[Jan 2020] Day 07: Danyang Day Trip and Saehan Bookstore - Golden Child's "奇跡(기적) (Miracle)" Photoshoot Site

I knew I had to be very well-prepared on my trip agenda well before Golden Child announced their first concert, because Woollim always gives such limited time in between concert announcement and concert day. I spent the fall months of last year researching places Golden Child had been to, and was especially trying to find out where Golden Child had their photoshoots for Gol-Cha! While on Naver, I stumbled upon a post by the owner of Saehan Bookstore, blogging about Golden Child's photoshoot here for 奇跡(기적); I couldn't believe I found this! And that's how I decided I needed to make a day trip to Danyang during my Korea trip. However Danyang is about a 2 hour train/bus ride, and while the bookstore is close by the train station, relying on the bus system it'd be quite difficult to reach the bookstore.

I'm very grateful that my college friend (who was an international student from Seoul) was more than happy to go to Danyang with me! It would also be her first time visiting this town, and she was interested in seeing this "bookstore in a forest". We planned our day trip for January 21st.

We started our day by fueling ourselves at 7-11 at the train station. I got banana milk to channel Seungmin, along with a kimbap with a push-up packaging. Then we took the 2 hour train ride to Danyang Station from Seoul. Stepping off the train, I could feel the serene environment and crisp, cool air. We had a rental car (thank goodness, or else I'd have no idea how we'd get around with the limited transportation here) and once we were on the road, we noticed it was really quiet. Barely any other cars or people around.

Saehan Bookstore 새한서점

Eventually we made it to Saehan Bookstore and parked on the side of the road as there's no designated parking, then hiked 200 meters in the forest.

After a few turns, we saw some blue rooftops. We made it to this magical bookstore!

We entered the building through the yellow bridge, then inside there was a little board that had photos of Golden Child! This area was more of an administrative section, and we had to go down a super steep staircase before entering the main part of the bookstore.

Voila! The bookstore~ It is so charming with the dirt floor and tarp ceiling. There's one main walkway and they all branch out with the bookshelves. Golden Child took their individual and paired photos throughout here.

And here's where Golden Child had one of their group photos!

One of the walkways leads to outside the building, and you can see the facade of the bookstore, also where the boys took their main group photos.

There is also another makeshift building with more books.

Taking a closer look, here's the blue ladder that Bomin was on!

My friend helped me to take some matching photos, but I greatly failed because I couldn't contain my excitement at actually being here!

To commemorate our journey, my friend and I decided to buy a wooden bookmark made by wood from this forest. We ended up sniffing all the bookmarks until we lost our sense of smell, but finally chose the ones we wanted. There was literally no one on site (I was surprised my friend and I had the place to ourselves), until we finally found a man cutting down a tree cliffside. Turns out this deforester is also the cashier and the owner of the bookstore!

The day was still young, so we spent the rest of our time visiting all the typical touristy places of Danyang.

Mancheonha Skywalk 만천하 스카이워크 

A paid ticket includes a shuttle ride to the actual skywalk. After arriving at the base, you walk up these ramps and then up this structure to the top.

At the top of the structure are 3 walkways with glass bottoms for you to enjoy the views of the city. The worker was also very nice and offered to take photos for us, and even gave many different angles like it was our own photoshoot.

Dodamsambong Peaks 도담삼봉

Considered as one of the Eight Wonders of Danyang is this set of peaks. We had to pay a small amount for parking but other than that this was free. The middle peak even has a man made pavilion.

There is also a short but very steep staircase that leads to another pavilion with another view of the peaks.

Stone Gate 석문

Stone Gate is another one of the Eight Wonders of Danyang, and is within walking distance from the Dodamsambong parking lot. After walking to the pavilion, you can continue hiking in the forest to reach this gate. There were even icicles hanging there.

Danyanggang Jando Trail 단양강 잔도

This man made walkway was built on the cliff alongside the Danyanggang River! This trail is completely free and can be accessed from the parking lot of the Skywalk. It was really cool walking here and was definitely my favorite touristy thing of Danyang (but of course Saehan was my absolutely favorite stop of the city!). Before walking cliffside, the walkway was playing dramatic classical music and there were pretty art installations.

The view was absolutely breathtaking!

Suyanggae Light Tunnel 수양개빛터널

This light tunnel is attached to the Suyanggae Prehistory Museum, and a paid ticket gets you into both. You actually have to go through the museum before entering the light tunnel. As for the light tunnel, one of the two main features is the light tunnel. It is a long tunnel with different sections showcasing various colorful light fixtures.

The second part is outdoors, with lots of outdoor lighting and random cavemen sculptures. The main area showed several cavemen throwing spears into an animal.

Lunch

For lunch we had grilled short rib patties (떡갈비) with Danyang's specialty garlic, along with raw beef bibimbap (육회비빔밥) and many sides. The restaurant also had a view of the water. This meal was honestly the best meal of my entire Korea trip! The patties were so delicious and the sides were different, and I absolutely love raw beef so that was an added bonus!

Dinner

For dinner we had another one of Danyang's specialties, spicy fish stew (매운탕) made with a rare fish from the area (쏘가리).

Tips: 

• One day is plenty to see a lot of Danyang.
• Having a car is best; it didn't look like the buses ran frequently and there is no bus going to Saehan.
• There are also bus tours which may be an alternative, again they probably wouldn't stop at Saehan.
• My only must-see touristy area (other than Saehan of course) would be the Jando Trail; you don't always see cliffside walkways and the views were so breathtaking.
• All other touristy areas were good fillers.
• The Light Tunnel was interesting, though all man made so I wouldn't travel to Danyang just for this.

Overall, it was a great experience to get out of Seoul and visit the quaint Danyang! Saehan Bookstore was absolutely magical though I wish I took more time to really try and make matching photos. The touristy sites were also interesting and gave a diverse outlook of the city. And the food was absolutely amazing! And again I'm so grateful to my friend for renting a car and driving; we definitely wouldn't have been able to see nearly as much without a car.