My parents visited me and Romana in Korea for three weeks. Here are a some of our days and evenings out and about.

DAY 6 OF my parents’ 3-week TRIP to Korea

We packed and set off quite early and headed south to find some breakfast along the east coast. Unfortunately, the places we wanted to eat at weren’t open till later so we went for coffee and croissants at the only place open. The beach (학동흑진주몽돌해수욕장) was a beautiful grey pebbled beach, the pebbles the size of fists!

Next, we drove farther south to Sinseondae Rocks to explore the rocky coast, then to Windy Hill by a fishing village. I’d visited this area alone almost exactly two years ago. The rocks were still rocky and the hill was still windy! We had a brief ice cream break before deciding to head to Tongyeong. We’d all notices a cable car I had no idea existed, so we decided to go there. It was the Geoje Panorama Cable Car (거제파노라마 케이블카) and it was brand new. I expect we were some of the first visitors. The top and bottom had plenty of places to eat and drink, the car park was huge–they’re probably expecting huge crowds one day.

It was extremely windy at the top but the views were amazing. Romana and my parents were impressed with the views of the islands of Geoje and Tongyeong dotted out as far as the eye can see. I wondered up a short walkway to another platform on another piece of rock. There was an odd choice of bouncy, climbing web for kids to play on, on two levels. I can’t really explain what it was so look at the photos. I walked on it and couldn’t really see the point of it. There were a couple of kids on it. The views of the island in the sea, again, were amazing.

The coffee shop at the top was run by Brown Hands Coffee, a company I know from a trip to Busan in December last year. Great views from the tables, though we didn’t stay for a drink.

Next was the drive to Tongyeong. Our accommodation was on the western side on a peninsular in the last house on a dead-end road in the hills. it was called Yeonji Pension (연지 펜션). and I booked it via Naver using the map app to find it. It was quite a luck find as this was a holiday week. We had the second floor. There were two bedrooms, a large lounge / kitchen, and a veranda with a picnic table. The view from the balcony and lounge was lovely, looking all the way down to the sea at the end of the road. It was peaceful too; just the sounds of birds.

After a rest, we went out to pick up some food supplies for the house, and then went to a duck soup/stew restaurant at Tongyeong Ae (통영애) quite close to our accommodation. The dish was actually ori baeksuk (오리백숙), a hearty, chunky soup made with a whole large (usually chicken) duck; this was my first time having the duck version. At this restaurant, they added local medicinal ingredients which gave it a unique (good) flavour. The old couple who ran it were very nice. The man had pieces of his art put up around the rooms. It was made with shiny pieces of shell similar to mother of pearl.

Once back at the flat, we played lots of Yahtzee; I lost most of the games.

Sitting on the balcony at night and first thing in the morning was very nice and peaceful.