On The Backs of Sleeping Dragons

Today was one of those perfect autumn days in Ulsan, and so I decided to make the journey clear to the other side of the city, to Bangeojin, in order to visit Islan Beach:














as well as one of Ulsan's official 12 scenic areas: Daewangam Songnim (Rock and Pine Forest), billed as the second most beautiful spot of the Korean East Coast, which makes me really want to the see the most beautiful spot. The trip there from Cheonsang takes just over an hour and a half, but what awaits is worth it. The Pine Forest covers the bluff to the right of Ilsan Beach, and includes several walking paths through the 15,000 pine trees. Here are just a few of them:














But the the real draw is the Rock itself. Legend has it that Queen Munmu of the Silla Dynasty (7th century A.D.) became a guardian dragon after her death and was submerged off the coast of Ulsan, forever protecting the city and the Korean peninsula against foreign invasion (which if you know anything about Korean history in the 20th century you understand she didn't do a very good job). Here is what the Queen looks like in the third millenium:














And here is a view of the lighthouse overlooking the harbor:



















I know that most of the pictures I've posted here seem to represent Ulsan as a city of idyllic beauty. Much that I wish that were the case, this is what the rest of Ulsan looks like:














As you can see, the local Hyundai factory (which stretches for literally dozens of blocks throughout Bangeojin) makes its presence known as well.

I'll end this post with my favorite picture of the day (because of its sheer oddness):














(In case you can't tell, that's a Samsung monitor being thrown about in the surf).