Yeosu City - 여수시

Up to this point in my travels, Yeosu is the city to most effectively win my heart. This may be my bias due to my attachment to water and the coast, or it may be due to the amazing scenery and beauty of the city. I only stayed for two nights, but I would certainly return if the opportunity presented itself.

During our stay my friend and I stayed at the Island Motel, a nice motel that had fair rates and was in a nice location not far from the shopping street and downtown. We arrived late, so our first night we just walked around the area near our motel and hunted for some food. Most places in the area were closed since it was after 9 pm, but we managed to find one place that was open. The menu was simple, and we didn't recognize the foods offered so we asked what was the best soup, trusted the worker, and order two.

It worked out. It was some pretty tasty seafood soup ... which I forget the name of.

We spent the entirety of Saturday exploring and being tourists. We walked along the shoreline where we were staying and walked into the downtown area, there we managed to find a bus stop that would take us to the bus terminal (bus 89). Then from the terminal we could take 333 or 555 to the areas with a high concentration of  places to see. We took bus 333 from the bus terminal to the 2012 World Expo Site. One word of caution, Yeosu has two bus terminals. This caused us a fair amount of confusion and difficulty, as the bus stop marked on the bus routes was not the one we needed to go to, and the taxi drivers even took us to the wrong one by mistake the following day as well.

The world expo site had some impressive buildings. The huge circular water fountain seemed like the landmark of the place to me, it was a shame we couldn't see it in action. We had lunch at one of the "World Expo" restaurants along the street and tried lots of seafood and soy sauce marinated crab. Apparently Yeosu is known for their soy sauce marinated crab, it was good, but the raw texture didn't settle with me well. Aqua Planet was located in the same location, so we stopped to check it out next. The general adult ticket for the aquarium cost about 26,000 won. The aquarium had several different themed rooms, marine and ocean life, and aqua forest. Marine life had the beluga whales and sea lions. The belugas seemed very playful, and were playing together with a tire inside the tank and flipping around. Aqua Forest is where the different fish species, turtles, and jellyfish were. The jellyfish room is in my opinion one of the best photo ops of the aquarium, with bright colorful neon lights  illuminating the jellyfish. We had to wait around for quite some time to get the opportunity to take pictures. Ocean life is my favorite section however, because it gave you the feel for what it would really be like to be a part of the ocean. This area included a large observation wall and tunnel  to see all the different sharks, rays, and fish located within the large tank. It is the first aquarium that I have been to that had a tunnel, so I was excited to check it out and it didn't disappoint. There is something fascinating with the feeling of becoming one with the ocean. It is something that all ages can enjoy to the fullest. It is also a great place to take an abundance of photos.

Yeosu Expo Style Breakfast - With Soy Sauce Marinated Crab

Yeosu's Aqua Planet

The picturesque jellies

Life at deep sea
Scenes from "Legend of the Blue Sea" I am told were filmed here. 

The tunnel!

If you are looking for a romantic place, go to Odongdo Island. It is also located in the same location and you can get there either by taking the small train (which is super cheap but also packed with people - there was a line) or you can walk the path there. We walked both to and from the island, not patient enough to wait our turn for the train in the heat. It was cooler to just walk there and it wasn't too far. The island isn't too large, we walked around the entire thing, seeing the cave of the dragon, the lighthouse, some scenic cliff views, shops, and the musical fountain. When I got unbearably hot, I followed the kids to the fountain and soaked my hair and shirt with the cool water. It was so refreshing. There were no other adults in the water, just us and the kids, but it was so worth it to cool off. I thought I was going to sweat myself into a puddle.

The walk to the island

Cave of the Dragon

Cave of the Dragon Legend

The gorgeous walkway around the island with pretty trees

Odongdo Island from a distance

After our visit to the island we went to the cliff side where there was a large elevator. Take it to the 11th floor and that is where you can find the ticket booth and cable car rides that will take you to Dolsan Island across the water opposite from Odongdo. The round trip tickets were cheap at 13,000 won, but if I went again I would pay a little more and go for one with the glass floor to see the ocean through it. Even without the glass floor the view is spectacular though. It was at this point in our day that it looked like it would surely rain. The mountains in the distance began to disappear behind thick, dark clouds. Somehow our luck held out and it did not.

View from Dolsan

Dolsan Bridge

Yeosu Love

To end the night we walked along the shoreline beneath the cable cars and saw many seafood restaurants and the 'busking' festival that was taking place. Now I hadn't the slightest idea what busking was so I had to look it up, but basically it is where street performers perform for volunteer donations from their audience. We saw some great talent along the street throughout the night, many talented singers, guitar players, and magicians. The magician was my favorite; he knew how to keep an audience's attention very well. He worked great with the young kids and even had something more intense for the older crowd. He played with fire, spinning it around and putting on a show, while shirtless. It was attractive. He is the perfect street performer in my opinion, attractive, talented, had a phenomenal playlist for his act, and could be playful and cute with his younger audience. He also took photos with anyone who asked once he finished performing. I am sure he made lots of money as the night went on.

Our dinner consisted of a large platter of cabbage, onion, kimchi, vegetables, whole raw shrimp, scallops, and two raw octopus, which we then grilled over an open flame. The kimchi juices mixed into everything and gave it this rich, fresh, and healthy taste. It was so delicious. Just thinking about it now makes me yearn to eat it again. The staff assisted us in the cooking, checking in on us frequently to make sure that it was cooking evenly and that the pieces of seafood were cut into small enough pieces. Oh was it ever yummy.

Sunday we didn't do much, had some Krispy Kreme doughnuts ... which are heavenly, and then ate lunch at a tonkatsu buffet place that was great and a good price. For some reason almost all the restaurants were closed. Someone tried to explain why, but we didn't understand enough Korean to understand them. I think it had something to do with it being the first Sunday of the month. Either way, the buffet was open and we could eat our hearts out for 9,000 won/person plus an extra 1,000 for drinks. We took a taxi to the bus station so that we could buy tickets home following our lunch, the driver mistook our request and brought us to the terminal we were unfamiliar with. However, either terminal will get you where you need to go, so there is no need to worry like we did.