Enjoy the Full-Bloom Cherry Blossoms! 'Jinhae Naval Port Festival Day Trip Tour'
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5 days ago
I joined the 'Jinhae Gunhangje Festival' one-day tour on April 4. This festival is held every year from late March to early April, and this year marked its 64th edition. I also visited Gyehwa Station near the festival grounds.
Jinhae is about a 1-hour bus ride from Busan and about a 5-hour bus ride from Seoul, so getting there from Seoul can be a challenge, but it’s one of Korea’s top cherry blossom spots with about 340,000 cherry trees in bloom. The blossoms are already starting to fall this year, but at peak season the rows of cherry trees were breathtakingly beautiful.
Now, I'll introduce the day's schedule and the tour details!
The tour pickup spots were Hongdae Entrance Station, Myeong-dong Station, and Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station, and I chose to meet at 5:30 AM at Hongdae Entrance Station, about a 30-minute walk from my home. I knew I had to get up early because it’s a long way from Seoul to Jinhae, but when I set the alarm I accidentally set 4 PM instead of 4 AM, and when I woke up it was 5 AM. Since it usually takes me 30 minutes on foot, I panicked because I was short on time. Taking the subway or a bus might have been faster, but I didn’t have time to check, so I gave up on breakfast and arrived at the meeting point at 5:22 AM. When I checked the weather forecast the day before it was 100 percent rain, but it wasn’t raining, and I was very relieved to have arrived on time. Because I’d overslept, I thought I was the last participant to arrive, but there was no one else there.
Then I told the guide holding the flag my name and waited. The meeting time was early, so some people didn’t show up on time, and the guide had to make several calls, which looked stressful.
Departed Hongdae Entrance Station at 5:34, arriving at Myeong-dong Station around 5:50. We had about a 30-minute restroom break, during which it started drizzling. At 6:10 we arrived at Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station, picked up all participants, and headed to Jinhae. There were about 25 participants, and besides me there was one other Japanese person.
On the bus on the way to the rest stop, the guide pointed out places like, 'This is the home of BLACKPINK Jennie,' and, 'This is where BTS RM lives.'
We arrived at the Faso Rest Area at 8:25. With a 20-minute break and because I’d missed breakfast, I bought bite-sized chicken and a sandwich. We were scheduled to leave at 8:45, but three participants were late, so we left the rest area around 8:50.
Around 11:00, we arrived at the Jinhae Gunhangje Festival venue and Yeojwacheon Stream. The itinerary when booking this tour had been Jinhae Gunhangje Festival → Gyehwa Station → lunch on your own → Yeojwacheon Stream, but on the day we went in the order Jinhae Gunhangje Festival & lunch on your own → Yeojwacheon Stream.
At first the guide led all participants around the venue, explained the meeting place and time, and then we were free to explore on our own.
I was on the trip alone, so I walked along the river taking photos of the cherry blossoms. By chance I found a sign saying it was a filming location for the Korean drama 'Romance.' I haven’t watched that show, but I like Korean dramas, so I was happy to see it.
In Korea, there were many stalls lined up, even more than in Japan, selling coffee, taffy (fruit candy), yangkkochi (lamb skewers) and other food items, along with caricature booths and places where you can take photo booth sticker pictures.
It was raining hard enough in the morning that I needed an umbrella, but by around noon a blue sky started to appear.
There were lots of food stalls and I couldn’t decide what to have for lunch, but the guide recommended sogogi gukbap (beef gukbap), so I tried that. Normally when I eat soup dishes like sundubu (soft tofu stew), I scoop rice with a spoon and eat it together with the soup, but because this dish has the rice already in the soup from the start, I found it interesting that even similar dishes are eaten differently.
At 1:25 PM, the tour participants gathered at the meeting spot, but as expected a few people arrived late. Maybe it’s because I’m Japanese, but since this was a group activity, I wished everyone would keep to the schedule.
Around 2:00 PM, I arrived at Gyehwa Station. This station no longer has regular trains stopping here, and it now operates as the Jinhae public relations center while displaying the trains that once ran on the line. Like the Jinhae Gunhangje Festival, it’s a place famous for spring cherry blossoms, and since it was the weekend there were lots of families and couples. Depending on the time and the weather, I felt it was more crowded here than at the Jinhae Gunhangje Festival.
Cherry trees were planted along both sides of the tracks as far as the eye could see, creating an overwhelming, spectacular view. There were people performing like street musicians, and events where brass bands or similar groups played music. Everywhere you looked couples and families were taking photos with great effort, the kind of scene that feels very Korean. There was also a long line to take pictures with a displayed train. As someone visiting alone, I felt a little out of place.
After finishing sightseeing, I arrived at the meeting spot about 10 minutes before the pickup time and was waiting for everyone to gather when a Korean man struck up a conversation. I’m currently studying Korean at a language school in Seoul, and speaking what I want to say is difficult, but I can understand a bit. He said he had come alone and wanted me to take his photo. I replied in Korean, “Okay. I’m Japanese, so my Korean isn’t very good.” He said, “Your Korean is good,” and, I think as a compliment, “I also want to study Japanese.” He then asked, “Do you have time?” so I told him, “I came on a bus tour, so I only have about five more minutes.” It was a shame we couldn’t talk longer because of the time, but it was a little practice for conversation. At 3:15 PM we departed Gyehwa Station. I don’t know the details, but some participants seemed to be staying in Jinhae, so a few fewer people returned to Seoul on the way back.
The tour was scheduled to leave Jinhae at 4:00 PM, but the actual departure was different. Since we had plenty of time to enjoy sightseeing, I think it was good considering the travel time back to Seoul.
Around 6:00 PM, we stopped at the Jeonnamdae Rest Area for a bathroom break on the way back. We left the rest area at 6:15 PM, arrived at Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station around 7:50 PM, and reached Myeong-dong Station just after 8:00 PM. Everyone else got off, so I felt a little bad for the driver, but the bus continued on toward Hongdae Entrance Station. During the drive, the driver kept making phone calls, so I listened as much as I could to understand what he was saying. It sounded like, “Yuno (probably a driver of another bus) asked the driver to change the next day’s route, and the boarding route was changed, and because of that other drivers also had route changes, but they didn’t seem to coordinate it well.” (I’m at about level 2 at the language school, so I might have gotten some parts wrong.) The driver was smoking and kept overusing the Korean swear word “ssibal,” which is common there, lol. Anyhow, I got to Hongdae Entrance Station at 8:25 PM and arrived home at 9:00 PM. From when I left home to when I returned it was about 16 hours. The long trip ended safely.
I'm not sure whether this tour will be offered again next year, but even though the travel can be tiring, I think it's worth taking the time to go. If you're interested, mornings can be rough, so I recommend staying near the pickup spot.
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