For my birthday weekend, three of my friends and I decided to book a condo for a night in the coastal city of
Tongyeong. By bus, it is about 2 or so hours southwest of Ulsan (via Busan). It is probably much faster to get there by car though.
The city was fairly touristy, but mostly popular with Korean tourists. We stayed at the fancy Chungmu Marina Resort (thanks to the help of a friend's Korean co-teacher). It had 2 bedrooms, a kitchen/living room, bathroom, and a balcony overlooking the water. Also, it was not too far from all of the attractions.
Not wanting to waste our time there, we jammed in as many places as possible. First, we had a local specialty for lunch. They make their own style of kimbap (Korean-style sushi rolls). Although I enjoyed it, the others seemed to think the nori (seaweed wrap) was too fresh. After that, we headed out to the base of
Mt. Mireuk in Hallyeo Maritime National Park and got a
cable car to the top. Because we are foreigners, the cable car people seemed to let us cut in front of like 200 people in queue. The cable car ride wasn't as scary as I imagined. At almost 6,500 feet, it is the longest in Korea! That might not seem that long compared to some around the world, but for a person terrified of heights... it was long enough. It was only 8,000won ($7.25) and definitely worth it. The views from Mt. Mireuk were breathtaking. It would have been even better if it wasn't such a foggy day. The short hike up to the summit wasn't too taxing either.
After heading back down the mountain, we went into the center of Tongyeong to satisfy my curious nature. After learning about Korea's historical
Admiral Yi Sun-sin in college, I see more of his birthplace for myself. He is still revered today due to his victories against the Japanese navy during the last half of the 1500s. I was also delighted to see a replica of his famous
Turtle Ship. We even hiked up a small mountain, through an outdoor sculpture garden, and up some stairs to see a (smaller than expected) statue of the admiral.
From there, we decided to check out and walk through the Undersea Tunnel (Asia's first submarine tunnel). It was built in 1931-1932 during Japanese occupation. Inside the tunnel was actually kind of eerie.
We rounded off the night by relaxing in our fancy hotel. With my assistance, Rathi and I whipped up some delicious tuna sandwiches (fancy, I know) and made our own version of Scrabble. Jon and Martin were too preoccupied with football (soccer) games.
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| View of the water (and islands) from our hotel. |
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| Chungmu Marina Resort |
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| Chungmu Marina Resort |
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| We also got a delicious soup to go with all of this "special" kimbap. |
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| Cable cars! |
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| Jon and myself going up Mt. Mireuk on the cable car. |
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| Not even halfway there... |
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| View from near the top of Mt. Mireuk. |
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| View from near the top of Mt. Mireuk |
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| At the summit! (Jon, Martin, and myself -- representing England, Scotland, and America) |
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| Looks like a traditional harbor... but look closely. |
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| There is the turtle ship!! |
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| Inside the turtle ship. |
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| Inside the turtle ship. |
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| The statue of the admiral. It took forever to find. |
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| Statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin |
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| View of downtown Tongyeong (turtle ship harbor is on the far right) |
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| The entrance to the Japanese-built Undersea Tunnel |
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| Inside the Japanese-built Undersea Tunnel |
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