Dadaepo beach and Morundae
There is a high level yellow sand panic alert active for Korea. This means the Mongols have been stirring up the desert. Apparently it has nothing to do with the heavy ship building, car making, steel making, petrol refining, and aluminium smeltering that dominate all of Korea. So what better way to breath in Mongolian sand than to go to a beach and mix it with some beach sand?
My beach of choice was Dadaepo beach, which I had not been to before, and only recently became a beach due to the subway extension completion that allowed it to be beachified.
The area is also a park around a rocky coast with island views obscured by yellow sand, which may be known as Morundae or may also be known as Hwasondae. Of course it is also a military base.
Therefore, let us see some pollution views of many kinds of sands.
First up, there is a boardwalk over some sandy swamp areas. Apparently a place to go bird watching.
This being the last stop at the edge of town, there are of course many new skyscraper apartments nearby.
One of a few bird watching spots.
You can see from here that there actually is a large beach in the distance. I thought I would get a better view of it from the coastal path, but I did not. There is an enclosed area of water no more than 2 feet deep that you are permitted to wade in.
Instead of walking up the beach, I will walk up the nearby coastal hill.
I lied, there is a slightly better beach view, but there is no beach view to be had from the main path around the hill. The light is very weird in this photo due to the pollution today.
This is the general feel of the main path through the park. Nice trees.
Today's helicopter landing pad has a wind sock! This area is an actual military base, complete with guys with guns on the gate.
Apparently this was the local naval commanders office until 1915. I found this hard to believe. But the sign explains this a bit. The roof was relocated to here, it used to have walls and rooms and even a heated floor before it became a public monument in the park. I think this is probably the case with a lot of these.
A nearby island. Apparently in winter it pierces the fog for one of 'the views of the Busan coast'.
A bell. The soldiers with guns are near here and there are signs warning you against filming anything, they did not seem to care about me taking this photo though.
Now for some rocky views. This one came out pretty good.
There are some guys fishing dotted around the rocks. The sea was very calm today, not much risk of getting washed off the rocks.
Enjoy a nice rocky view.
There are a few tiny lighthouses around here. And rocks jutting up all over the place. I believe I am standing on an old gun installation.
I left the main path a few times to enjoy some pine needles underfoot.
This area looks like a proper hike.
Bit if you were missing rocky trails, fear not, there are rocks too.
Rocks plus high rises, and lots of pollution. There is no cloud in this shot, and the camera cleans it up a bit compared to the naked eye.
Final shot of a rocky and sandy day.
Tonight I might go up another hill and enjoy a polluted sunset view.
Gamcheon culture village
There is no cloud in any of these photos. It is all pollution. I was only sure when I stared up and could see jet contrails through the pollution at sunset. I can feel it in my eyes and nostril hairs!
Despite the pollution, I decided to go up the hill to the number one thing to see in all of Busan, Gamcheon culture village. If you type Busan into google image search, this is what you will see.
I had been once before, in pouring rain early in the morning. Today I went in terrible pollution very late in the afternoon, after nearly everything was closed. So I have still never been there when things are generally open. Despite that, you do need to line up for the photo spots.
The low down view on my way up the hill. That is not cloud!
Some more pre Gamcheon view.
There are a lot of characters and cat statues and paintings of goofy things around here. I would say it is all Studio Ghibli inspired, but that might be offensive to the locals.
Another example of Gamcheonified, tiny ceramic tile version of tiny tile covered houses.
This is the main shopping street, during the day it can be packed.
Good views in every direction. There are a lot of galleries and fancy gift shops. A lot are cat themed.
Here are people lined up for the shot sitting with the cartoon characters. The last time I was here in the rain, there was no line.
The view everyone gets excited for. It is much the same as many other views in Busan only they painted the houses with ridiculous colours.
Most of these are not peoples houses anymore, they are cafes and galleries.
Last full view shot.
There was a line for this when I first went past, but on my way back, line was gone.
Tribute murals of girly men such as these two are also prominent features all around Gamcheon. There was a line, but I snapped my shot during a changeover while the next group were adjusting their makeup before standing in front of this painting of boys with makeup. They are boys aren't they?
The entrance, as I exited.
Time for a bit more neon while I find my dinner.
Bonus neon.
And for dinner, poor persons steak night. It might have been horse. With kidney beans and macaroni. The bonus corn based grool was nice.
Tomorrow is a hiking day, but it might not involve a mountain! I am weighing up a smaller mountain hike or a long hike around a reservoir.