Early in Saturday morning, we took the bus to Tongyeong, on the south coast of South Korea, with a couple of friends.It is only a couple of hours away, and the Monday was a public holiday, so we had 3 full days there.When we arrived we headed straight for Tongyeong public beach.It was quite a small beach, but nice as there were only a handful of others there.It was cloudy, but really hot, so great for relaxing on the beach.Graham and I went for a swim, then Graham and Darrell went off to explore and came back on a tandem bike!There were several people fishing, and a few locals working on the boats and mending the nets and rope.Graham chatted to a few of the guys fishing.They seemed to be only catching small fish, and mostly just throwing them back.The shop where they hired the bike from also sold beer and snacks, so we were set for the day.There was also a group of westerners (I think it was some kind of gay gathering) who had a BBQ and offered us some food.

We then took a walk back around the harbour, and to the cable car, but this was fully booked for the day, and the ticket office was closed, so we took a taxi back to our hotel.That evening we went into town for dinner, and found a great Galbi restaurant (Korean BBQ).It was the best and cheapest Galbi we have had, as the pork meat was not fatty like you usually get.It was only about 8.00GBP for the meat and sides for the 4 of us, and then we ordered some extra side dishes to go with it. The meat was so good that we decided to order another portion, so we were very full when we left.We then tried out a few bars, but it was pretty quiet in town - I don't know where all the tourists were!

The next morning, we went to book our boat tickets, before breakfast, out to Bijindo Island.The boat journey was an hour long, so we wanted to take a boat out there in the morning, spend the day there and come back late afternoon.Graham and Darrell had been the day before to check it all out, but they would not let them buy tickets in advance.When we arrived the ferry terminal was packed!There are several boats which go to various islands from Tongyeong, and many had huge queues.The boat we wanted, did not have too much of a queue, but there were no tickets left for the morning boat, so we had to take the afternoon one, which gave us just under 2 hours on the island.We were disappointed, but actually it turned out quite well, as we saw many other things in the morning before our boat trip.This is the problem in South Korea - people get so little holiday time, that when there is a public holiday, everyone goes away!

We went for breakfast, and then headed to the other harbour, where there was a Turtle Ship replica.These ships were used as a defence against the Japanese, as they could not get onto them and there were spikes on top if they did manage to climb up.You could go aboard for free, and there were various displays and bits of info, and even some dressing up clothes!We then continued around the harbour and Darrell spotted some wall paintings up on a hill which he had read about.There were many people walking up there, so we followed them up to the hill where all the houses and walls had paintings on them.It was fantastic to see such individuality and creativity in Korea, as usually all the buildings look the same here.There were many narrow pathways to walk along, and so many paintings to see.There was also a great view over Tongyeong from the top, but it was hard work climbing in the heat!

Next we walked to the Sculpture Park, and sat down on the grass for a while to chill out.There were only a few sculptures, but it was nicely laid out on the hill and felt quite tranquil.After this we took a leisurely stroll back around the harbour to the ferry terminal, to wait for our boat.The journey was nice, as we saw many of the islands and passed some windsurfers too.Bijindo Island looks like 2 islands, which are joined by a strip of sand.The beach was beautiful, and the water was clear.We had a great time relaxing on the beach, playing games, and swimming in the sea.There were quite a few westerners there, and many seemed to be staying in the few apartments on the island, so we may go back again in September and book to stay over.In July and August apparently all places like this are packed with Korean tourists, so we think we shall wait until September when their vacation time has finished.Reluctantly we had to leave the island to take the ferry back, but it had been a fantastic day.That evening we went into downtown again, for food and drinks, and found that there were a few more people out on this night.

The next morning, we decided to try the cable car again, as it took you up one of the mountains, where you could get a good view over the national park (the islands).However there was a 2 hour queue, as you were not given times to ride, you just had to wait.It was another hot day, and the prospect of standing around for 2 hours in the heat was not appealing, so we decided to go to Tongyeong beach again.We had another day relaxing on the beach and walking around the harbour, and then took a late bus back to Gwangju.

Maggie x