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Published: February 17th 2019
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The trip over couldn’t have been more than an hour, but stepping out of Busan International Airport I felt like I’d travelled to a different continent! The grey, drizzly sky of Osaka was replaced with crystal clear blue, the confusing signs pointing here there and everywhere were gone and it only cost me 1300 Won (1 EURO!) for the one hour bus ride to Haeundae Beach where I would be staying the next few days. It’s probably fair to say I liked South Korea almost immediately!
I asked the driver to drop me off at the beach and although his English wasn’t top-notch he seemed to understand what I wanted. I had directions to my hostel printed but they were directions from the subway stop. I had no idea where I was when I got off the bus but a little bit of boy scout map reading and 10 minutes later I was walking into The New Day Hostel. It was a great place to spend a few days in a city that was to become THE surprise location of the whole trip.
I hadn’t researched Busan AT ALL. Not even a little. Not a
smidgen! I flew there because flights from Osaka were cheap as chips and because it always seems to make more sense flying into the opposite end of your eventual destination in the country, which in this case was Seoul. I was never expecting to like it so much. It was here that I met the first decent group of travellers. In Tokyo people kept to themselves, in Kyoto I hung out with a solitary German and Osaka was pretty much the same as Tokyo! Were it not for the fact that I knew people in Tokyo and Osaka the experience could've been quite different. Here in Busan I met a couple of friendly Aussies and a mopey French girl! The hostel had a great roof terrace ideal for drinking during the evening and during the day we were almost literally a stone’s throw from a beach that I would put second only to Rio’s Copacabana in terms city beaches and is a great place to catch some night-time buskers. The beer was cheaper than in Japan and the soju was cheaper still, though I wouldn’t recommend drinking the latter unless you want bad bad things to happen!
First on the list of sightseeing was the amazing coastal temple of Hae Dong Yong Gung. It wasn’t so easy getting to. The people at the hostel gave us some good advice. Bus is the only option and even that drops you off about a 10/15 minute walk away although it is super easy to find once you're off the bus. But, despite the distance, it was certainly worth the effort. It was a short descent down some steps, with an even shorter stop to rub a Buddha's belly for a bit (yes, I want kids!), until finally at the bottom as the trees opened up the temple came into view. It has to be one of the best situated temples I've seen; perched nicely on the rocks it's not hard to imagine people praying and meditating calmly to the sound of crashing waves. We enjoyed the serenity and scenery for a while and then headed off. On the way back, after sampling a little of the street food from the tasty food street just outside the temple, we tried to take the bus to the centre to continue some sightseeing but instead just ended up just heading back to
the hostel by subway for some beers on the rooftop!
The days that followed were filled up easily in a city that I would've HAPPILY spent more time in. The only sombre moment was a visit to the peaceful and poignant UN Memorial Cemetery to see some of the 2300 graves of the victims of the Korean War which are separated by nationality into some 22 plots covering 35 acres. It is free to get in but be careful what you wear as one of our travel companions was turned away for being too casually dressed. It was certainly a humbling experience walking amongst the graves. It's easy too read about the casualties of war and the stories from that time but until you actually see a field full of graves you can't really appreciate the scale of sacrifice. The Wall of Remembrance with it's lists and lists of names brings it home even more. This cemetery is immaculately kept and there's a kind of twisted beauty to the place and an air of calmness and it was well worth a visit to pay respect to the fallen.
On a lighter note, I was
getting well into the Korean eating & drinking scene! I munched my way through a traditional "Budae jjigae" otherwise know as "Army Stew". It's one of those dishes that shouldn't really exist and even if it did exist it shouldn't really work! It started as a total mash-up of scrounged army surplus food following the Korean War basically all thrown into a pot and stewed! It's got sausages, ham, baked beans, noodles, kimchi (of course!) and probably half a dozen other random things that I can't really remember. Despite the extensive and bizarre ingredients list it was actually really really good! And of course no trip to South Korea would be complete without a good helping of Korean barbecue (Gogi-gui) washed down with some "extra drinkable" Hite beer! It was the first time I'd ever tried a proper Korean barbecue and I ended up wondering where it had been all my life!
i had just enough time left in Busan to swing through the World's largest department store - Guinness says so, so it must be true - although the real reason for the visit was so that we could soak for a good few hours in
"Spa Land", my first ever Korean or "jjimjilbang" experience. It cost us a fairly measly 10 USD to get in and there's no time limit on it so you could, if so inclined, literally spend the entire day there. In fact, a friend had already suggested staying at one rather than staying at a hostel and I can kind of see why! I have to say it was slightly strange strolling around as nature intended. It's not something a stiff upper-lipped Brit often does! However, after the initial rarities had died down a little it was a very enjoyable experience. One thing that was quite noticeable was how comfortable the locals were with it... I had I one guy doing naked push-ups in front of me as I was chilling out in the steam room. Maybe he was trying to impress me, I'm not sure! After spending a good few hours here sampling all the different pools, and rooms, and foot spas etc etc we decided to call it a day. I'm not sure I've ever felt cleaner!
I managed to fit in a pleasant stroll around Dongbaekseom Island (which isn't really an island) and admired Busan
from its Observation Desk. On the final day I had the morning to kill before my bus ride up to Seoul so I concocted a plan to squeeze in a visit to Beomeosa Temple. The temple is not far from the central bus station in the north of the city. I took the metro line up to "Nopo" (the last stop on the line) and stored my backpack away for a few hours in a locker at the station. I think it cost me 1 USD or something like that! Then I walked back down to the little village from where you can take a Circular bus which takes you up the windy hill to the entrance of the temple. It's a very serene temple and I was lucky enough to have it almost all to myself bar a few other tourists strolling around. It was clear however that this is no tourist trap - this is a real temple still very much in use today. I enjoyed the peacefulness and the impressive views before I had to jump back on the bus and back to the central bus station I went...
My destination - Seoul
Suerte
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