At the Yeosu Tall Ships Festival.

I went to four different festivals from May 3rd through 5th, but am still trying to upload the pictures to prove it. The first one I went to that weekend was the Hampyeong Butterfly Festival; the next day the Yeosu Tall Ships (여수국제법선축제) Festival and the Turtleship Festival (거북선축제).

They ended up being right next to each other at the New Harbor (신항) next to Odong-do, and that was the only reason I wandered around the Turtleship Festival. The tall ships were neat, but the Turtleboat Festival was pretty lame and there was nothing of interest, making me wonder, as I often do when I think of festivals, why they even bother with the charade of calling it anything other than a chance for old people to listen to music and eat raw fish.

Anyway, a few photos from the warm spring day. First, there's a Turtle Ship to the left, some tall ships to the right, and Odong-do showing up in the middle.



That's a solar-powered turtleship that would periodically ride around the harbor. It's the same one that debuted last fall. Below is the Koreana, a Korean boat 41 meters long.



The Nurimaru, 49.5 feet long.



People could walk around the ships. I enjoyed that part, though I lost my footing a few times. Here are a couple pictures taken from the Nurimaru.




A tent with Dolsan Gat Kimchi, a mustard kimchi that's a regional specialty. It says "Oh my gat!" You'll recall "Oh my God!" made my list of the ten most hated English phrases in Korea in 2008. It has a strong chance to make this year's list.



Loads of tents with stuff to look at and stuff to eat.



There was an exhibition of bonzai trees and food art. Here are some watermelons.



The Nadezdha, a Russian vessel and the longest on display at 109.4 meters.



There were loads of Russian sailors on the ships and walking around the festival site. They were an attraction as well.



I heard this brute bossing the sailor around in shitty English.




The turtleship shot water out its mouth and would shoot smoke out its back, but I'm not really impressed with violence or biological warfare. There were musicians playing and dancing around the ship.



There was a battleship as well, which I toured. The tent to the right is where I found the Dok-do enthusiast.





Between the battleship and Odong-do was a collection of fishing boats. Along the water women had set up small restaurants selling fish and alcohol.




There's a small park and observatory on the hill behind Odong-do, and halfway up I took this picture. Odong-do is a popular tourist spot in Yeosu, and the little island that was just given the nickname "The Big O" by people who don't speak English.



Very fortuitous tombs.




A look at the festival site.




This garden must have the best view in the city.



Another picture of the turtleship. The guys on GFN's "City of Light" were wondering if at this festival they'll have a reenactment of a naval battle, but that's at the Japanese Murdering Festival held in Haenam and Jindo each fall.





A kite some 300 meters long according to the guy.



And walking back I passed this church shaped like a smurf's hat. I think it's supposed to be a whale or a sperm.



Heck of a view, though.



A bunch of other photographs in my Flickr gallery.