Tongyeong: From marching under the sea to soaring above the mountains...

I've written about Tongyeong. Several times. And guess what? This likely won't be my last post about this city, which is one of the many little gems along Korea's south coast. Why? Because I'm running out of ideas. Nah, just kidding...because Tongyeong is an amazing city! For a place that has fewer than 150,000 people, it has an incredible variety of attractions. I've written about its harbour, beaches, and sea-side walkways. However, there have been two things I have never explored until last weekend: The roughly 2 kilometre long cable car and the 500 metre long undersea tunnel.

Let's start with the tunnel. In itself, it's a little underwhelming: It's merely a half kilometre long concrete tube with poor lighting, reminiscent of World War II movies. However, when you think about what went into the tunnel and where you are, it's pretty cool: It was built about 100 years ago. The workers literally parted the sea, dug a trench, made a tunnel, then let the sea go back to its original place. Finding it is an adventure in itself, as both ends of the tunnel are in nondescript neighbourhoods with very little fanfare (just a few modest signs) pointing to its existence. It's not the world's most exciting place to be, but kind of cool knowing that you're walking under the sea...plus, here's a concrete tunnel that's something like 5m wide, 4m tall and 500m long with zero police, guards, etc, and free admission. Guess how much graffiti is on its walls? Zero. Nothing. Nada. Not a single pen mark. Pretty cool, Korea...pretty cool:

Now...to the cable car! I got there about two hours before closing and was told that, due to the massive number of people, they had stopped selling tickets. Disappointed, I told them that I had driven from the faraway magical land of Changwon specifically for their awesome attraction. So, the attendant ran off and came back with a ticket. Again...well done, Korea. You're making this whole "I should leave and move back to Canada" business rather difficult. The ticket, as usual, is laughably cheap compared to what similar attractions charge back home: $5 one way, $8 both ways. The ride was nice and smooth, and you share a little glass cage with 7 other people...one of whom, in my case, was tickled pink about sharing the ride with the white boy from Canada:

The views up the way are nothing short of breathtaking:

Once you're at the top, you can go to the roof of the building that houses the machinery for the cable car and be greeted with an expansive view of the mountains at your feet, little fishing villages, the sea and the islands beyond. On clear days, apparently Tsushima Island (part of Japan) is visible!

Then, you can trek along a fairly extensive network of boardwalks and stairs to different peaks along the mountain to a dozen or so little viewpoints:

Not only is the walk good exercise out in the fresh air and sunshine, it leads you to a variety of cool views...like these of downtown Tongyeong:

All in all...an awesome little day trip to Tongyeong. My only complaint was the hazy sky...thanks to pollution and Yellow Dust from China. But...you can't win'em all, can you? So, if you ever want to bum around southern Korea, definitely check out this little city and hit up the cable car...just make sure you go nice and early!

Random song suggestion: "Girlfriend" by Bachelorette...awesome song, very different from what I usually listen to, but a great track!

That's it from me for now...I'll be back with more soon!
T

 Here's one more for the road:

The TriStar of Daegu: One of my least favourite Korean cities climbs a step up the ladder!

So it's been no secret that the South Korean city of Daegu has never really appealed to me. I've been there half a dozen times and, while nothing bad has ever happened, each time I returned I regretted the effort. The city, up until now, lacked charm and individuality. It seemed that the entire city was little more than a sprawling, lower-middle class concrete disappointment.

However, yesterday, I finally found something worth checking out in Daegu!

It was a gorgeous sunny and warm spring day (I can't help but gloat...while Europe and North America have been dealing with a "spring" that thinks it's the middle of winter, I'm cruising around in a t-shirt with the windows down in Korea).

So, a friend and I headed for Suseong Lake in the south-eastern corner of the city. This lake also has some cool light and fountain shows in the summer that I want to go back for!

First...the lake, which in itself is pretty cool. Nestled at the edge of the city, it provides you with a great view of the city's tall buildings, and yet it seems like you're at least a little bit in nature. There's a walkway that circles the lake with tons of Koreans - mostly families and couples - taking advantage of the nice weather and strolling or riding bikes around the lake.

There are tons of things to do, including a small amusement park with rides for kids and swan boat rentals for the older crowd. The lake - which has a cool little island in one corner - is inhabited by some decent-sized fish (easily 50cm in length!), geese, ducks and swans! The atmosphere is awesome...everybody seemed to be happy.

Then...as I was sauntering around the lake and enjoying my camera setup for the day - Canon 5D Mark II with the little 40mm 2.8 STM Pancake on it...seriously...it's a brutally sharp and incredibly fun combo to play with!! - I saw it. But it couldn't be. No way. I mean...what would a full-sized passenger jet airliner be doing in the middle of a park in Daegu?

Well, apparently the plane - which looks like a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, but please correct me if I'm wrong - has been converted into a cafe! Now...this combines two of my favourite things: 1: I love unique buildings...and 2: I love machines...and have a special fondness for airplanes!

The inside of the cafe - which is run by Massa Coffee - looks very cool and was surprisingly uncrowded! Looking from the entrance door toward the cockpit:

Looking the other way:

Near the back of the plane, they had constructed a mostly glass sitting area that looks over the wing and the fuselage with a great view of the lake, the city beyond it and some mountains in the distance:

Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to explore more of the city (though we did walk around randomly for another hour or two in some ho-hum, but not altogether unpleasant neighbourhoods on the way back to the bus terminal)...but I'd definitely recommend Suseong Lake and the airplane cafe to anyone visiting Daegu! I'll be back this summer when the fountain shows start up and let you guys know how that is!

That's all for now...except...I'm back with another musical suggestion. Even if you don't like dubstep (and especially if you do), check out Bassnectar's "Timestretch"...it's easily the most awesome dubstep track ever laid down, one I think I'd like even if I wasn't into the genre! 

Y'all take care now and stay tuned...I'll try to toss up another blog in a couple of days! 

T :)