2010 Korean Herb Medicine Festival

Today I made my way down to the annual Daegu Yangnyeong-si Herbal Medicine Festival. It was the third year in a row I'd visited and this being the last day of this years event I made the most of my free time to check it out even though I knew it would be exactly the same as previous ones.

I'm still sceptical of the benefits of Oriental medicine but living in Asia has opened my eyes a little and I'm more willing to try things I would have dismissed pre-Korea. My wife hated the smell of the street we walked down but I loved the aromas which stimulate the sinus and make you curious as to what the products can actually do. The language barrier still exists so basically I couldn't figure out what most of the stuff does so I decided to save my money for some other time.

During the walk round we saw various stalls selling their wears and. Bizarrely, to me, there are various things on offer that have no relation to herbs or medicine. I saw various outdoor restaurants, a Nintendo Wii stall, a Korean version of Punch and Judy, people selling replica swords, a sketch stall and a place where you could make a wooden bow and arrow. All part of the fun of taking in the Festival especially getting some delicious Korean food. For more information here is the official website.

Korean Herb Medicine Festival

Today we took advantage of the good weather and travelled on the bus downtown for the annual Daegu Yangnyeongsi Herb Medicine Festival. I've been before, this time last year but this was the first time with my girlfriend. I am a little sceptical but open to the benefits of Oriental medicine. I figure if it didn't work then the millions of people across Asia that use and believe in it would stop but clearly it is a thriving business and tradition in this part of the world. If there's one thing Koreans and in particular older Koreans like to do it's to stay fit and healthy for as long as possible. A quality to admire.

As you can see from the pictures there was plenty of colour on view and plenty of things that I didn't understand. We went fairly early on in the day so most of the activities and displays took place later. Maybe we missed something exciting but the hour we spent there was enough for the both of us. There was some literature in English and some English speakers on displays but not speaking Korean was a barrier that prevented me learning more than I could have back home. I ended up buying some aromatic 'herbs' (not sure that's the right word) which smell very strong and are supposed to help improve breathing, relaxation and ultimately help you sleep better. They were cheap, look nice and I like the smell so we'll see how well they work