BK picked us up in the morning and we travelled south to Ulsan. As you approach the city, there are huge blocks of apartments lining the roads.
Further in you come to the world’s largest car assembly line, owned by Hyundai Motor Company; it seems to go on forever and there are completed vehicles everywhere waiting to be shipped out.
We drove past the docks, again on a gigantic scale, where three vast ships were sucking in cars. (On our return journey, one had already set sail.) Hyundai also operate the world’s largest shipyard, make steel and have their own oil refinery so they can control the entire supply chain.
Our destination was Daewangam Park, built on land donated by … Hyundai. Daewangam means Rock of the Great King, after King Munmu who became a dragon on his death so he could protect his people.
The area is surrounded by pine woods, apparently planted by Japan to hide the weapons they had cached there. Emerging from the woods you arrive at the top of a cliff overlooking the bay, with the industrial part of Ulsan opposite.
The only way on from here is over a suspension bridge, fortunately one way only, given the number of people stopping for selfies. It sways about more than the Millennium Bridge and the sea below is so clear you can see the lost smartphones.
On the other side, there’s a trail that leads up to a tiny rock with even more photo opportunities. We were accompanied by a school party, a football team and a group of civil servants on a training course.
Coming back from there you pass the Ulgi lighthouse. To be more precise, the two Ulgi lighthouses. Trees grew in front of the first one, obscuring its light. Rather than cut down the trees, they built a new lighthouse.
Looking to sea from there you can see why they need a lighthouse. There were dozens of ships in the distance, all waiting their turn to enter the port.
We had to make one more stop before BK would let us have lunch. This was Haedong Yonggungsa, the temple of the dragon palace, a Buddhist temple notable for being built on the beach. It sprawls across the rocks with some very steep and narrow tracks between different parts.
You enter along an avenue of food and souvenir stalls, then a line of statues representing the zodiac signs.
Inside, there are various Buddha statues, including one for making sure you have a son, along with some shamanic icons as well. There’s also a traffic safety pagoda, donated by the local cabbies!
Our final destination was Busan, South Korea’s second city. Lunch today was Miyeok-guk, a seaweed soup traditionally eaten on your birthday. As always, it came with side dishes; whitebait, fish cake, battered fish, kimchi, pasta salad!, green chillies, aubergine, glass noodles and rice.
The restaurant was just down from our hotel, where BK deposited us for the evening. Here’s the view from our room on the 11th floor.
Unfortunately, they have their own micro-brewery at street level so we had to go and try the Gorilla ale and Busan pale. Cheers!
Steve and Diane on Tour 