Weekend trips from Seoul: Yeosu in South Jeolla Province

This summer we spent a few days at the beach in Yeosu, a coastal town on the the southern coast of South Jeolla Province. 

There’s been a growing tourist industry in Yeosu since the KTX was build for the Expo in 2012. Now it only takes 3 hours to get there from Seoul, rather than the 7 hours it could take by bus or car before!

THINGS TO DO

There is some sightseeing in Yeosu – a cablecar takes visitors up to see the views of the coast and walking around Odongdo (island) through the camellia trees (which bloom in winter) is another attraction.

And for history buffs, Yeosu is where the famous Admiral Yi Sun Sin and his navy were based when they defeated the Japanese invaders with just a handful of turtle ships in the 16th century. While there are some models of turtle ships to look at, it’s all quite low key, really.

There’s a statue of him similar to the one in Gwanghwamun in Seoul. (The statues have caused some controversy though as the one in Seoul is holding the sword in the right hand, here he’s holding it in his left ...) 

I think for anyone living in the city, the main attraction for visiting Yeosu would be the beach.

THE BEACH

We had considered staying at one of the fancy hotels that congregate around the station and Expo site area – definitely convenient for visiting the local attractions.

But we wanted to get away from it all (and we were too stingy to pay top prices). And when we heard the noise of construction work and saw the traffic around Yeosu station, we knew we’d made the right decision by staying on Mosageum beach – a 20 minute taxi ride away, where we could hear the sound of the waves from our room and walk straight onto the beach.

In the taxi we passed Manseong black sand beach which is larger and has more going on than our beach – it’s got a strip with shops and outdoor seafood restaurants. (We didn’t try black sand bathing there – we’ve done that in Ibusuki in Japan.)  

On Saturday we joined bathers frolicking in the sea with yellow rubber rings, reassured by lifeguards and messages over loudspeakers reminding us not to swim out as far as the rope barriers. But on Sunday evening everything was taken in and put away. And it was announced that this was the end of the season. We had unwittingly arrived on the last day of the swimming season!

From then on we could still go in the water, but if anything happened we were on our own… The tide seems quite gentle but still it’s probably best to go before the season ends in August.

Meanwhile, in the nearby fields, behind fig and persimmon trees, local farmers were covered from head to foot protecting themselves from the sun. An elderly couple sat shaking sesame seeds out of the pods.

COASTAL RAIL BIKE

Away from the beach, we took a leisurely pedal on the coastal rail bike. The carts can seat up to four people and you pedal along the coast past the mussel farm and through a cool mountain tunnel before turning around and pedalling back again! It all takes under 30 minutes.

As we set off, we were made to stop again for a photo taken by a professional photographer. It was 10,000 won if we wanted the photo. I was appalled. But I bought it anyway!

So at 26,000 won per cart plus 10,000 won for a photo, this has got to be the most lucrative attraction in the area. And there’s a constant stream of eager customers!

A CRUISE

Another day we took a cruise boat (50 minutes) around the coastline. Our boat was packed with a large and exuberant party of the upper-middle-aged enjoying cans of beer which were sold onboard. The shop was also doing a roaring trade in prawn flavoured crisps which are believed to be the seagull’s favourite snack…

Throwing crisps in the air for the seagulls to catch kept the kids animated for a while. Then they sat down engrossed in their smart phones again. The view of water and coastline was perhaps not that exciting.

GAT-KIMCHI

If you eat out in Yeosu, you will definitely come across Gat-kimchi = mustard leaf kimchi,  the signature kimchi of Yeosu. Gat kimchi has two kinds of spice – chilli spice and mustard spice. So if your throat is not on fire, your nose might be! I love it and since lots of shops sell gat-kimchi it’s easy to find and you can have it delivered to your house in a cool pack. We bought 5kg of gat-kimchi and it arrived the next day!

There are several seafood dishes that are promoted in Yeosu along with gat-kimchi. We tried Seo-dae-hoe, sole sashimi, which is served with spicy salad and we also had gaejang-baekban, raw crab marinated in soy sauce with rice and side dishes.

It was a great little weekend getaway. We wanted a change from city life in Seoul. And we certainly got that. Here’s more info about Yeosu.