거제도 Part II (Journey to the Abandoned Park)

Before we went to sleep the night before, we all decided to wake up to see the sun rise. Well, around 5:30 in the morning, the alarm went off and was turned off just as quick. I simply rolled over and thought there was no way I was going to get out of bed. We were all pretty exhausted from the day before, so I decided to just sleep in. Good thing too. My friend Amy said she got up and went to watch the sun rise. Apparently it began to rain and was too foggy to see anything anyway. I guess you can say I was happy with my decision to not get up at 5:30 in the morning.

Around 8 am, I woke up and began to get ready for the day. Everyone else was still asleep until 9 or so when the TV turned itself on. 정길 and Amy woke up and began to get ready. We made sandwiches for lunch so we wouldn't have to spend money while we were out. We decided to head north along the coast. We got on a bus and began our 40 minute ride to a small flower garden with a few statues and what not. While we were there, my friend 정길 began talking to a family. They were telling us a few places we should go.

I, however already knew where I wanted to go. I wanted to visit the abandoned amusement park in 옥포 (Okpo). 정길 asked about this but they said it had been completely demolished. They were also very curious why we would want to visit an abandoned amusement park. Even 정길 was curious why. We decided to head to 옥포 and see if the park was still there.

After a short bus ride to 옥포 we had to climb this amazingly tall hill. We finally reached the top (and not knowing if we had just climbed for nothing) and saw the gate to the park. We moved back some of the barbed wire and made our way through it.

Side-note: The park was at one point owned by a corrupt business man. When 2 children died, the park was closed. The man ran off and never paid the family for any damages.

We walked around the park, climbed onto some of the coasters, and were able to take a few photos. It is kind of a shame the park ended the way it did. From the top, there was a nice view of the mountain leading into the sea. You could also see 옥포 shipyard. I think the park is going to be turned into an apartment building for the shipyard. While we were in the park 정길 looked at me and said he now understood why we wanted to visit that place. I tried to explain before we got there, but he along with so many other Koreans, just did not understand.

After the park, we went to another hill to sit on a pagoda, or at least that is what it reminded me of. We ate some food and just relaxed for a bit. We talked to another family with a really cute kid and headed back to the bus stop. We got on the bus and headed back to our pension. On the way there, we saw a beach and decided to get off. I am glad we did, because this was the only time we got to see the sunset. We stood on the beach and watched the sun go down behind some mountains. While we were standing there, 사장님 (means owner) called us to make sure we were okay. He then informed us there were no more buses coming our way but that he would be happy to come pick us up and take us home.

He arrived in somewhat of a small car and took us home. When we arrived to our room, we decided to make some 호떡 (hotteok) which is a kind of Korean pancake with a cinnamon filling. I think you can put whatever you would like in it. After they were done, we gave some to 사장님 and my Korean teacher who arrived while we were out. After the 호떡 we decided to go to bed, because we had to wake up around 6 the next morning.

More on that in the next chapter.