Time for another family daytrip!
This morning, my aunt called our house and asked if we would like to come along with her and my cousins to the Gwangmyeong cave. After hearing the word "cave", I was super excited. If you know of Lava River Cave in Oregon, that's basically what I was expecting. Boy, was I surprised!
Gwangmyeong Cave/광명 동굴 Entrance
Gwangmyeong Cave was the least cave-like cave I've ever been to. However, I've only been to one other one in my life, so I suppose I'm not quite qualified to say so. But if I tell you that the inside was filled with guides pointing you to "themed" rooms such as an aquarium room, gold room, and wine room, you'd probably agree.
Supposedly, the cave has a rich mining history. However, the cave was revamped and reopened in 2011, redecorated with florescent lights, themed rooms, and fish. According to my aunt, the cave was featured on a celebrity game TV show called "Running Man" (런닝맨) at some point after re-opening, and now it's a huge tourist attraction- particularly for families with children.
On the weekends, I recommend you get here early if you want to park. We got there around 11:30am and barely managed to find a spot in the lot the furthest away from the entrance!
The hike up to the cave was beautiful. Cherry blossom trees, among other various vegetation, lined the sides of the paved road and little wooden stairs here and there was a perfect touch to the overall naturally-whimsical look. When we got to the mid-way point, there were cafés, a gift shop, bathrooms, and little food stalls set up. The adults enjoyed coffees while the kids ran around the large open area.
At this mid way point, we bought our tickets and headed up the final hill for the cave. The tickets were quite cheap- 1,500won for children, 2,500won for youth/teens, and 4,000won for adults.
Here's where it gets interesting. I went in expecting a dark cave, rough walls, high-low ceilings, and bumpy floor. I didn't expect to see a florescent light arch tunnel, guides who point the people to which room to go to next, and designated "rooms" for various things. To be honest, it was way more tourist-y and less natural than I could have ever imagined it. Some of the rooms were very cool, though, and the kids seemed to just love it!
A light-arch tunnel inside the cave.
The themed rooms were actually quite interesting- there was an aquarium themed room, where there were tanks of fish and sea-animals set into the stone walls, a garden room, where both walls from ceiling to floor was lined with plants, and even a wine room for the parents, where adults could taste and buy wine, or even explore a wine cellar (if you can get someone watch the kids for a bit). There were also fortune/gold rooms, where you could do various activities, such as throwing a coin into a "treasure room" for good luck, pose with statues (that supposedly bring you luck), or buy a gold disk where you can write your wish and tie it next to the hundreds of other gold plates.
A wine cellar in the cave (?!).
Hang your wish on the wall!
There were also some weird rooms here and there, such as a "salted shrimp storage". There were literally barrels of salted shrimp behind a velvet rope, which people could buy.
There were many stairs, rooms, and interesting setups (such as a haunted house) to explore, which all took about 45 minutes to complete. But it doesn't end there! This place is literally made for the kids. They even had what I suppose you would call an "experience center" right outside the exit of the cave, which had lots of cutouts to put your face in for photos, chairs made of logs, etc. You could also go inside the building to sift through rocks to find gems, buy a gold plate to bring good luck, or an "explorer hat" (which was a white plastic helmet made to look like a construction helmet).
I would say that this cave is great for families with children under the age of 13. There are plenty of things for kids to enjoy there, and lots of teaching moments that could be had in some of the rooms. However, there are quite a lot of stairs, especially near the end of the tour, so if you have a child under the age of 5, he/she may have trouble keeping up.
If you're looking for a cheap, interesting thing to do with the kids on a weekend, the Gwangmyeong Cave is definitely worth checking out. You can come here expecting half a day's worth of fun for the kids. But, if a real spelunking adventure is what you're looking for, this may not be the place for you. :)
Gwangmyeong Cave
광명 동굴
San 17-1, Gahak-dong, Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do 경기도 광명시 가학동 산 17-1번지
http://cavern.gm.go.kr/cv/index.do
