Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Jinhae - Ships and Blooms

As part of the Cherry Blossom festival in Jinhae, we walked to the city's Naval Academy and Naval Command base. (Buses were trying their best to take as many people over to the base as possible, but walking was quicker than trying to wait for a bus and dealing with the traffic). On the way, we walked past some Naval Academy guards. We had a little giggle to see two guards each holding up oars in a defensive stance as if they were spears. 

 Like much of Jinhae, the Naval area was enveloped with cherry blossoms. I especially liked the ones right by the sea.
Visitors could go into the reconstructed turtle ship, the original ones made famous in the naval battles under Admiral Yi. How it must have been during Yi's time, with the gun ports emerging from the dragon's mouth (as well as the top & bottom of the head and in several other places around the ship), fire arrows shooting forth, as well as canons booming. Even the ship's spiky roof looked rather menacing. Today's ships may be much more advanced, but I prefer the aesthetics of this wooden ship.



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