Our first stop was Manseong-ri Beach, famous for its unusual "black sand." It didn't look all that black to us, but it was nice just the same. We were especially captivated by this sea critter we found near the waterline. Please do write us if you can tell us just what the heck it is.
		Fishing boats at Manseong-ri.
		Our next stop was Chinnamgwan, a pavillion in the center of town. It's one of the longest pavillions in Korea, used for many purposes through the years, most notably greeting foreign dignitaries. The pavillion is so big that Rob couldn't fit it into the frame for a decent picture, so instead he just posed with a kindly-looking stone man in the yard.
		We headed to Tolsan-do ("do": Korean for "island"), just south of the city, via this bridge. Maybe this pic should join the Expo bridge on another page of this site, but we'll get around to putting it there some other time. Maybe.
		Here's CJB with the main attraction of Tolsando: a full size recreation of a "Turtle Ship." Korea's Turtle Ships were invented in the 16th century by the legenday Admiral Yi Sun-shin, and they are among the world's first iron-clad war boats.
		"Cheris Barker: Ancient Korean Warrior Princess" premieres this fall on Fox-TV; don't miss it.
		Here's that bridge again, taken from the galley of the Turtle Ship.
		Next, we hopped on a one hour boat tour of the islands near Tolsando. Here's one of the bigg'uns...
		...and here are three of the lill'uns.
		We walked back into the center of the city via that cool bridge we've showed you above. CJB stopped for a minute to admire Yeosu from the bridge deck, so Rob went for the obvious photo-op.
		On the walk back into town, we passed a lot of really cool (though somewhat shoddy) old-style fisherman's houses right on the harbor.
		Sunday morning, we were off to Odong-do, a beautiful little island to the east of the city. It's part of the widespread Hallyeo Haesang National Park chain of islands and coastline. We began with a boat ride from town to the far side of the island, and on the way we discovered that the island's rocky shores were overrun by unusual 5- to 6-foot-tall bipedal organisims.
		Odong-do is home to a great big greenhouse with all kinds of plant species, and plenty of hiking trails among thick groves of bamboo.
		Here's Rob near the top of Odong-do's big, central hill.
		Sensing our weekend getaway drawing to a close, we ambled lazily along the concrete railing of the 700-meter causeway connecting the island to the mainland...
		...then turned around for one last look before taking a 6-hour bus ride back to Taejon.

take me back to the index, please