We decided to go back to the Taean area and check out the beaches. Except we wanted to spend a couple of days to explore all the beaches. We also decided that we would go camping, if possible.
We set off this past Thursday morning. The weather was pretty crappy. Heavy rain and some wind with some chilly temperatures as you can tell by the first few pictures
This is the first beach we went to. Or maybe the second. I can't remember. We just went to beach after beach. Most of them were like this. Sort of polluted and mostly not very funly looking. (I know, I have great grammar.) You can also see that the surf is calm.
This was the third or fourth beach we went to. It was pretty because of all the near rock formations.
This is the same beach as above. We got here about noon and the weather finally started to clear up. After this beach we went to a few others. During the first day we went to a lot of different beaches. Most of the ones in the northern part of Taean county sucked. They weren't very accessible and were usually polluted or had too much trash. But as you got further south the beaches got nicer.
On the way to the beaches on the southern part of Taean county we came across this place, the Chung-San Arboretum. Luckily it was closed.
You're probably thinking that because it was closed it wasn't lucky because we couldn't get in. Oh how you are mistaken, my friend. We are lucky it was closed because it meant we didn't have to pay. It was about 4,000 won per person (roughly $4.50). It was mostly full of lily pads but it was still very nice to have the place to ourselves while we frolicked about.
One of the many, many lily pads.
This lily is just one of the many different types of lilies they had. The colors and sizes and types of the lilies and other water plants was impressive. I think it was good that it was rainy too because I think that place would normally have been crawling with mosquitoes and bugs. But it wasn't.
A view of one of the lily fields from underneath a Korean styled gazebo.
Small violet flowers from one of the lily flowers.
I don't know the story behind these figures but all over the park were these quirky figures. Others included a huge frog and some large fish.
We wandered around the arboretum for an hour, maybe two and then we went back on our way to the southern part of the Taean area to check out some more beaches. As I mentioned above the beaches were getting nicer and cleaner as you got further from Taean city. Also, as you can tell by the pictures, we seemed to have every beach to ourselves.
This is because of a couple of reasons. First, it was a weekday. Secondly, the weather was cold and crappy and I bet this made people cancel their plans. Thirdly, the "camping season" was over in Korea... this is odd, so let me explain. You can go camping on a lot of these beaches because they are part of the Korean National Parks system. However, the camping seasons ends at the end of August because, as the Park ranger told us, "It's too cold to camp after August." Anyhow, more on this later...
The beaches on the west coast have a very, very gradual slope.... This means when the tide goes out the water moves back several hundred yards. This means that if you walk out into the ocean you can go several dozen yards before the water even comes up to your waist. The above picture is of my friend walking on the beach as the tide pulls out.
This is Gupyie beach... or something like that. It was the nicest beach. Luckily it was closed for camping which meant this is where we camped for free and had the entire 2 kilometer beach to ourselves (along with the mosquitoes). It was pretty nice.
A view of Gupyie beach from the tree line. We decided to camp here on the first night.
Gupyie beach was one of the last beaches on the Taean peninsula. The other major one was Kyutie beach, which was famous for having this major rock formation jutting out of the beach. It was pretty but aside from being nice to look at it wasn't all that much. If you had some climbing gear then it would probably be a great place to play around. Anyhow, after checking this place out we went back to Gupyie beach and set up camp. Then we drove up to Taean and got dinner and drove back to our camp site and called it a night.
The next morning we woke up to some flipping great weather. It was sunny and warm and not humid. Above is a picture of our campsite. As you can tell, we camped right at the tree line of the beach. Beyond the tree line is a large sand-dune covered in light grass and then the ocean itself.
Here's a better view of the beach on the morning of the second day. As you can tell, it's pretty empty.
After several hours at the beach we decided to pack up and head to Taean city to hike a mountain we saw on the drive down. This is a picture of the campsite as we're getting ready to go. My tent it totally sweet. We drove up to Taean and got a late lunch--around 2PM. We had Korean marinated pork ribs for 14,000 won total (about $15) and it's probably the best $15 I've ever spent on food. It was so good.
Anyhow, after that we went for out hike. The mountain is seen below, it's not very tall but it was pretty fun because it's basically a rock scramble all the way to the top.
A view of the mountain from the base.
A the peak there is this marker which gives you the elevation, 284 meters above sea-level. It took us about 30-45 minutes to get to the summit because we stopped a lot for breaks and to enjoy the view.
A view from the top, looking down at Taean city.
Another view of the city of Taean from the top of the mountain.
That's all the pictures I have. After getting down from the mountain we headed towards home. We stopped to spend the night at Pyongtaek at a lodge instead of a tent. It sure was nice to have a nice warm shower. The following morning we drove back up to Seoul and I began to clean out the 67 cubic meters of sand which somehow got into all my gear, clothing, and anything I brought with me on the trip. That's all folks.
