Two Days in Yeosu

Our luck of long weekends was finally ending and we arrived at our last long weekend for a while (she said with sadness). Our destination we decided on was Yeosu, the largest city in Jeollanamdo that sits on the very south coast of Korea. Before knowing about the possibility of being placed in Gwangju, Yeosu was the city I wanted to be placed in the most so I was very excited to spend a weekend exploring it. 

Day 1

From Gwangju to Yeosu it is about an hour and 40-minute bus ride. We arrived in Yeosu at noon and proceeded to drop our bags off at our guesthouse for the weekend, Backpackers in Yeosu. This cute hostel was situated in a great spot in Yeosu within walking distance to many of the main attractions. For only 40,000 won a night, you get access to the common area which has a kitchen and a room where there are many boardgames and cards to play with in case you need to pass the time. There is a pub and cafe owned by the hostel right across the street as well. But the best part for me was the Hostel cat named 삐삐 (bibi). If you will be traveling to Yeosu, I highly recommend this guesthouse. 

After dropping our bags off, we walked for 20 minutes to Aqua Planet, one of the most popular aquariums in Korea. We had bought tickets for the aquarium online before arriving through Trazy. I also recommend doing this since the tickets are much cheaper through Trazy and you don’t have to navigate buying a ticket in Korean. You can buy the tickets here: https://www.trazy.com/experience/detail/aqua-planet-yeosu-alive-museum-ticket. Maybe it was due to the holiday or it being a weekend, but it was PACKED. After some confusion in the lobby however, we got our tickets and were allowed entry. 

I, personally, am a big fan of aquariums so I was very excited, especially since this was such a hyped aquarium. I do think it was worth the visit also. There were endless amounts of tanks to peer at and be amazed by. At times it was hard to get a spot front of tanks that had more interesting creatures but I was in awe nonetheless. I did notice some of the animals were in smaller tanks than I would think is appropriate but I am no marine biologists so who am I to say. Perhaps the best part of the aquarium was the pleasantly unexpected show in the main tank where a grown man in a teenage mutant ninja turtles costume swan around for 30 minutes. while trying his best to dance underwater. My friends and I couldn’t understand the songs but it gave us a good laugh nonetheless. 

For the next stop of the day, we went just about 15 minutes out from the aquarium to the Yeosu Art Museum. This is an immersive art museum with a dozen different outstanding exhibits. Unless you go there yourself it is hard to describe how awesome it feels to stand in a seemingly endless room as thousands of digital flowers project over everyone and everything. If you’re a typical gen z person like me, this is also a picture taking paradise. We made our way from room to room, amazed by each exhibit. My personal favorite was the largest room that took viewers through centuries of art. The walls projected Monet to Van Gogh to Dali all while you stand in the middle and take it all in. 

A warning though for any potential visitors, the exhibits can be slightly disorienting. Some of the rooms are very dark, some have mirrored floors, and some have flashing lights. If you easily get sick or anxious in places like this, I would maybe re think visiting to stay safe. However, I usually get motion sickness easily but I had no issues throughout my hour or so journey. 

The last stop of the day was the famous Nangman Pocha Street. Pochas are cart bars in Korea. They usually can be spotted by their red coverings on the side of streets. Nangman Pocha Street is a whole area along the sea where cart bar owners can set up shop for hungry visitors. It starts under a large bridge and there are many vendors for toys and candy as well. Due to the touristy nature of the place, it is very packed in the main area. It can be overwhelming for foreigners especially to try to wedge yourself into one of the tents. Even if you snag a spot, you still need to order the Korean way which is yelling out your order at the shops’ “이모” (aunt) which can be difficult for those not used to yelling down wait staff (although it is not considered rude in Korean culture). My group and I walked much further down the street to find a place where we could get fit in although we still had to wait about 30 minutes. 

While the area was beautiful and the atmosphere felt very lively, I did feel slightly overwhelmed during this part of the trip. Being a foreigner in Korea, you’re bound to get stared at. But now there is pandemic mixed in and the wrong actions of a few foreigners at the start of the pandemic has left a negative perception for the rest of us since which causes the constant stares to be a bit anxiety inducing. But there’s nothing some pizza and beer can’t solve so luckily after being seated at our table, my friends and I had a great end to our night. 

Day 2

We began our first day by visiting a very Instagrammable cafe called Cafe Blossom. We were all craving something savory for breakfast (most definitely not to cure any hangovers ;)) but traditional western breakfast places are few and far between outside of really big cities so we settled on a dessert cafe for breakfast instead. Luckily, the aesthetic of the place was very nice and gave us time to get ready for the day ahead.

We left the cafe and decided to head over to Dolsan Island, one of the larger islands that is connected to Yeosu by land bridge. Dolsan has many beaches and resorts but the first place wanted to go to was High-class 153. This resort doubles as a cafe and a place to take some stunning pictures. I could go into detail about how beautiful it was here but I think the pictures speak for themselves.

All the picture areas are free except the Bali swing which costs 5,000 won. It was much more thrill inducing than I thought it was going to be and I got some awesome pictures so I recommend trying it out!

The day started to become rainier and rainier which put a damper on our plans to go visit one of the beaches before heading back. Instead of heading further into Dolsan, we headed back to the guesthouse to grab our bags and grab some food before getting on our bus back to Gwangju. 

Overall, I really loved Yeosu and it’s tropical vibe. If anyone was looking to explore Jeollanamdo, I think this is a must-visit city. It has a little something for everyone and I personally can’t wait to go back for another weekend visit soon!

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I don’t have anything particularly inspiring to say this time around so I wanted to give a quick shout out to my friend group here in Korea. I don’t know if they’ll ever read this but coming into Korea, I was very anxious about finding friends. Orientations and first-day impressions have never been my strong suit and I thought everyone was going to quickly make groups without me. I am so grateful to have a fun and supportive group of gals who I’ve been able to travel and hangout with. I think it is totally do-able to traverse Korea as a solo traveller and have a great time. Nevertheless, I am glad to have my Gwangju girlies alongside as I navigate this amazing journey!