[HiKorea Hostel(Guesthouse) in Haeundae, Busan] Somewhere Between Healing and Sightseeing, or Both ‘Ikidae Park’_1

1. It’s Not Embarrassing Even Alone

 Before you take on a trip, the next thing in your mind after selecting your destination may be ‘whom you would go with.’ This concern that seems pretty simple actually is a considerable trouble before the trip. Well, for a person like me who has almost none concerns and lives without special plans, this might be the only concern in my life. You can just set out on a trip anywhere according to the weather that day and your mood, but whether you have accompany or not, and whom do you go with gives a totally different meaning and feeling to your trip, even if you go to the same place. In some places 3 is better than 2, 2 is better than 1, and sometimes there are places where a group gives more pleasure. For instance if two of you go on a trip, you can use a ticket for two or coupons helpfully, and go visit a famous sushi restaurant that is difficult to go by oneself.

 Of course there are places that are much fun if you go alone (or must go alone). On my second trip I couldn’t find any accompany so I had to leave by myself, and I wanted to visit the ‘Ikidae Park.’ It has been exactly 1 year since I have visited there before, and I wanted to take a walk on another trail that I haven’t been before. (I will introduce later, but there are extremely various trails in the Ikidae Park.)

 The formal title for the Ikidae Park is the ‘Ikidae City Natural Park’ and it is located on ‘105-20 Ikidae Park Street, Nam-gu, Busan.’ To borrow the introduction for a second, it is a marine natural park formed with the Jangsanbong and the sea, and the origin of the name ‘Ikidae’ is that, during the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, the Japanese military took the Sooyoung Fort and threw a party here that has a great scenery, and two gisaengs(Korean geisha) of Sooyoung offered alcoholic drinks to the Japanese general and jumped into the water with the drunken general and killed themselves. The orthodoxy is that the body of the two gisaengs are buried here, so it is called the Iki(二妓, two gisaengs). In other words, it could be another version of the ‘Nongae.’ The area was restricted as a military zone and was opened to the public in 1993, so the natural ecology is preserved very well and it is famous as a fishing spot. There isn’t a website, and you can get a little information at the Busan Culture Tour Website (http://tour.busan.go.kr/). The number for questions on the Ikidae Park is 051) 607-6361.

From the Busan Stations and Nampo-dong area, you can get on the city bus no.27 and get off at the entrance of Kyungsung University, and transfer to the bus no.131 or no.39 and get off at the ‘Ikidae Park’ bus station, and from the Haeundae area you can take no.39 right away. If you use the subway, get off at the Kyungsung University and Bukyung University station, and take the bus no.131 or 39 headed for Yongho-dong.