When we told Korean friends we were going to visit Mokpo for this spring break, almost every one of them asked us, “Mokpo? Why Mokpo?” We were a bit concerned. Apparently, Mokpo is not a big tourist destination, even for Koreans.
Here’s why we picked Mokpo. Our theory of Mokpo, as it were.
- We loved Yeosu, and Mokpo like Yeosu is in the south of Korea. But it is further west, and we have not much explored the west coast of Korea.
- Mokpo was also the site of some important Admiral Yi naval battles, and Teresa is a big Admiral Yi fan.
- The southwest of Korea is historically interesting and is famous for the quality of its food. Mokpo is a big fishing area and Robert loves fish.
- Mokpo is surrounded by hundreds of inhabited and uninhabited islands, and we thought it would be fun to explore one.
- Mokpo is the terminus of one of the KTX high-speed rail lines, so easy to get to.
- We read that Mokpo was not a big tourist destination, and we liked the idea of going somewhere out of the way.
But how would theory stack up to practice? Was going to Mokpo a good idea?
Our first day in Mokpo we visited the major fish market, climbed Yudalsan, the rocky mountain that overlooks the city and then took the Mokpo cable car to a nearby island.
Frequent readers of this blog know that we (and by we, we mean Robert) love pictures of artfully arranged fish. We (and by we, we mean Robert) are sure our readers do too. Here are a couple from the Mokpo fish market.
At the market, we ate at a fish restaurant on top of one of the fish stalls. The seafood was indeed super fresh, as the server we saw carrying around a live octopus in each hand attested. We also suspected this was a good restaurant, because we saw a shuttle bus drop off about 15 elderly men and women to it. They must have come from a geriatric center or home for a day’s outing. We figured they knew something.
The meal was enormous–you can see all the small plates below. The fish soup was terrific, the seafood in it extremely fresh and tender, even the octopus. Robert was less of a fan of the raw fish. The go-to fish in Mokpo is skate, which is what this restaurant served. The taste is good, but the texture a somewhat tough. It is not buttery, which is one of the big pleasures of sashimi.
After lunch we hiked up Yuldansan. Along the way we stopped at a statue of the Korea war hero Admiral Yi Sun-shin, who, it is said, covered a large rock on Yuldalsan with straw, in order to make the enemy believe they were looking at huge supplies of rice, and therefore that Yi had many men. Believing themselves outnumbered, the Japanese did not attack, but returned to Japan. The rock is now known as “provision rock.”
The top of Yuldansan has excellent views of Mokpo. From the top it is a short walk to the Mokpo cable car Yuldansan station. We boarded there, and took the cable car to nearby Gohado Island, which we walked around, before returning on the cable car.
The next day we took a ferry to one of Mokpo’s many islands–this one known as the “Romance Island” (its actual name is Oeldaldo, but when there are hundreds of islands, and some of them are competing for tourist visits, you need a brand). We walked the circumference of the island, visiting its beach and taking a nap there.
The last day we headed home. Before we did, we visited the Korean National Research Institute of Maritime Cultural Heritage. The museum has just a few galleries, but their content is wonderful. They show some shipwrecks from about 1300 to 1600, all discovered and salvaged in the last several decades. These ships were mainly bringing Korean pottery, known as celadon, from the site of its manufacture in the south to the rest of Korea. All this pottery was preserved in the shipwrecks, mostly intact, and a lot of it is displayed in the museum, along with the remainders of the ships themselves.
Last, before we left, we had lunch at a place recommended by a colleague as exemplary of cooking in Jeollanam-do the southwestern province where Mokpo is located. The hot stone bowl bibimbap was excellent—really fresh ingredients—and super cheap too.
So is Mokpo worth visiting? Yes, we think it is. We enjoyed the history, sights, walks and food—and given the amount of food we ate, it’s good there were lots of walks. We do not think it is as magical a place as Yeosu though.
We continue to enjoy our time in Korea, where even less sensational destinations provide so much interest and pleasure.