Taming the Dragon Park

Staying in a city by the Japan Sea offers great opportunities for beautiful hikes.  So after school one day we had a great adventure to Daewangam Park.  Because the Korean name of the park seems to have too many foreign-sounding syllables, we prefer the name that the children use--The Dragon Park.

Those long tubes coming out of the ears are very slippery slides.  Denisa knows this from personal experience (more than once).

There was also a portion of the dragon's tail appearing in another section, that made for good climbing possibilities.


We are finding that Mark's propensity to climb on things must be hereditary, as these younger Engelmans also seemed to enjoy following him up into the rocks.  Notice them flashing the peace sign, the quintessential Asian pose.


A beautiful trail took us through a forest, then lead us out onto a peninsula in the Japan Sea.  There were still some flowers blooming, and it was a picturesque spot as the waves hit the rocks.

Also on our hike we could see the huge cranes and winches of the Huyundai ship yard on the upper left of the photo below.  But the most interesting thing to watch were the middle-aged women swimming in the waves among the rocks of the coast line.  In the bottom center of the photo, you can barely see a woman wearing black is setting out fish traps, while another woman in red is walking back to the shaded fish market area.  The fish don't come any fresher than that.

We all stood there watching the fishing process, enthralled at these women's work.  The picture below shows them a little clearer, as they bounced around among the waves.

While some people take their dogs for a walk on a leash, we found this South Korean woman taking her bird for a walk on a leash.  Even though we didn't speak the same language, we have found that gestures and enthusiasm goes a long way in bridging the language barrier.

She understood that Camden was interested in the bird riding on his shoulder.  Camden was not so sure about this choice once the bird started nibbling on him.

As we hiked to the other side of the peninsula, we found exercise equipment along the trail.  Very basic in design, it was very functional and fun.  We are finding that the South Koreans put much emphasis on spending time outdoors and exercising.



The sun is setting over Ulsan as we finish our walk around the park. 

We made a quick stop by the air hoses provided to blow the dust off our shoes (sad that we forgot to take a picture).  Then the final picture of the dragon (with Katrina's head shining through the dragon's eye ball) before we headed for home.  It's another great day in South Korea!