추석 Chuseok is a holiday like our Thanksgiving. It is a three day celebration originally to celebrate a year of good harvest, and is now spent with family and a time to honor the deceased family members. We spent this Chuseok with friends who feel like family.
여수 Yeosu is a town two islands over to the west. This was our first adventure there. I was pleasantly surprised. The name Yeosu means beautiful waters. There is water all around; it consists of 317 islands (49 are inhabited and 268 are uninhabited). Yeosu was not visited much because it is located so far sowthwest. However, it was put on the map in 2012 when it became home to the World Expo. There were 105 participating countries, many international organizations, and over eight million visitors to the little island in the south during the three-month long Expo.
🐢 Hyangiram Hermitage 🐢
We started vacay with 향일암 Hyangiram Hermitage. It is located on the southern tip of 돌산도 Dolsan Island. This site was founded in 644 AD and was built to honor 관음 Gwaneum, the bodhisattva of compassion and the most popular deity in Korean Buddhism. The name has been changed three times in the course of 1300+ years, but this name means 'a hermitage facing the sun.'
Along the steps up, there is a war memorial. At least that's what I think it is.
This turtle based stele, called 비석 biseok and the memorial are located on the stairs toward the temple entry. A biseok is the rectangular piece of stone that stands as a monument for a deceased monk. They typically contain three parts: the turtle base, the dragon cap, and the body with writing.
일줌운 Iljumun Gate is a teaser, letting you know you are on the right path to the temples, but there are still some steps to go.
Once again, here is hanja. There is still a Chinese influence on the language that sometimes comes out in signs. It is also in some of the words. For instance, the days of the week are based on Chinese words (moon, fire, water, etc.), and there are two types of numbers, one Korean and one Chinese. (SO confusing, two sets of number ssytems that are used to count/represent different things...time is represented by both--the hour is one and the minutes are the other!)
Buddhism is all about wisdom. Maybe some of the three wisest pieces of advice are in these three statues, no words needed to explain.
There was a sign here that talked about having the ability to overcome all the difficulties we encounter while living in this world through ceaseless perseverance and hard work. It also said they pray for the passing of SAT, recruitment, national, promotion, and civil servant exams. They wish we can become dragons without retreating from the test of life in the world.
Gold leaves are available for purchase to hang. People write messages/hopes/wishes on them.
Although Hyangiram is boasted to be a temple by the sea, it is nestled in, around, and among the cliffs of 그모산 Mt. Geumosan, which means 'Iron Turtle Mountain.' It does, however, have a gorgeous view of the South sea.
There are several nooks and crannies that we squeezed through along the trail to get to these views.
Eli found a coin on the ground, so he stuck it onto the rock wall like so many other people had done. People do this for good luck.
Hyangiram Hermitage was used as a base camp for Buddhist monks called the Righteous Army, who helped Admiral Yi Sun-sin fight the Japanese invasion during the Imjin War during the late 1500s. It is not surprising that it was burned during this war, as were so many other temples during this time. The name Hyangiram was given in 1715 when it was rebuilt. The main hall and bell tower were destroyed by fire in 2009 but have been refurbished as well.
Worshippers purchase and light candles in memory of their loved ones.
Prayer ribbons can be purchased and hung in the temple.
Every temple has a bell. In all the temples I have visited the past 2 years, I have yet to hear the bell being rung.
I was right in front of it when this monk rushed up. I thought, "Today is the day! I'm going to hear the bell being rung!" Nope. He kept right on walking by.
When you peek down from the area by the bell, there is a zodiac display. Many people have made a wish as they tossed their coin. Daisy and I threw coins and we both hit our animal! They are side-by-side...the rooster and the rat.
It was said that the surface of Geumosan Mountain looked like a golden turtle with a hexagonal pattern that was entering the sea with Buddhist scriptures on its back. 임포 Impo Village, pictured below, is thought to resemble the head of a turtle, while the rest of the mountain is the body.
This temple was selected by CNN in 2020 as one of 33 of South Korea's most beautiful temples.
That dark hole on the left another passageway.
There are seven caves and crevices at Hyangiram Hermitage. It is said if you pass through all seven that at least one of your wishes will come true.
Because the mountain is said to resemble a turtle, there were several turtle statues located in various places in the temple grounds. People have placed bracelets over the turtles' heads, along with the golden prayer leaves.
Hyangiram is one of Korea's four Buddhist hermitages paying homage to the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. It was at this hermitage that the original monk had a vision of 관세음보살 Gwanseeum-bosal, which translates to 'the hearer of cries.'
한려해상 Hallyeohaesang National Park is home to Dolsando Island. It is the 10th largest island in South Korea.
The 사랑나무 sarang namu, or Love Tree, has two different roots of silver magnolia and camellia that have become united.
This view of the South Sea facing the east may be why the name 'watching the sun' was chosen.
This building has four dragon heads perched on each corner of the roof.
Look how close the dragon was built to the rock wall.
I mean really look how close it was built!
🗿 Art Land Sculpture Park🗿
As we headed north, we stopped at Yeosu Art Land, an interactive art resort that 'invites visitors to come and experience wonders beyond imagination.' The area is based around the Art Land Resort. In addition to a resort, it is home to the Media Art Sculpture Park.
Before you get to the sculptures, you pass through a 60 meter multimedia tunnel that plays continuous images.
There was a little park-type area with chair swings and teeter totters. Or is it see saws? We had a discussion about which one we each called it.
The kids and the moms did the Ocean Sky Walk.
At the end of the walk we zip lined back to the beginning.
This is one of the most iconic pieces in the park. It is The Hand of Midas. It is 33m long and 50m above the ground. Those are not actually workers, but part of the sculpture. We didn't get the chance to have a turn on top of the hand because it was a two hour wait! Ain't nobody got time for that.
Midas' Hand: In Greek mythology, Dionysus wanted a hand that granted all wishes in the world. And he prayed to a god to turn everything he touched into gold. The Hand of Midas is the hand that grants all wishes. Climb into the hands of the dizzying heights and make your own wish.
The Promise of Love: If you promise to be by my side for the rest of my life, if you promise to hold my hand all night. If you promise to accept me as I am, if you promise to love my soul to the end, yes, I am ready for life. If you promise to stay with me for the rest of your life, if you promise to hold my hand all night, if you promise to accept me like me, if you promise to love my soul until the end of our lives, then I'm ready to devote my life to you. (That's how it was translated, anyway.)
Reason for Existence: Every life has its own reasons. Not to mention the desire for life inherent in humans, it is meaningful and worthwhile to stay there even for wild grasses growing in a corner of a lonely island. The appearance of ants that have gradually grown in size to reveal their existence is fundamentally connected with humans and desires.
Distortion of Time: Every human being is like a ship sailing toward the end of life as they are born. The desire for life becomes impatient with the passage of time and becomes obsessed with trying to catch the flow of time.
Earth and Desire: I don't know what the description of this one is because the grass covered the letters so I can't translate it. 😆
When in Korea you have to have some kimchi pots!
Here is Midas' hand from down below.
We finally made it to our hotel. Daisy was excited about the view from the balcony.
💦 Big O Show 💦
빅오쇼 The Big O Show was within walking distance from our hotel. It is a media show that uses water, light, sound and fire to wow the audience. You can see why it gets the name The Big O Show.
Upon entry we received rain ponchos because we were warned that we would get wet.
Lijee said he was a unicorn.
The Big O is the world's largest water screen (or so it boasts). It is 41 meters high and 120 meters wide. There were fountains located at the front with 345 water nozzles that danced to the music and shot seawater more than 70 meters high.
Next we experienced the performance consisting of ''fantasy and emotion."
Mist shot from the top to create a water screen inside, which in turn featured a short movie and a video with an octopus who plays the drums and more. The movie involved a female protagonist exploring the sea, which totally went with the Expo theme, when the Big O Show was created.
The outer rim also produced special effects including laser shows with fourteen beam projectors and four lasers.
The fire was all of our favorite parts. We could feel the heat from our seats.
Rain was predicted for later that night. It was a quite windy, and as they predicted, we were getting wet from the fountains. Soon it started raining on us, which wasn't a big problem since they had given us rain jackets. But the rain was hitting us directly in our faces and it was burning our eyes. Come to find out, Abe said it wasn't actually raining, but it was the water dripping from the edge of the roof right onto us in the front row, and it was stinging because the water from the show is salt water directly from the ocean. 😜
💠 Arte Museum Ocean 💠
The whole gang, the Ts and the Danielses.
The Arte Museum is Korea's largest immersive art museum, combining art, mirrors, video, and sound. The theme changes periodically, and the current theme was ocean. There were twelve media artworks, each providing a "completely immersive experience with visual intensity, sensual sound, and elegant fragrance." All of the exhibits were moving, so still photos do not portray accurately how neat the experience was, but I will do my best.
INFINITE FLOWER PETALS, Camellia, A Symbol of Life Cycle and Love:
Feel the beauty of the lyrical life of the camellia, falling itself as a bud without any regrets, after the most splendid flower blooms.
Can you spot me standing in front of the wall amongst the falling petals?
ENDLESS SURREAL BEACH, Aurora:
Observe the contrast between the splendor of the aurora and the fierce waves, and let your mind wander.
This room was like being on the beach. As you stood there, it really seemed like the waves were coming at your feet while the Northern Lights were shining down on you.
UNDERWATER, Egret's Stroll In The Mysterious Sea:
A giant egret that seems to exist only in the imagination leisurely strolls through the deep mysterious sea, giving a contrasting experience as if you have become smaller in the deep sea.
This large bird was just walking in front of you, back and forth whilst looking for his next meal.
JUNGLE, Transformational Jungle in a Tropical Rainforest: Encounter the newly formed personal animals in the jungle, whose colors and patterns change according to the surrounding environment and the lights along the long tropical media wall.
This was a fun room. First you colored a pre-designed picture. Then you scanned it.
Next it popped onto the jungle scene. Some slowly wandered back and forth, like Daisy's elephant, while others happily skipped by.
NIGHT SAFARI, Infused With Life:
When the silent night settles, the performances of the night can be heard and the animals come alive.
Can you spot me trying to reach the giraffe?
MOON, Meeting With The Moon Rabbit Under the Moonlight:
Meet the moon rabbit hiding inside a ball full of moonlight. The gigantic 4-meter tall moon rabbit is waiting for a friend to play with inside the moon.
STAR, Shooting Star:
Stars that have been waiting for a long time in the dark night sky fall one by one. The movement of the starlight pouring down like a rain shower expands infinitely.
This was our favorite room. The balls gracefully changed colors. They seemed to go on forever, and there was celestial music to match the mood.
WATERFALL, Bit:
The smallest unit of digital bits come together creating the simplest but most beautiful and powerful waterfall.
There are my boys, basking in the waterfall.
WAVE, Entrapped Enormous Gushing Wave:
Face the enormous wave gushing towards you. Experience the resonant of a paradoxical wave that fiercely gushes to swallow the surrounding, yet is trapped inside an unfamiliar space expanded by the anamorphic illusion.
There my boys again, braving the huge wave.
WORMHOLE, Journey to a New Dimension Beyond Space:
Move to a new dimension inside the pitch-black darkness. Through the anamorphic images and dimensional sound, escape the mundane space of reality and meet the universe in illusion.
GARDEN, Masterpieces in the Garden of Light:
Experience the moments of artistic reflection through works of masters in western art history.
A beautiful spectacle created by giant whales and mysterious sea creatures. The fantastic sea journey you've always dreamed of begins with beautiful Yeosu's sea and superb view.
This room was huge, and the images were projected on all the walls.
There really is a night cruise in Yeosu that shows fireworks. That is on my list for our next visit.
Yeony and Suny were named the official mascots of Expo 2012 and they still represent the city. Yeony and Suny are personifications of plankton. Each of their names is derived from 'Yeosu', where Yeo means beautiful and Su means water.
On the walk home we went along the boardwalk in front of the Big O.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the tour was more of a photo op than an actual outing on the water. We stopped a couple times to take posed pics, and then pretty much turned around and headed back. 
[September 20-22]
🛥 Yachting 🛥
You know I always love being on the water, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a yacht tour.
It was still time on a boat, so I was happy.
🏊 Swim Time 🏊
The hotel had a neat roof top pool that we played in. We were given a water face mask, because, Covid. We had to pay a fee to swim, which is not totally uncommon (irritating, but not totally uncommon). However, a free drink was included with our fee, so that was fun. The kids told us to interwine our arms to toast.
This little exhibit is for lovers. When each touches a pedestal and joins hands, the lights on the heart will illuminate if there is true love powering it.
🚠 Yeosu Maritime Cable Cars 🚠
Yeosu Maritime Cable Car was the first sea cable car in Korea, connecting Dolsan Island and the mainland over the ocean. It opened in 2014, and since then about 150 cable cars have opened throughout South Korea.
The cable cars carry passengers above the bay 1.5 km from 자산 Jasan Park on the mainland to Dolsan Island.
돌산공원 Dolsan Park was founded on the hilltop of the island above the bridge that connects Dolsan Island to the mainland to celebrate the bridge opening.
Dolsan Island was considered to be a fortress in the ocean because it protected the nation from invaders and pirates during the Joseon Dynasty.
The 450m long suspension bridge connects the peninsula with Dolsan Island, which is considered to be the most important of the 317 islands that stretch along this part of the southern coast. Construction on this largest cable-stayed bridge in Korea was completed in 1984.
Life is like a box of chocolates.
Don't let my husband see!
This guy is the only one for me. He's got nothing to worry about.
We planned our cable car trip so we could catch the sunset. This view is to the west, looking away from the city.
This view is to the east, looking at the mainland.
This is the same view with colorful lights.
This view is from the cable car, looking back at Dolsan Bridge to the far left.
Once we disembarked the cable car, we could see our hotel from atop Jasan Park.
The 거북선대교 Geobukseondaegyo Bridge is also called the Second Dolsan Bridge because it was created to ease traffic congestion on the first Dolsan Bridge. It links the Port of Yeosu with Dolsando across the Namhae Sea. Construction was finished in 2012 because they wanted to accommodate the extra traffic during the Expo. The bridge is named after the turtle ship that Yi Sun-shin used to defeat the Japanese fleet in the late 1400s, a geobukseon.
일출정 Ilchuljeong Pavilion sits right by the cable cars. A little shop sells wooden hearts for people to write their wishes and messages on, which are then placed around the pavilion.
After we walked home the city was still alive.
From the lobby on our floor I could see the Dolsan Bridge.
From our balcony I could see the Big O Show.
The opposite direction from The Big O Show was the view of the breakwater leading to Odongdo Island, and of course the beautiful full moon.
The fire looked cool from afar, too.
🏝 Odongdo Island 🏝
The morning view was such a stark contrast to the same view from the night before. Instead of the multi-colored flashing lights and loud music, there was calm. The grown ups took advantage of the morning bliss and walked from the mainland along the 768m breakwater to 오동도 Odongdo.
Odongdo is a small island that has been connected to the mainland that is the base point of Hallyeohaesang National Park. The island is a popular tourist site.
The Odong Lighthouse is an iconic attraction. Ships have been guided into the bay by this lighthouse since 1952. You can see it in the upper left.
The legend of Dragon Cave tells of a dragon that once lived in the cave on Odongdo. It would travel an underground path to Yeoundeong Creek to drink rainwater whenever it rained. After village residents blocked Yeoundeung Creek Cave, the dragon came out of the cave every night at 2 am and then moved into a fountain under the lighthouse of nearby Jasan Park whose water went down to the sea. This caused a sound of high waves and splitting sea water echoing all night long.
The island is most famous for its camellia trees that bloom in the early spring. However, there are 70 species of wildflowers, 200 species of evergreen trees and bamboo growing here.
This culture does not shy away from conversations regarding bodily functions and/or parts. Case in point: the title plaque on this tree reads "penis tree." Rumor has it if you touch this tree you will have beautiful children.
There are two famous legends of Odongdo Island. A golden phoenix flew to Odongdo, where the paulownia forest was thick, and ate it. The king commanded the paulownia forest to be cut down when he heard the rumor of the phoenix claiming to be the new king. (Take note that there are no paulownia trees on the island to this day.) The second legend pertains to the famous camellias. A beautiful woman and fisherman lived on the island. The woman was chased by a thief and fell from the cliff to her death. Her husband made her grave at a corner of the island. In winter, red camellia flowers bloom up through the white snow on the grave site.
Admiral Yi Sun-shin trained his soldiers here. It is also said that he and his soldiers made arrows out of the bamboo trees that grow on the island. Pictured is a replica of one of his famed turtle ships.
Yeosu World Expo Bay sits between Odongdo and the mainland. Our hotel is the one in the middle.
🎶 When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore. 🎵
🛤 Ocean Rail bikes 🛤
Flash storms are not very common here in Korea. The rain usually comes in slowly and lingers for the day before it moves on. Not the case on this day. As we were pulling up to the rail bikes, a storm blew in out of nowhere. From the parking lot to the office the wind massively picked up. Look at these guys protecting themselves from the wind and dust particles blowing in their faces. 😂
We waited in our cars for about 30 minutes until the rain stopped, the wind died down, and the sun came back out.
The Yeosu Ocean Rail Bike Park features an open-air 3.5 km track with a tunnel and wonderful views of the ocean.
There are a lot of cities with rail bikes. What makes this one unique is the ocean views.
Most of those cities with rail bikes also have tunnels. Most of those tunnels have crazy neon, multi-colored flashing lights, which did not make this rail bike unique.
Near the end of the tunnel another bike passed us. I was waving like a crazy woman because I thought it was our guys. I was wrong. We passed them outside the tunnel right before the turn around point.🙈
🌊 Black Sand Beach 🌊
만성리 Manseongri Black Sand Beach is located just down a small hill from the rail bikes. A band called Busker Busker put out a song the same spring that the World Expo was in Yeosu. It was called 여수밤바다 Yeosu Bambada (Yeosu Night Sea) and it was filmed on this beach. Consequently, the beach has become quite popular, so Linda and I wanted to check it out.
It is locally believed that black has healing effect on diseases. There is even a legend that patients who visit on April 20th will be cured of their ailments. One website bragged that Manseongri is the one-and-only black sand beach in Korea. First of all, we experienced a black sand beach in Jeju this summer. Second of all, the other beach was much blacker and much nicer than this one. But the other beach does not have a song written about it, so there's that.
You can tell how the kids felt about it. I like to title this picture, "Tell me you are not impressed without telling me you are not impressed." 😂
There is still a lot to see in this little ocean town. I have plans to return.
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