Gyeongju-Busan-Seoul Day 6 (Part 1) – Taejongdae Resort Park

8 May 2012

We took the Busan City Tour bus to the Taejongdae Resort Park. The park is named after King Taejong (Muyeol) of the Shilla Dynasty who frequented this place. Taejongae is a peninsula and there are several places of interest to visit in the park. Best way to get around is via the Danubi train or one can chose to walk along the coastal road.

Danubi Train (Danubi means admiring the scenery in Korean) running a circular route of 4.3 km along the Taejongdae coastal road. A ticket costs 1500 KRW and means a lot less walking between points of interest. The train operates on a hop-on/hop-off basis and runs every 20 minutes.

Danubi train hop-on/hop-off train.

Our first stop on the train was the Taejongdae Pebble Beach.

Boat cruise departing from Taejongdae Pebble Beach.

To get to the beach, we went down a steep flight of steps.

The pebbles were more like rocks!

School seemed to be out and many Korean school kids were having a good time hurling pebbles (err…. rocks) into the sea.

We did not linger too long here as we want to board the next Danubi train that was due in 20 minutes time.

Cliff face at the Taejongdae Pebble Beach.

Steep climb back up to the top.

The next train was crowded but we managed to get on board. We got off at the Observation Deck where there seems to be some interesting items to view.

Observation Deck shaped like a flying saucer.

Jujeonjal (Tea Kettle) island seen from the Observation Deck.

Korean drama actress Jing Woo (of Winter Sonata fame) was having a photo exhibition inside the deck. Many of her photos, shot in Busan was displayed.

Nice photo of Jing Woo, taken at the aquarium in Busan.

Statue of Mother and Child as seen reflected off the glass wall of the Observation Deck. The statue is supposed to remind Koreans of motherly love and not take their own life (suicides) so easily.

From here, we took the next train to the Yeongdo Lighthouse. This site features a lighthouse (called the Yeongdo or Taejongdae Lighthouse), an art gallery, and a gallery of natural history. The lighthouse is somewhat overshadowed by a large circular Red and Blue artwork called “Light Beyond Limitation.

Stairs leading down to the Lighthouse and Sinseon Rock.

Explanation of the Light Beyond Limitation artwork.

There is an electronic information board explaining the key points of interest at the Yeongdo Lighthouse. We learnt that there are some fossilised dinosaur tracks here. 

Busts of some prominent figures .

Looking down, we can see the tiny figures of people exploring the flat rocky top of the Sinseon Rock. Then we spotted the dinosaur tracks. 

Fossilised Dinosaur Tracks shot from the top using a telephoto lens.

We took the path to Lighthouse and then went further down to the flat rock cliffs beyond the lighthouse and had a closer look at the dinosaur tracks.

Getting to the Sinseon Rock cliffs beyond the lighthouse.  The ship-shaped building houses a small exhibition of geology and natural history.

Exploring the Sinseon Rock and “Walking with Dinosaurs” .

Unfortunately, time and weathering had made the tracks looked like normal holes on the ground instead of clear-cut dinosaur footprints when seen up close.

Another feature on the Sinseon Rock is the Mangbu Rock (Legendary Rock of the Faithful Woman).

The tall rock on a flat rock is called the Mangbu Rock (Legendary Rock of the Faithful Woman). Tea Kettle island can be seen in the distance.

Legend behind the rock: There was a woman who once waited here for her husband who was taken by Japanese invaders. She waited in the same place comes rain or snow, and she eventually became a rock.

Steep cliff at Sinseon Rock. This place is not fenced off and one can sit right by the cliff’s edge.

It was a steep climb back up to the top. Then a short wait for the Danubi train to take us back to the entrance. From here, we caught the next Busan City Tour Hop-On/Hop-Off bus that will take us to the Jagalchi Fish Market.