Igidae Coastal Walk

IGIDAE COASTAL WALKWAY (이기대 해안산책로) in Pusan on a opposite coastal walk from Haeundae Beach is part of growing network of scenic walking trails in and around Pusan. The trail from start to finish takes approximately 3 hours, and of the several coastal walking trails I've been on so far in the Pusan area, this is by far my favorite .... away from the city noises, ultra scenic with a diversity of historical sites, and easily accessible for an afternoon getaway but still remote enough that it's not particularly crowded.

The entrance to the trail gives a grand view of the Gwangan (Diamond) Bridge that spans the Suyeoungman Bay. Directly opposite the entrance is the rather verdant green promontory where the Nurimaru APEC House is located, to the right or further east is the not clearly seen but still famous Haeundae Beach and further to the right and which goes off the picture is the Dalmajigil Road/Park—all of which are scenic coastal walkways.

Igidae Coastal Walkway starts out on a walkway that several people with strollers even attempted, despite the stairs. (The last half of the trail was a lot of very steep ups and downs and not many people were on this stretch.) 

The origin of the name of Igidae comes from when the Japanese invaded Joseon in the late 16^th century. The Japanese were able to conquer Suyeongseong Fortress and so held a feast at a high spot with a commanding view to celebrate their victory. Two Korean gisaeng (female professional entertainers similar to the Japanese geisha) were taken to the feast, where they seized a drunken Japanese commander and jumped into the sea as a reprisal against the Japanese invasion of their homeland. Thus, the name Igidae, meaning two gisaeng, was given to this place.

The Coastal Suspension Bridge, which translates into Korean as the Coastal Cloud Bridge "해안길 구름다", got a lot of people jumping up and down getting some rhythm and motion going. My friend and I were jumping too, but a bunch of housewives waved us off because they wanted a self-photo moment ... what a crack-up!

Fossil Dinosaur Footprints (공련발자국) also remain in one particular location along the route. These prints weren't as spectacular as are the Uhangri and Goseong prints I've been to, but nevertheless, South Korea should be well-known for its many dinosaur footprints along southern coastal waterways. These prints weren't shown on any tourist maps and surprisingly Pusan with all its coastal waterways has no dinosaur track tourist attractions ... but then maybe that's because Pusan is so built up and has destroyed what it didn't recognize as being a magnet to tourists and tourist economies. In any regard, the closest tourist map documented dinosaur tracks and also within Gyeongsangnam-do are in Changwon and Goseong to the west and Ulsan to the north.

해녀막사 (Female Divers Barracks/Quarters) is a place for female divers to keep their fishing equipment and diving suits needed for collecting seafood, and to change in after fishing. This place was made about 40 years ago and was repaired and restored in the 2005 "Igidae Coastline Trail Project" to withstand the force of waves and preserve the diver-women's culture. Around 10 divers still use the place as their shelter to collect all kinds of seafood such a sea cucumber, abalone, sea squirt and seaweed. Hikers on the trail are very attracted to the freshness of the seafood offerings and frequently stop to refresh themselves before hiking on.

Other points of interest along the trail:

Closed copper mine "여기는 구리 광산" — Supposedly a nearby mine named Daehan Mine Co., Ltd existed from the Japanese colonial period. In this mine of 283ha, a quantity of 99.9% pure brass was produced. A lot of copper, or lumps of shinju, were found around the foothills of the mountain during the Japanese colonial period, and so the Japanese started to dig to excavate the good quality copper. The number 1 mine, of which only traces remain today, was the first dug. The number 2 mine, located here along the trail, was as deep as 550m horizontally and 380m vertically. The number 3 and 4 mines used to be located in the middle of the coastline trail but the entrance and large shafts have been obliterated with the excavation to build a yacht arena. The number 5 mine is located in the courtyard of the Igidae eowoolmadang outdoor central entrance. With only a trace of floor at the Igidae seashore location in 1997, it was rebuilt into the Igidae outdoor theater and observatory.

Japanese Artillery Position (entrance) "일본군 포진지" — The period between the 19^th and 20^th centuries was marked by a fierce competition between the world’s imperial powers to get more colonies and trading ports largely through military means. It was during this period that Japan, after the victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), built large military facilities to defend mainland Japan, and here on the coast overlooking Oryukdo Islands in Yongho-dong, Pusan, a 410mm gun was mounted. Records say that there were four gun forts of the same size, but today there remains only one relic along the trail as historical evidence of the Japanese invasion of both Korea and Manchuria.

Other interesting sites reflect culture. Stones piled upon one another have traditionally symbolized the desire to have a son (not so commonly believed now in this age of birth control and extremely low birth rate) or to make a wish or express a heartfelt desire. One particular area along the walking trail was strewn with smooth stoned rocks piled upon one another.

Also of interest along the way was a traveler's tower with distance to key interest points from the "here" of Igidae trail.

Los Angeles ............. 9636 km

Hong Kong .............. 2029 km

Beijing ..................... 1243 km

Tokyo ....................... 901 km

Dokdo ...................... 341 km

Other sites are a huge rock balanced precariously on two other rocks, the 농바위, and the Eoulmadang, a garden site which was the filming site of "Haeundae", the movie.

The trail ends at the huge and very new apartment complex reaching such astonishing heights that they actually peak over the mountains along the trail. At the base of the apartment complex are huge gardens of wild roses intermingled with brown-eyed susans. The color was amazing and wow was I so surprised to see such a rich wealth of rose hips on the wild roses. The only other place I saw such growth of the wild roses was along sea coasts on Sakhalin Island, Russia, and wow did we ever eat the most delicious rose hip jam there. Ahhh, if I lived in that apartment complex, I would eat jam jam jam ... and btw, rose hips are one of the highest sources of vitamin C in the world (raw of course).

At the very end and a bit beyond the amazingly tall apartment complex with rich beds of wild roses was the spectacular Oryukdo Skywalk. It was somewhat crowded as most of the people there either drove or bussed themselves in. Not many actually walked the trail to experience the glass-floored sea bridge or view the Oryukdo Islands.