Buuuut I came by myself. It turned out pretty great anyway. I took a KTX (high-speed train) in the morning and got there in the early afternoon
There was lots of pretty countryside scenery.
I stayed at a hostel in Yeosu and I'm pretty sure not a lot of native English speakers come there. The owner could speak broken English well enough to communicate, but his two staff members really could not - I used what Korean I had, which helped a little. Every one of the other guests I met or observed were all speaking in Korean. One girl invited me to a beer party that night in English, and even though I was so happy she was trying to connect with me, I had to turn it down.
Yeosu was both bigger and smaller than I expected. They hosted a big international exposition there 2 years ago, so you could see all the buildings and tourism that were built up for that, but the sad reality is that once it was over, you can tell that prosperity and growth was only temporary. Mostly domestic tourists still come here, but the exposition sites/major hotels are mostly empty and not well-maintained. I liked walking through the original neighborhoods and streets to get places. With the exception of a couple of sights that I wasn't able to go to, I could get to most everything by foot.
A street near my hostel with barber poles
Yeosu has many islands along the coast. Some you can get to by ferry, but one you can just walk to - Odongdo. I was so excited to come here. There's a land causeway built up so you can walk the short distance to the tiny island. Murals and mosaics cover the wall the entire 700 meters of the causeway.
There's Odongdo!
There are some boats you can take and a restaurant on the island, but the main attraction is following all the trails around almost the entire island. I stopped at every stopping point and took my time, but I still made it around all the trails in less than 1 1/2 hours. So I went back to some of my favorite places.
There was so much good engrish, I was loving all the signs.
A trio of girls offered to take my picture on the way down to the Dragon's Cave.
I didn't see any dragons...
There was so much wind!
There are several pathways that have this kind of arch made from bamboo. It was my favorite :)
Funny story - while I was walking through these paths, I turned a corner and saw a couple walking by. The guy did a double-take (probably because I was the only foreigner in the whole of Yeosu that I saw), and called out "hello" in English as I passed. I was taken aback at first, because nobody spoke English to me, and I wasn't sure if he was talking to me, but I responded "hello". His girlfriend was Not. Having it. She got mad at him for saying hello, then when I replied, she hit him in the head. I think he tried to call out "how are you?" after I had passed, but I wasn't messing with them anymore, because girl had a fit after that one too. She needn't have worried. "Hello, how are you?" isn't as strong of a pick-up line as she thinks.
View from the trail
Old man and the sea
There's a small section on the island near the entrance for other things, such as this replica of the turtle ship first used by General Lee Soon Shin, who defeated fleets of over 100 Japanese ships with just 7 or 8 of these bad boys. I've seen some with spikes on top. He fought these battles from here in Yeosu.
There's a musical water fountain show every 1/2 hour. They play 3-4 songs that sound like they've been lifted straight from the weather channel (Stott kids know exactly what this sounds like) and/or Kenny G. It's about the same.
That night I wanted to go see Dolsan Bridge because I'd heard it was really pretty all lit up. I was planning on stopping at any restaurant that looked good on the way back for dinner, but I wasn't excited to eat alone, because in Korea eating is such a social activity, and often the really good food isn't offered in single portions - you need to go with a group. So when I asked the owner of the hostel for directions to the bridge, he said some other guests were planning on driving there (one of them had a car) and asked them if I could come along. I thought, "That's awkward for them", but surprisingly they said yes. It was a group of 4 Korean guys, I think all of them students (i.e. a lot younger than me), and only 2 of them knew each other previously. The other two were solo travelers like me. They spoke limited English. I speak limited Korean. It was a lot of 1-2 word utterances and hand motions.
Those are the 4 guys in the middle. We tried to get a picture together later that evening, but it was so dark in the picture you couldn't see anyone.
It kept changing colors, both on the legs of the bridge and along each side of the road. So pretty!
Afterwards, we were pretty hungry, so we stopped at whatever seafood restaurant we could find that was still open - I guess countryside businesses always close earlier, even in Korea - and got soy-sauce marinated raw crab. I'd wanted to try this since I saw it on a Korean tv show a couple of years ago, and it did not disappoint. Admittedly it sounds crazy, but the meat was so soft and tender and well seasoned in the sauce - the sauce/brine took all the fishy flavor away, and it was really nice. The guys were worried that I wouldn't be able to handle it, or to eat any of the spicy side dishes, but I impressed them with my eating abilities. It's a gift.
This is only half of what they brought out. They brought out a bunch more side dishes, seafood stews, and watermelon after I took the picture, but by that time we just wanted to eat it all. It was only $8 per person.
The next morning, thanks to construction next door starting way too early, I was up and ready to explore a little more before I had to check out.
Little street with old-school coffee/tea/juice machines that cost 300 won/.30 a cup.
Pavilion in middle of the city
Jinnamgwan, part of the fortress where Lee Soon Shin directed the battles. The ocean used to come up this high, but now it's receded by a lot.
On the English translation of a sign, it said Jinnamgwan means "bringing peace to the nation by suppressing the Japanese marauders from the south". Kind of rolls off the tongue.
Do you see the dragon?
After I got back from that, there was not a lot to do but go back to the train station to try to catch the next train into Seoul. As I walked to the station, I had to pass through a lot of the exposition site. It was really huge, but mostly empty :(
The only things open I noticed in this giant building were bathrooms, an info center, a coffee shop, and a convenience store. Everything else was dark and empty.
There was a tunnel between the exposition center and the train station where people had written notes or wishes on heart shaped papers and fastened them to the strings on the sides. That's when I noticed a song playing over the speakers - it was Celine Dion while I walked through the expo center, but when I got to this tunnel, it changed to 성시경 Sung Shi Kyung, one of my favorite singers. Yeosu is for lovers. <3
Snacks for the trip back to Seoul
5 comments:
Love all the pictures of island. Like the one of you with the wind blowing your hair-reminds me of the girls in the korean shows when their hair is always blowing. The bridge at night is really neat! What you won't do to get a good meal!! Hope you had fun that evening! How perfect that you got to hear a song by Sung Shi Kyung! Is that banana milk for your snack on the train?
Cracking me up - kind of rolls off the tongue.
Great pictures! Food too.
Sorry short comments - my phone does not like to publish after I have to backspace at all .. perfectionist phone.
I love that that girl hit her boyfriend in the head-that is hysterical dorthy! And yes - i can hear the weather channel song in my head right now. That is fun and brave to go in a car with all those guys! I love the bridge.
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