03.30.06
Manseongni Beach
I found this information on the KBS Global website:
Manseongni Beach, the only black sand beach in South Korea
Manseongni Beach, five kilometers off from the Yeosu station, is the only black sand beach in South Korea. Taking a sand bath in this beach is said to be particularly effective to alleviate neuralgia and a variety of gynecologic diseases. In particular, on April 20 in the lunar calendar, so-called "the day when the black sand open its eyes," a tremendous number of people flock to the place because the effect of the sand bath is said to be the maximum at the moment.
Black sand, huh? Sounded cool, so I decided to check it out. I never took any art classes in university so I hardly qualify as an expert in these matters, but the sand didn't look black to me.
Okay, so the beach is a very light shade of black. Still, it looks like it'll be a lot of fun to hang out there in the summer. Swim, suntan, barbeque sam gyup sal, drink soju, and eat fish. Every locale in Korea has some food that it is famous for. Yeosu's specialty is "hoi" (sashimi). The sign below displays the variety of fish in the waters near Yeosu and the best time of year to eat them.
If you travel up the road just a bit you can get some fantastic views of the beach and sea from an overlooking hillside.
Manseongni Beach was devoid of life on this day, presumably because the black sand's eyes were closed. I'll return on April 20 (lunar calendar), when it awakes and the masses are alleviating their neuralgia and gynecologic diseases. That should be somethin'. Hope I don't encounter any crabs.
Joel said,
April 2, 2006 at 10:26 am
I was really let down the first time I went to the amazing “black sand beach” too.
Wendy said,
April 2, 2006 at 10:37 am
Hi, I’m asking something irrelevant here. Hope u don’t mind. May I know how can I put up a search box on my site, just like yours? Would kindly appreciate your help. Thanks
Scott said,
April 2, 2006 at 10:02 pm
Joel,
Someone has since told me that there used to be black sand there, but the building of a water breaker (Is that what it’s called?) caused the water to come further ashore, thus washing away the black sand. I’m a bit skeptical of that explanation. Still, you’d think people would speak of the black sand in the past tense.
Wendy,
The search box came with the WordPress blogware. I didn’t do anything specific to create it. Are you using WordPress? If so, maybe it depends on the theme (layout) that you choose for your blog. Sorry I can’t be of anymore help.
Joel said,
April 3, 2006 at 1:51 pm
That I can’t say. But I lived there 6 years ago and it was the same old beach then that you have photographed here. So if it’s true it must have been sometime long before that.
sewing said,
April 4, 2006 at 5:57 am
Youre last three views from up top look great. A breakwater is probably what you were talking about in reply to Joel.
Scott said,
April 4, 2006 at 9:05 pm
sewing,
Thanks. I was pleasantly surprised by how they turned out. I hope I can keep it up. And thanks for the correction (breakwater).