To continue the last post we had, our next location is Suncheonman Bay Ecological Park. This park is thickly covered with reeds taller than a full-grown man. It has been said that this field has the biggest colony of reeds in South Korea. It also serves as a home to many plants that thrive in damp conditions, like the common reed and the star-wort. Among all of the world's wetlands, Suncheonman Bay is widely known for attracting the largest number of rare birds. And since it was open to the public as a park, it also attracts numbers of visitors everyday from locals to foreigners. It started to get famous, as one of South Korea's must-need-to-go tourist spot.
At exactly 3:30 pm we started to prepare our things. Packed all the necessary stuffs and we rushed to the bus station to catch the bus travelling for Suncheonman Bay. According to a korean website, it is recommended to take bus #67 to reach Suncheonman. So, following what was written in the website, we've waited for bus #67 at the bus station which was happened to be near Comodo Motel. The bus stop is located adjacent to Palmaro St., right across the street of a Police Station. Unfortunately, we didn't expect that the interval of the bus will took so long, more than what was written in the website (we needed to wait for 65 minutes, that was what the LCD screen shows that day). Maybe, it was holiday that day. Our patience was running out as we were already behind our schedule, so we decided to check the the map (specifically, Daum Map) in our smartphone to check for any option to get us in Suncheonman Bay. By the way, pocket wifi such as Olleh egg is working in Suncheon City so do bring it with you. You may ask, why Daum Map? It is because it is much easier to find a route/way in this map, and a user friendly app as well. You just need to study how to read Korean alphabet/characters, and you're good to go. Or, you can visit these two websites explaining how to use Daum Map (Liz in Translation, Changwonderful). If you cannot read Korean character, you can still ask somebody for help or just use google map.
Back to our story. We were lucky to find an alternative route going to Suncheonman Bay by taking the bus #66. The interval of this bus is much better compared to bus #67, though it will take a slightly longer ride. No other options indeed, we took bus #66. You can catch this bus at Jungang chodeung Hakgyo bus stop (중앙초등 학교), which is just across the street of #67's bus stop. With just few minutes of waiting, the bus arrived, tap our transportation cards* and good to go.
*Transporation cards are accepted in Suncheon buses for easy commuting. Also credit cards with transportation feature are welcome (just like what we had used).
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| Courtesy of Daum Map |
It took us 45 minutes ride to reach Suncheonman Bay. Be mindful not to confuse with Suncheon Bay Garden (순천만 정원), which we had encountered approximately 5~7 stops from our departure point. Station name should be Suncheonman (순천만), 3rd or 4th from the last station of this bus route. Suncheonman Park has parking space in front of its entrance gate, which we noticed easily upon getting off the bus. We knew that we need to hike going to Yongsan Observatory, so we bought ourselves with water.
We started to walk towards the ticketing booth, where we needed to pay 5,000 won each for the admission fee. For the children, admission fee is 2,000 won. For groups visiting the bay, there will be a discount as well as for military personnel and teens. There are many things to do in the bay area, there are museum and exhibition halls, hiking, etc. Boat riding is also available, where it will take you a trip to the bay itself (separate payment is required). We didn't have ample time to visit all the spots due to limited hour. (For any inquiry regarding the facilities, you may visit, www.suncheonbay.go.kr.)
As we passed by the entrance gate, we immediately look for the sign board to direct us to Yongsan Observatory. Our aim that afternoon was to capture the moment of the calm bay with the beautiful sunset. So we needed to be on the observatory before the sun began to set. Clothes were already sweat wet and felt like we were racing with time. After walking on flat wooden platform and ascending the hill/mountain (for almost 2 km in total), we arrived in the first observation deck.
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Here, we stayed for a couple of minutes to rest and catch our breath. Later, we proceeded to our main spot, the Yongsan Observatory
We felt grateful when we arrived at Yongsan Observatory. Only a few visitors that time and not even a single photography enthusiast was on the observatory (maybe, we were just early). We tried a couple of shots to check the preferred location and good framing. As we were checking, the observatory started to fill up by visitors and photography enthusiasts. We decided to fixed our tripod where we preferred it to be. It was already 5:15 pm that time but the sun was still high and the moon started to rise at the opposite side. The water rose gradually and the curvy mudflats of the bay started to vanish. We were unlucky. We didn't had the chance to see the mudflats' curve. However, the clouds that afternoon was very beautiful which gave us a sense of challenge to work on.
As the sun started to set, more and more people rush-in into the observatory to see and catch the wonderful sunset. Shutter clicks continuously all over the deck, from camera phone to professional cameras. We also started to take our shots one by one. Reviewing and re-framing after one shot to another until we found the best one. When the sun was almost hiding behind the mountain and clouds, the sky changes its color from blue to orange and reddish tone. We took several shots of the vibrant sunset.
It was a stunningly beautiful yet a magical sunset experience. Here is the shot taken from the observatory.
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| Suncheonman Bay |
Nearly before 7:00 pm, we packed our things and few minutes later we started to descend from the hill/mountain. Going down wasn't that hard compare as we were going up. We did a faster pace since it was getting dark and felt that it might be hard to walk without a flashlight. Speaking of flashlight, it's one thing that you shouldn't forget, especially if you want a night time experience. Though we are not sure how the place looks like.
After a few minutes, we stepped on the wooden platform and continued to walk finding our way out. As we went out the gate, we looked back on the Park, and still clueless of it's night appearance.
We bought some refreshment and wait at the bus stop for our way back home.
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| Timetable at the bus stop |
While on the bus, we decided to have a dinner at Mc Donalds which is a few stops before the bus stop near Comodo Motel. So, we went down to the nearest bus stop after we saw the "M" sign. After a long and tiring day, we treated ourselves with a very nice meal, which we had missed for several days. There was a promo that time, so, crossed finger and hoping to win anything from it. Good news was the starving was suppressed, while the bad news was we won nothing. Better luck next time...
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| Dinner for the night |
Stomach full indeed, so we decided to walk towards Comodo Motel to burn out some calories we gained. We reached our room by 9:00 pm. We laid our things, rest for a while then cleaned up. After a while, we talked and reviewed some shots taken earlier and planned for tomorrow's quest. Finally, lights off and sleep peacefully...zzzzzz
Our third day will also be interesting as we will drive you to Boseong green tea plantation and Suncheon's open film set. So be sure to follow our Chuseok adventure in Jeollanam-do.
Reminder: There are very nice places and photo spots on wooden platform to take photos from. We suggest you to come early before going to Yongsan Observatory.
Comments, suggestions and questions in this write up are welcome, don't hesitate. We'll try to respond on your concern to soonest time we can.
For our photo galleries, visit us in one of the following:
Restie: http://restieteano.500px.com/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_trex/
http://www.pashadelic.com/en/users/30704-restieteano
https://plus.google.com/+RestieTeano
Rhie: https://500px.com/rhiecudanin
http://www.pashadelic.com/en/users/31204-rhiecudanin
https://plus.google.com/+JosephCudanin
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rhie_cudanin/
References:
Visit Korea
Daum Map
Liz in Translation
Changwonderful
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