The Sand Festival at Haeudae Beach

I'll admit, I don't see why sand is so exciting that it warrants a festival. Despite my skepticism, Bobby and I signed up for the CAC trip to the sand festival so that we could "See sand, Feel sand, and Enjoy sand.” This logo, as well as promises of “sand experiences,” which included sand olympics and a sand museum, kept us amused for most of the 2.5 hour bus ride.

I was not sure what to expect from Haeundae Beach. It is Busan's beach, and Busan, if you'll recall, is a major shipping port with a population of 4 million. I was astounded when I encountered a pristine beach with clear water which wasn't even particularly crowded. Though the beach became more crowded as the day progressed, I soon figured out why it wasn't packed like most parks are on weekends. The only people with full beach setups—chairs, towels, umbrellas, etc—were foreigners. Okay, I exaggerate. We did see a few Korean families with beach towels. But mostly, it was foreigners. There were Koreans huddled under the festival tents, walking around looking at sand sculptures, and hanging out at the shady park that bordered the beach.

I learned that sand can be exciting when we saw some incredible sculptures. We also had a fantastic lunch at a place called Gecko's, a western restaurant with British and American dishes. These western mashups are always a crapshoot, especially since they're expensive, but this one was good. I was pleasantly surprised when I got real french fries when the picture showed crinkle cut. They were selling themselves short. Sipping mixed drinks while sitting on a terrace overlooking the water made me feel very at home. We spend most of the afternoon lying on the beach. I went into the East Sea (do NOT call it the Sea of Japan here), which was completely clear. There was a police boat patrolling for swimmers who went too far out or boats that went to close to the shore. There was a stage where people did karaoke, and, as always, there were speakers scattered everywhere so we could hear. The foreigners were easily recognizable in that we wore a lot less, though Bobby and I were practically clergy next to the guy in the thong who jumped rope on a raised platform with his ass facing the beach. We later saw him on a jet ski.

I was very happy to get to the beach. We hope to go and see another one before the summer is over.



Sand dragon














See the clear water? I couldn't figure it out. Cities make water dirty, right?













Sand castle extraordinaire













Sand Jesus













Festival tents. This mainly looked like a place to sit in the shade.
















The festival stage. You can see the mascot on the sign.










A Korean rest stop. These things take rest stops to a whole new level. This one had a petting zoo and a fountain along with the food court and convenience stores.