A Few Hours in Yeosu

Yeosu is a city with a significant ancient past. Korea and Japan have always had a contentious relationship, and in 1592, Japan invaded. This gave rise to Korea’s greatest military hero, Admiral Yi Sun-sin. From Yeosu, Admiral Yi commanded the navy with his infamous “turtle ships”, covered boats with spikes and a dragon head that spewed fire. These ships were a massive innovation, allowing the undersized Korean navy to break through Japanese positions and win the war.

To this day, Yeosu celebrates Admiral Yi, and his statue can be seen in the main center of the town. You can also see a recreation of the famous turtle ship on the wharf nearby. Yeosu remains a Naval city, and you can see sailors walking around. The city is not just a naval port, and there are plenty of attractions, from the archipelago cable car, the 2012 World Expo grounds, one of Korea’s largest aquariums, and so much more. We only had a short time in the city, so we had to choose carefully what we wanted to get done on our day trip.

High Class 153 is not only a pension, but also a cafe with a spectacular view of the ocean. There is a lot of seating inside near a large glass window, outside on the rooftop, and down on the fake grass lawn. Since we were there early in the morning, we sat on the rooftop to get our intake of vitamin d, and admire the ocean. It’s a standard Korean cafe, with many photo zones all around to get the perfect pictures.

Inside they offer a package to take a ride on the big swing over the ocean in a flowy dress. I really hate heights, and even though I have done this before, Michael convinced me to try it one more time. The verdict was that I did not like the feeling of my feet dangling over the ocean and feeling like I was going to fly into the sea. However, the photos are beautiful so I can’t argue with that. I’m glad I got to see what was in front of me because I had my eye closed until the swing slowed down.

Yeosudang is one of the most popular bakeries in Yeosu, despite a very limited menu. Their shop is located outside near the statue of Yi Sun-sin. The bakery is very popular, and there is always a line down the street. I had visited here before, but Michael had not been, so he had to try one of my favorite desserts: mug wort ice cream! I know the name is not attractive in English, but it is worth a try before you knock it. We enjoyed the herbal, slightly bitter taste, and it reminded us of the bitterness of oolong tea with lots of sugar.

Cafe Sunbed is located on a beach on the outskirts of Yeosu. This restaurant and cafe has basic bar snacks like pizza, pasta, and burgers. It also has alcohol, coffee, and other fun drinks. The interior is like a cozy beach shack with empty colorful alcohol bottles, fishing nets, and straw chairs. Some days they have live DJs playing sets as you enjoy sipping away at your drink with the beach in front of you. Outside are tables on the patio, but there are usually a lot of people and seating is limited, so prepare for a wait. There are also tables down at the beach.

Since we live in the city, it was a nice change of scenery sipping our drinks and looking at the view. The vibes did not feel very Korean so it felt like we were on a mini vacation abroad. We weren’t the only ones, there were a bunch of foreigners there enjoying the secluded beach, which was surprising since it’s so far out from the main part of Yeosu. Plan on taking a taxi there and back, but if you do you wont regret it. Most importantly, there were a lot of sweet kitties waiting to get pets. The owner even told us their names!