The 15th of August is Korean Independence Day and is one of those wonderful things known as a bank holiday. The celebration in Cheonan was massively unimpressive/nonexistent. This surprised me; Korea only gained independence from Japan in 1945 - fairly recent, and considering the atrocities the Japanese inflicted on the Koreans I would have thought their independence day would be a huge celebration. The streets were lined with flags at least, and I think some places had festivals.
To celebrate our day off (and Korean independence) me and the boy decided to go to the beach and have a relaxing day topping up our tans. Unfortunately, we didn't think to check the weather forecast when we bought our bus tickets in advance.
We went to Malipo beach, Taean; a beautiful unspoilt beach on the west coast. It has golden sands and hundreds of islands that you can swim out to and explore. The sea front has only a couple of restaurants and hotels that have been built in recent years; beyond them are mountains and forests. It's a lovely place.
The heavens opened literally minutes after we got to the beach. The black clouds were so low I could almost touch them. We lasted less than two hours in the wind and rain then took the 3-hour bus back home again, shivering under the air conditioning in our sodden clothes.
Lesson learnt: always check the weather forecast before making plans in Korea!
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| Malipo beach |
