When I visited Maryang back in June, 2007, I met that little guy chained to the door of a seafood restaurant. He had quite a noisy bark but was very playful when I approached him. When I walked past the restaurant again this time the dog was gone, but in his place was this tiny, handheld kitten tied to the air conditioner and left out in the rain.
Maryang is a township of 2,576, according to the 2001 census, although the population of the seaside town looks to be a fraction of that. Besides the view, points of interest include: Manhoseong, a 15th-century fortress wall on the west end of town; a string of seafood restaurants overlooking the harbor (this season's specialty is 전어); and Gogeum Bridge (고금대교), a big bridge that connects Wando county's Gogeum-do island to the mainland. When the bridge opened in the summer of 2007 it was a pretty big deal. Two of my three schools took trips to see the new bridge. We also saw hundreds of little crabs running all over the place, cramming themselves into little crab apartments under the docks or the steps whenever somebody walked by. When I visited two summers ago I also saw loads of jellyfish floating among the boats, though there weren't any on Saturday.
The location of Maryang, if "southeastern corner of Gangjin" means nothing to you, which in all likelihood is the case.
The weather was pretty bad, and that's the excuse I'm going with for not taking any good pictures. Instead, here are a few from October, 2006:
맛있는 stingray 드세요!
That's the fire and rescue station. Despite all appearances not, in fact, made out of Legos.
The bus terminal. Seriously.
Gogeum Bridge, from the Wando side.
More on my flickr page. The night view is pleasant as well because the three recently-constructed docks all have multi-colored lights. Buses back and forth between Gangjin and Maryang about twice an hour, but the last bus heads back to Gangjin, and Gwangju, at around 8 pm, so it may be a little difficult to enjoy that nighttime vista. There are three motels in Maryang, so that's an option should you be stuck or looking to spend the night. There are those sea food restaurants, a galbi house or two, a Family Mart, and a few hofs. Weather permitting they also have concerts on one of the piers on Saturday nights. And if you're in the neighborhood they're also having a harbor festival there in October, although I don't think the dates have been set yet.
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