Sunday, October 14th 2012:

The next morning, it was time to head to Yeosu..

We stopped off at the Seonamsa Buddhist temple on the way to Yeosu. Above is a totem pole; they pre-date organized religion in Korea and are based on traditional animist beliefs. The pole is meant to act as a marker (ie: “Village/temple this way—>”

This bridge was on the 1km hike up to the temple. The air was so fresh and clean; no cars anywhere. I’m a city girl through and through, but wow, what a refreshing change from Seoul.

These were some traditional animist statues. The temple is a very important place in Korean history and is filled with artefacts and other interesting things throughout.

A pond in the temple.

Dragon carving on one of the temple roofs.

Buddha

You can’t see them, but like in my previous blog post, the temple was noticeably busy because of the university entrance exams that are currently taking place. Parents were there praying for their children’s success.

The stream running through the temple grounds…

Yeosu:

After about one hour’s drive, we arrived in Yeosu. Since the World Expo had shut down, we just briefly looked at the surrounding grounds and visited the aquarium there. During the Expo, the aquarium was the most popular attraction. Normally around $30 to get in, I got my fee waived because I was a K-Shuttle passenger – nice.

Penguins!

Getting my hand exfoliated by several little “doctor fish”, a type of fish that will eat the dead skin off of you. I’ve seen advertisements for them before around Seoul, specifically for pedicures (feet).

It tickled a little bit and felt kind of weird! Since it was a Sunday afternoon (ie: STUPID busy with lots of families and little kids), I only kept my hand in for a few seconds.

Piranas!!!

Inside the aquarium

Beluga whales

The World Expo grounds seen from inside the aquarium.

Overhead walkway with fish swimming above….

Suncheon…

After the aquarium, it was off to Suncheon to visit the nature reserve there.

Me standing on the way to the hike up the mountain/hill thing at the eco park in Suncheon Bay.

The marshlands…

I think this is promoting the 2013 International Eco Geo expo Suncheon will be hosting?

 

View from the top!! So hot and tiring! But still fun and very rewarding once reaching the top…

My hotel for the night:

Since I was the only passenger on the bus, I basically got a $70 room upgrade. Normally this room holds two people (even then it still would’ve been quite nice) but I had it all to myself. Complete with a desktop computer, wireless router, TV with cable, and floor heating system (which is actually quite common in Korea, but I digress), this room was very nice. I was thrilled to see that the had Western-sized bath towels as well! In Korea, bath towels are the same size as tea towels/dish drying towels.

I was a bit tired from the day spent hiking and so forth, so I actually told my guide that I’d prefer to eat-in. We walked together to a convenience store where I bought some ramyun and samgak kimbap (Korean sushi triangles, my new favourite snack!). I snuggled up in bed and watched some TV before going to sleep.

All in all, Sunday was a good day. I think my favourite part was the Buddhist temple, although I enjoyed the hike in Suncheon as well.