South Korea

Today we spent one day in South Korea. All the Japanese cruises do it, there must be some technical reason I don’t know about.

We sailed into Ulsan which is the industrial powerhouse of South Korea. It has the largest shipbuilding yard in the world and giant car plants. Nevertheless it is bright and modern and treasures its heritage.

Our guides took us to 6th century royal tombs (the small hills in the image top right). One tomb is open to visit (bottom left). We then visited the spacious, beautifully lit National Museum to see the gold crown and other artefacts found in the grave. We then drove into the hills to visit an 8th century Buddhist temple (extra).

It was all very beautiful and impressive. However this was probably the only day I will ever spend in South Korea in my life and I would have loved to wander through a district where the locals live and shop and eat to get at least some impression of their life.