Suncheon Sunset

madeleine whitfield
Nov 1 · 5 min read

October 29, 2019

The third leg of this remarkable reasonably priced tour was the film set used by Kdramas when making films and series about 60s, 70s, and 80s Seoul and Suncheon, or other small Korean city. Although I really enjoyed the trip down Korean memory lane, it wouldn’t mean much to people who don’t watch Kdramas. Consequently this is a photo-less section of the blog.

What interested me about this faithfully constructed film set was how small the houses used to be. People literally had rooms so small that a person today would have difficulty lying down in one without bending their legs. There were no bathrooms in the houses, so I guess there were common latrines. The set is built on a hillside to faithfully re-create where people used to put up their little shanties, so there were many steep climbs. A lesser person would not have been able to climb to the top of this “district” unless they were very fit. I saw that as a challenge, naturally, and gave myself a bit of a bad back hoisting myself up steep and crumbling steps. I guess I have to show a picture so that my effort can be marvelled at.

This is an image taken from tripadvisor.com and I had a little trouble putting it on the page, but I finally got it to stay — I hope. Anyway you can see how the steps begin, but what you can’t see is how they break and crumble and jig this way and that, the further up one goes. Getting to the top required some faith in crumbling mortar. However, getting up wasn’t the real problem. Getting down without railings was a little tricky. I found out that my knees don’t bend well.

I gave my back the coup de gras when passing back through the set, I went by a reconstructed dance hall playing 60s twist and shout music. Some women were in there having a rare old time and called me in, so….had a great time and threw my back out. Enjoyed it though!

Last back to the bus, as usual, and was greeted with jeers! Well I was last one back to the bus at every stop! That’s how good it was.

Our final stop of the day was to a place called Waon Beach. It’s at the end of Suncheon Bay and is on the sea. The beach is mud really, but it is a place famous for its sunsets and since it was now getting on for 6 o’clock, that’s what we were going for. And it was truly lovely —

The tide is out and the fishing boats are way out anchored for the night. The sun is sending its dying rays into the right of the picture

There was a boardwalk to for strolling around the cliff edge, and I was able to get some lovely shots of the dying day. I could live here easily!

If I lived here, I’d come out and watch the sun go down every single day
Mr. Personality

This character looked over my shoulder as I was taking that shot of the sun on the water and insisted on taking my picture as well —

I could have stayed here until the stars came out

No lingering was allowed, and the same guy who took my picture took my arm and escorted me back to the bus to make sure I got on it in good time. However, the bus driver —

Our lovely bus driver for the day

— took pity on me and took me off the bus for some final pics —

Waon Beach — a place where lovers meet and seniors reflect!

He saw me take a picture of him when he suddenly turned around, so he took one of me in front of his bus —

End of a perfect day

By now we were all friends on the bus, so took some pics of fellow travellers. This was the best one where nobody moved to blur the photo —

The woman right behind me here is from Busan

This lovely lady helped me fill out the evaluation form at the end of the tour, which was all in Korean. We all had a laugh as I did my best to answer truthfully and repeat the Korean words she gave me. It was an excellent tour, an excellent day, and I would recommend it anyone! In fact, I might write to the company. You couldn’t get better value for $8.

One final note, they were curious about me travelling alone. I guess it’s unusual for women to live alone and travel alone in Korea. They had lots of questions and finally someone asked the big one: How old are you? When I told them, they couldn’t believe that I was in Korea alone at my age. I think I’ve taken a giant leap forward for Korean women. I could be a trailblazer! haha

Interested in history and all things Korean, I am enjoying my retirement following my dreams and desires. My dream — to return to South Korea is now a reality.

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