Inje university report week 5: Trip to Tongyeong & Changsa-do

5 주차

Trip to Tongyeong - 문화체험


So we got given an amazing opportunity to go on a prepared group trip to Tongyeong, climb a mountain by cable car and go to an island by ferry, we had to pay a fee to go on the trip but everything including transportation and tickets and lunch was organised for us which is really nice for international students as travelling around Korea and organising a great day out can be stressful sometimes. 통영 is about 2 hours by coach from Inje university campus (but that was organised). The ferry to 장사도 took about 1 hour from the ship station.

First stop was Tongyeong where we took the cable car up the mountain. I'm terrified of heights so the climb up the mountain was not my favourite experience but the views once we reached the top were breathtaking.

 It was really sunny with clear blue skies which made for beautiful pictures.

We then boarded the cable cars again to return down the mountain, in my opinion, this part of the journey was scarier but we arrived safely. Then we went on to have lunch, the lunch menu was actually 해물탕 (seafood soup) It was an assortment of live octopus, squid, all kinds of shell seafood in a huge dish, which if you love seafood would be an amazing thing for you to try. Unfortunately, seafood makes me really sick so I opted for a simpler meal.

Once we finished lunch we quickly moved onto our next part of the journey and ran into the ship station we were running late for our ferry, we did manage to catch it with all the locals cheering us on and made our way to an island.

The ferry was really large and fit so many people on board over 3 floors. There was even a little disco floor on one of the levels I wondered what kind of events they might have held onboard.

We posed for a group photo just before our boat left and we set off exploring the island called 장사도 which boasts beautiful scenery, gardens and sculptures. It is also one of the filming locations for "별에서 온 그대" or "My love from the star." I was especially excited to find this out as I loved that drama.

The flowers on the island were beautiful and there were gardeners constantly looking after them, the whole island felt so beautifully kept.

There was a small outdoor gallery of statues and also these large head statues near the open air theatre, they looked so stunning in the sunlight surrounded by blue skies.

In some ways, it felt like a tropical island because the sun was beaming and there were palm trees everywhere. After walking around all the spots the island had to offer we got back on the ferry and headed back to campus. 
I am so happy I got to visit two beautiful locations and whilst I was on the trip I also made many new friends and we laughed a lot and had fun talking about our different experiences in Korea. I will always treasure this day and I am thankful that I get many opportunities like this thanks to Inje University.

London Nuna x