I had decided to cheat today – and booked myself on an organized day trip. This was mainly to cover a bit more ground after the rain-enforced break yesterday.

Things started in the morning with a ride in the sky capsule along Blueline Park – with great views of the city and the ocean (and some wanna-be Insta beauty I had to share the capsule with). At the end of the ride it was a short walk over to the Cheongsapo Daritdol skywalk with more great views. Most of the group now went for a not-included lunch. I was still full from the gimbap I had had for breakfast, hence decided for a short walk around the Cheongsapo’s fishing port.

From here it was by bus on to a viewpoint to get a glimpse of the Oryudo Islets – five or siix islands, depending on perspective (and possibly tide). The final two stops were at “cultural villages”, Huinnyeoul being the first one, close to the ocean – and Gamcheon the second one, up in the hills. To me both had their charme, but in the end were nothing more than tourist traps, essentially a  maze of souvenir shops (full of all sorts of “handmade” crap), litte cafes (where a simple espresso easily can take 15 minutes), the option to go into traditional clothing and then take pictures in odd setups (I still wonder what Gamcheon has to do with St.Exupery’s Petit Prince).

Main learning of the day: tourist traps are  an integral part of Korean culture. It was still a good day, as I had most of those items on my  list – and the organized trip at least made getting around quick and easy.