Day 3 of 4-day trip to Yeosu

Today took us to Suncheon Bay National Garden (순천만 국가정원) and Suncheon Bay Wetlands (순천만습지), two very nice places about 40 minutes drive north of Yeosu.

We thought the wetlands was at where we started, but this was Suncheon Bay National Garden (순천만 국가정원), basically a well groomed park with themed areas. The main attractions seemed to be big green mounds modelled after Korean style tombs that you see in Gyeongju.

Other areas of the park had country themes; a bit cheesy but interesting nonetheless. It would take a few hours to see everything and there are plenty of places to relax. I was keen to get to the real wetlands though!

To get to the wetlands and the nature reserve, you need to take a mono rail a few kilometres south; we rode the SkyCube! Going to the station was fun since we had to cross the bridge of dreams or the Rainbow Bridge. This is a bridge decorated with small images drawn by kids from all over the world; the images are of their dream and aspirations. Quite interesting.

The train itself holds about six people seated but of course Covid-19 means people get trains for their small travel group, ie, me and Romana! It was a fun ride and definitely not just a novelty transport system. It seems like it could definitely work in a city.

After our space-age commute, we got to the nature reserve where everything was a bit less thematic! There is a trail to walk from the station to the main parts of the wetlands, but we opted to take a shuttle bus; that would have been a nice walk though. The wetlands were really spectacular, a big sea of golden grass swaying in the wind and a backdrop of green mountains and blue sky. Really beautiful and peaceful. You navigate the wetlands through a series of wooden walkways. There a rest stops and areas where you can get close to the mud. In the mud are these odd crabs with one massive red claw!

We took a hike up one of the hills in the distance though a forest and to an observation post looking over the mudflats and out to sea. We could see the tour boats out in the distance.

Back in the wetlands we took our time marvelling at how lovely it was. We saw a helicopter flying over with a water bucket, probably from the sea. That means there was probably a fire somewhere nearby.

Then it was a reverse commute back to the park then a drive back to Yeosu.

Map of places we visited this trip. Click on the ‘door’ icon to see a list: