TONGYEONG —Learning From the Unexpected
Luge, a wheeled gravity ride that provides riders full control over their descent on purpose-built track, opened in Tongyeong for the first time in Korea. It is a unique ride and there are only six luge tracks in the world so opening of luge in Tongyeong was all over Facebook and Instagram.
Therefore, I gathered two of my friends from high school after midterm last semester to come with me to Tongyeong. It was a 24hour trip arriving at late night, sleeping in a guest house and then starting the trip next morning. After having an early breakfast in the guesthouse we asked the lady who works there about how to go to luge site by bus. Although the lady was very kind enough to explain in detail, she had this look on her face ‘why are you guys still here?’
We arrived there half an hour before the opening hour, and faced an endless line. A staff came to us and said that we have to wait for more than six hours. At that point we only had nine hours before we had to leave. We could not waste our time in that long line and decided to go somewhere else.
#1 Tongyeong Cable Car
The very first place we chose was the cable car, the most famous tourist attraction in Tongyeong and the closest site from the luge track. It was inevitably the first choice because it was the first place we could see from the luge line. We grabbed a map while waiting to come up with other plans as well
After waiting for an hour, we could finally get in the cable car to go up to the observatory on a mountain. I could see more than I expected. The mountain is located at the tip of the city which enabled tourists to see the city in one glance.
The first thing that caught my eyes were the ocean that divides the downtown and the mountain I am standing in. the ocean was in between the two parts which made me feel like I am in a different part of the world. In the downtown, there were many tall apartment buildings just like so many other cities in Korea. But then, I could see so many mountain tips around and in the city. These made the roads in downtown so complicated, but at the same time provided great views and tourist attraction.
#2 Seashore bicycle trail
Just like we planned while waiting for the cable car, we headed to a seashore bicycle track. Having not much information neither on the map nor the internet made us worry. However, we decided to try anyways. As we arrived, we could find the rental place easily and each borrowed one. Unlike the luge, not many people were there. It was so peaceful and rather an unknown place.
Some parts of the road were on construction and the trail seemed new. The road was so close to the shallow and peaceful ocean and there was rock cliff on the other side. While biking, I could see some people fishing on the quayside. Although none of us were into fishing, the quaysides were great photo spots. The bright sun helped and we literally took hundreds of pictures.
#3 Seo pirang
With limited time, we chose a popular place with high accessibility as our last site to visit. According to many blogs I looked up, Seopirang is basically a small mountain with mural with so many photo spots. The bright colored murals were great background for taking what we call in-seng shots which means the best picture in one’s life.
I could not have been more disappointed when I arrived. Like the explanation on blogs there were 99 painted stairs, and nothing else. The few props for picture seemed sloppy. I felt like the city tried to make something out of nothing and did not do a very good job. The pictures on the blog were better than the actual place. My friends felt the same way. So, we did not stay at the place for a long time.
The travel did not have the best beginning but it did end well, allowing me to go every nook and corner at a short time. I usually get stressed out about my plans not working out the way it is supposed to but I was glad that I could not ride luge this time. This trip also made me want to travel to different parts of the country.