To save money, we decided not to leave until Saturday in the early morning. We woke up at 5:45am to catch the 7am bus to Busan. The bus ride is about three and a half hours. It wasn't bad at all. Kierstie, Zahra and I spent about half of it talking... and funny enough, we got shushed by a Korean man in front of us. We weren't even talking loud but we've come to notice that you're pretty much suppose to be quiet everywhere, this has been difficult. Anyway, after talking, we all got our catnaps in and before we knew it we were in Busan.
Lillian, Kierstie, Su, and Rachel... all sleeping. :)
We arrived around 10:45am. From the bus station we had to catch the subway to drop our luggage off at the hostel. This is when we noticed there is no way we would have been able to do this trip without Rachel and Su! We had to transfer subway lines 3 times, and although most everything had english underneath, it was still hard to navigate. We were on the subway for a while, and when we got off in was actually pretty nice outside. That certainly didn't last. We walked to our hostel to drop everything off, freshened up a bit and went to lunch. Rachel and Su insisted that we go to this place called Ashley's. It was an American grill and buffet. It was rather expensive compared to what we have been getting food here for, so the girls and I decided to get our money's worth. Not only were there so many choices but the food was delicious. So... 3 plates and a way too full stomach later we formulated our plans and set off from there.
A portion of downtown Busan
Luckily, our hostel was in a great location. Minutes from the bus and subway, and a 2 minute way to Haeundae (Hey-oon-day) Beach... the most famous beach in Busan. We took the bus up to the Yong Gung temple. It was about a 15 minute bus ride north and was RIGHT on the beach. As we rode up there, it started to monsoon outside. Literally. From the bus, it was about a 10 minute walk to the temple grounds, which was all outdoors but up on cliffs on the beach. Without a doubt, this was the most beautiful place I have visited in Korea so far. I can't even imagine what it looks like when it's sunny out. We spent about an hour touring the grounds in the pouring down rain and headed back to the Haeundae area.
This was on temple grounds!
The Haeundae area had a lot to do. There was a market about a minute from where our hostel was that we walked. It had all the live seafood (from fish to snails to octopus) as well as little fruit and vegetable shops too. After this we headed for the beach. The rain started to let up a bit which allowed us to snap some pictures without umbrellas for once in the day! The beach was great. The water was frigid and although it was gross out, there were so many people there! Busan's famous aquarium was also on Haeundae beach. We wanted to go, but the entrance fee was $18 per person, so we opted out. We walked the whole shore and then went up to a peninsula area that was completed forested with paths up along the beach. It was so pretty! It showed great views of downtown Busan.
Haeundae Market
We grabbed a quick bite to eat (kimbop and such,) hopped in a cab and did a drive over the Busan Bridge. At 9:30pm every night, the bridge is illuminated by lights, along with all of the buildings around it. It allows for great picture taking! The cab dropped us off at another beach downtown where we walked a bit more (still in the pouring down rain.) We called it a night after that.
This is only a small portion of the bridge, but you get the idea!
All the girls were up and ready by 10am the next day. The hostel we stayed in was actually very nice. It was recently renovated in 2010 and provided toast and (unlimited) coffee for us. Zahra, Kierstie and I sat around and had a couple cups of coffee talking with the hostel owner about his clashing outfit (a Boston Red Sox hat and New York Yankees Jersey.) He laughed. We also couldn't remember when the last time was that we could actually just sit around and enjoy a cup of coffee, and not be drinking it because we were exhausted. It was nice. The hostel owner allowed us to keep out luggage there throughout the day so we wouldn't have to lug it around all day. Our Sunday was booked!!!
Zahra in the common area of our hostel!
We set off on the subway toward the actual downtown area. Somehow we lucked out and had beautiful weather on Sunday, all day long! We first went to the Jalgalchi Market which was primarily a fish market. I've never seen so many live sea animals before in my life. Kierstie actually got to touch an octopus. (I snapped some comical pictures of a market man who was smoking a cigarette just pulling out octopuses from this tank like it was nothing.) The back side of the market faced the port of Busan, which had stunning views as well. The area next to the market reminded me in ways of cities on the Mediterranean. After the market we travelled to PIFF, the Pusan (or Busan) International Film Festival area. This is held every year, and there is a large tower and a few streets dedicated to the event. There are handprints in the ground, movie posters all over, and street vendors selling great Korean food. We did a bit of shopping and had lunch in this area.
From here, we headed up to the city park that Busan Tower is located in. We had to take five very steep escalators to reach the top, but it was totally worth it. The views were incredible! We didn't stay long because we were on a strict time schedule all day. Our next and last destination was the Shinsegae Department Store. This store in Busan made the Guiness Book of World Records in 2009 for being the WORLD'S largest department store. And it surely was large. It had 14 floors equipped with luxury shopping stores like Chanel, Prada, and Louis Vuitton, an IMAX movie theatre, an ice skating rink, a driving range for golf and a park on the roof. These views, like almost every other one in Busan, were beautiful. It was a great way to end our trip.
Busan Tower
We didn't end up getting back to Gwangju until about 10:30pm that night. It was a great weekend and I'm so happy I got to travel while I was here! It's so hard to believe I only have 6 days left in Korea. Tonight, we made our travel plans for Seoul the day before we leave. We also booked our tickets to see Harry Potter in 3-D tomorrow (yes, I'll be seeing it about 40 hours earlier than anyone in the USA could.) :) We are also still hoping to make it to a baseball game on Thursday, weather permitting. And tomorrow (Wednesday) is our field trip day, so we're traveling about two hours to one of the largest steel mills in Korea as well as a famous Korean folk village. To say that may last few days in Korea will be packed is an understatement. I'm homesick, but I'm not ready to leave Korea. I've made so many good friends here, and I'm not ready to say goodbye to them! This trip has been everything that I've hoped for and more!!!
One of the many views at the temple
A part of Downtown Busan in the clouds
No comments:
Post a Comment