Looking for a detailed itinerary for a day tour of Mokpo? Have no fear; I have compiled and successfully implemented a tour that hits up Mokpo's attractions in one fell swoop.
Fine print: LOTS of walking involved. Wear good walking shoes!
On Saturday, four of my friends from other cities came out for a Mok + Po tour of Mokpo...which ironically was more of a Po tour of Mokpo because Mok hadn't actually visited most of our destinations on the tour.
We met our friends at the Mokpo Bus Terminal and led them to my apartment to drop off their bags. Then, we walked back to the bus terminal to catch a local bus to Yudalsan. Even at only 228m, Yudal Mountain offers a panoramic view of Mokpo City and its shores.
Directions to Yudalsan: Take a local bus from the Mokpo Express Bus Terminal (No.1, 1-1, 1-2, 2, 13, 17 or 20) and get off at Mokpo Station. (The bus runs at an interval of 20~50 minutes and the journey takes 10 minutes) → From Mokpo Station walk about 10-20 minutes to the entrance of Yudalsan Mountain.
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| That shrimp is like "heeeeeey!" |
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| duck face |
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| Believe it or not, Mokpo has a man-made waterfall |
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| We hail from all over the world: USA, Canada, & New Zealand! |
The walk from Mokpo Station to Yudalsan brought beads of sweat to our brows and backs. It was hot and humid and barely 10:30am. Luckily, the journey up to Yudalsan hardly resembled the expedition up to Wolchulsan. We just walked up a paved road, climbed a few stairs, and bam -- there was our panoramic view of Mokpo.
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| Yudalsan |
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| Panoramic View of Mokpo |
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| Mokpo City |
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| Enjoying the Mokpo breeze |
Directions to the National Maritime Museum:
- From Mokpo Train Station: Take bus #1 to Mokpo MBC Studio; Transfer to bus #7, get off at Gatbawi Cultural Center (Travel time, 35min.)
- From Mokpo Bus Terminal: Take bus #6 or #14 to Yonghae-dong Geumho Apt.; Transfer to bus #7, get off at Gatbawi Cultural Center (Travel time, 20min.)
I actually didn't write down the directions from the train station, so we got on a bus headed back to the bus terminal. From there, we would either catch a cab or the local bus. Halfway to the terminal, Shirley saw a sign for the Maritime Museum. We made the impulsive decision to get off at the next stop and walk to the museum. "It'll be an adventure!" I declared. We backtracked to where Shirley first saw the sign. The sign read: "Gatbawi 1.15km" with an arrow pointing down a long, busy street. At least it was downhill. Everyone looked hot and tired after we reached the bottom. Mind you, we still hadn't eaten lunch. We kept seeing signs pointing towards Gatbawi Culture Town, so it couldn't be that far, right? We continued down a road winding parallel to the shore. It looked like we were lost, but I recognized the area from the last time I visited the museum. I knew we were close.
It became apparent that lunch wasn't happening anytime soon. The museum area contains zero restaurants and one convenience store on the side of the road. We stopped for popsicles and trudged on.
The Maritime Museum isn't the coolest place in the world. The place lacks air conditioning and wasn't any more interesting upon my third visit. But I guess for a quiet port city like Mokpo, it will have to do.
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| Photo op in the reconstructed frame of a Chinese ship that sunk 700 years ago |
We skipped out on the Mokpo Natural History Museum, which is situated across the street from the Maritime Museum. Instead, we frolicked in the park out front.
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| Mokpo Safari |
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| Sherry & Jasmine tired from walking |
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Joanne trying to climb the elephant
But there was no grip, and the statue was scorching hot. |
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| James & Joanne riding the rhino |
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| wheeee~!! |
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| RAWRRRR |
Next stop: Gatbawi Rock. The natural sandstone and tafoni formations get their name from their hat-like shapes.
You can actually see part of Gatbawi Rock from the patio behind the Maritime Museum. Continue along the road as it traces the shore, cross Gatbawi Bohaenggyo Bridge, and arrive at Gatbawi Rock.
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| Hat-shaped rocks |
We ate lunch in Peace Park, a popular area walking distance from Gatbawi Rock. By this time, it was nearly 2:30pm. Happy to finally sit down, we ordered spicy chicken stir fried with vegetables and rice cake.
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| Joanne has a halo O:) |
After lunch, we embarked on a 1 hour bike ride around the shore line. Along the green path between Gatbawi Rock and Peace Park, you can rent bikes, roller blades, and children's sized vehicles to ride up and down the path. The cost is 30 minutes for 5,000won, but the owner lent us the bikes for an extra half an hour. What a nice guy!
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| Where do we go from here? |
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| Taking a break because our butts hurt |
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| Sherry |
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| Shirley |
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| wheeeeee!! |
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| Great shot of our bike ride in Mokpo! |
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| Mok + Po in our natural habitat |
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| This photo pretty much sums up our attitudes that day. |
Mokpo is full of little surprises. Not only was there art on display, but a troupe of golden men posed like statues and let us take pictures with them.
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| Golden men: This one was accepting donations. |
No hot day is complete without some form of ice-cream, so we sat down at a Caffe Bene to cool off. We looked at fashion magazines. We checked our facebooks. We re-hydrated. And we ate patbingsu (팥빙수): (shaved ice with condensed milk, red beans, and ice-cream) !! The 6 of us devoured the patbingsus, which were perfect after walking all day.
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| Waiting for our patbingsu |
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| Now we're ready |
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| Strawberry & Green Tea Patbingsu |
We took cabs back to my apartment, so everyone could shower and rest before our final leg of the Mokpo Tour. In the evenings, the Mokpo Dancing Sea Fountain in Peace Park awes audiences with a "synchronized array of light, sound, and water." Laser beams project into the crowd, while water shoots up like Vegas's fountain at the Bellagio. The water also creates a backdrop for dancing laser images such as hearts, clouds, and balloons. Music simultaneously plays from speakers on land. One time, I heard a cover of Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up." Another time, I heard Chris Brown and Rihanna. Other times, I hear Kpop. People of all ages -- young and old, local and foreign -- gather at the fountain every evening to catch a glimpse of the water show, which occurs 2-3 times between 8pm-10pm. We arrived just in time for the 9:20pm show. I bobbed my head to Yolanda Be Cool's "We No Speak Americano," as a laser projection of a UFO danced above the water. We stayed for 20 minutes. If you stay for longer than 10 minutes, the fountain gets redundant. And you will pay the price in mosquito bites for daring to sit or stand still long enough for them to feed. But the fountain is definitely worth seeing and entertains me every time. I mean, come on -- We live in Mokpo! For more information, visit the Sea Fountain Website (Korean only).
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| seafountain.mokpo.go.kr |
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| UFOs in Mokpo? Nah, it's just the Mokpo Dancing Sea Fountain. |
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| Looks like a carnival up there |
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| Laser lights *pewpewpew* |
Mokpo Dancing Sea Fountain
"We No Speak Americano" produced by Yolanda Be Cool
We had fried chicken and pizza delivered to my apartment, which is standard protocol when you're tired of Korean food, feeling lazy, or too cheap to pay for restaurant-style Western food. We answered to all three.
The next day, we ate at one of our favorite Mokpo eateries: Sinpo Mandoo Woori. Located near the bus terminal, the restaurant specializes in dumplings, but also makes different soups, rice dishes, noodles, and fried pork (tonkatsu).
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Unfortunately, Sherry got food poisoning from the cheese tonkatsu.
We are not liable for any accidents incurred on this trip! |
All together, we enjoyed a quiet weekend in Mokpo with good friends and nice weather (well, minus Sunday's downpour). People don't usually visit us in Mokpo, but it's fun to play tour guide and welcome friends under the title of "Mok + Po Tours." As Joanne and I say, "We are one person!" and I'd like to think we provide the comic relief in this humdrum town.
Stay tuned for my next adventure as my weekends are officially numbered!
