiah Winters It’s not every day in Korea that you cross paths with a multicultural married couple in their twenties who are their own bosses, live in a restored … Read More
Gwangju’s Obscure Northern Rim
By Isaiah Winters To usher in the cold, northerly winds of the new year, this January we’ll pay tribute to Gwangju’s obscure northern rim, specifically the flatlands, foothills, and jagged … Read More