Jeon Hyuck-lim Art Museum, ottchil lacquer Tongyeong 전혁림 옻칠

DAY 5 OF 5-DAY stay in Tongyeong

This day I went to the Skyline Luge. Before and after that adventure, I hit up a few other cultural places; a museum and memorial park of Pak Kyeongni (박경리), a famous Tongyeong-born Korean writer, an art museum of Jeon Hyuck-lim (전혁림), a famous Tongyeong-born Korean painter, then to the Ottchil Art Museum, ottchil (lacquer) art.

I had a final breakfast at the hostel then drove south back to Sanyang-eup to the first museum but I had no real interest in it. Also, the memorial garden seemed too full of gardeners prepping for summer, so I didn’t explore. The art museums were more fruitful though. After Sanyang-eup, I drove north and west and followed the coast road for a bit. It was a pleasant drive with many fishing villages on the way. I stopped for a snack of gulbbang by one small harbour, then headed to Cafe de Antwerp for a final coffee there, since I’d enjoyed that place a lot.

I liked the building and the abstract art of Jeon Hyuck-lim; very colourful.

My next stop was the Skyline Luge (whoohoo) and then onto the Ottchil Art Museum as it was on the way out of Tonyeong. I’d of course seen lacquer art before but hadn’t known the Korean word ‘ottchil’ (옻칠). I was impressed with some of the art but it’s not the kind of thing I’d be buying. I might consider some of the lacquered items though, like cabinets and boxes.

After the ottchil gallery, I grabbed some pork cutlet for a late-ish lunch, then drove back to Busan. Busan… waht a nightmare to drive through, really; I was stuck in line after line after line, mostly due to contruction work seemingly everywhere! Good job I left with plenty of time. In Busan, I dragged my suitcase to Busan Tower while wating for a friend of mine to get off work. The tower was closed (covid..) so went to grab a coffee to wait. We ate at an Izakaya type place, had a few beers on his rooftop. I kipped on the sofa and we grabbed a train to Busan the next morning. A nice end to my first Tongyeong trip.