Jayu Park

Well kids, I went exploring on my own today! Originally I was going to head to Insadong on the advice of my friend Jon (a very popular tourist destination in Seoul), but that didn't pan out. The day was beautiful here today and I couldn't bear to spend over 2 hours on the subway (it would take me about 70 minutes each way if I went to Insadong). Plus I did some research on the area and it looked so great, but I would much rather explore it with someone, so I'll hold off just now.

I remembered reading that there was a really nice park in Incheon though. Being it was a beautiful sunny day and I decided to try and find this park. The Korean websites weren't much help but there is one blog that I have been following and the guy is awesome. He tries to go to a new place every week and gives you directions on how to get to the places he went. I searched his blog and then was on my way!


I am the second last subway stop on my line (Dongincheon station), the only one farther is the Incheon station. It only takes about 5 minutes to get there, and this is the station closest to the park...convenient. Immediately when you walk out of the station there is a Chinatown! How fantastic. Also, I realized, an area that would be a bit more fun to experience with someone. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem doing things on my own, but there are some things that are just more fun to do with other people.

The park that I went to was called Jayu Park. It was beautiful. I took the wrong way to get there and walked up possibly one of the steepest hills I have ever walked up. I was huffing and puffing by half way. I stopped part way to take a picture out at the water. This is definitely an industrial type city and being on the water mainly just means that there are a lot of ships. If you want to see any nice beaches or anything you have to go to the islands that are just off the coast. I am hoping to hit up these at least a few times in the Spring and Summer.

Once I finally got to the park it was beautiful. I wasn't prepared for all the steps though. Honestly, I just climbed a HUGE hill, now you want me to climb a ridiculous amount of stairs too? No wonder Korean people are so thin.

Also, scattered around the park was workout equipment, apparently this is typical in Korea. Just in case you didn't get enough of a quad workout working up the hills and stairs, you can also do leg presses (among other things). I snuck up behind a guy who was using one and snapped a picture before running away.

Once I reached the top of one of the flights of stairs was a big open space where I found a fairly large stage, I assume for music concerts. I also found these guys, love them!

It obviously wasn't a really good time for foliage or anything, but I did take a few shots. 

 

I had seen pictures of a certain sculpture at this park and really wanted to find it. It was one of my reasons for coming to this park actually. I searched and searched and finally found it (not before walking past a bunch of old Korean men where I heard blahblahblah WAYGOOK AHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA. Nice. For those of you that don't know, waygook basically means foreigner. I had been stared at the moment I set foot in the park. They would literally stop and stare at me as I walked by, a little annoying but whatever. I realize that I may be the only white person any of them have seen, or will see. Korea is not like Canada in regards to our multiculturalism). Anyways, back to the sculpture... It is called the Korean-U.S.A Centennial Monument. I don't know much about it other than it has to do when Korea and America signed a treaty of peace, amity, commerce and navigation. The best shots are from standing right underneath the monument.



All in all I would say a successful outing. I didn't get lost. I got to experience a great park on a beautiful day while everyone else was working. Plus it was my first officially touristy thing that I had done! And I embraced being a tourist and taking pictures of everything. I'll leave you with a few random pictures of Jayu Park, and my walk to and from the park.