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Published: August 23rd 2008
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KTX
The KTX train and our heavy backpacks To start our vacation off right we went out big on the town on Friday and felt its miserable effects on Saturday when we went to the market. We went to Naumdaemaun Market which is one of the largest outdoor market in Seoul. It was incredible, but after a while it was the same useless junk at every tent. Sometimes it is difficult to go to those places with out a Korean accompanying you, because the venders will give you special foreigner prices which are 3 times as much. It started to rain while we were there, which made our trip a little more difficult. An older pushy woman who wears the head visors is called an Ajuma. When it started raining they put up their umbrellas which were about eye level for josh and I, and they forcibly pushed their way through poking josh and I in the eye with the metal wires from the umbrella. They don’t even say sorry or excuse me, I know its part of their culture, but sometimes its so rude!
Busan was our first real traveling experience in Korea. It was an adventure! Almost half of the population in Korea have the same two
Busy Beach
Umbrellas were lined up for miles weeks off during the year, so most touristy locations and beaches where packed. We took the KTX bullet train to Busan it was about a two and a half our train ride. The train was very comfortable but we couldn't sleep because the Korean man in front of us was snoring loudly. When we arrived in Busan we took a 1/2 hour subway ride to Haeundae Beach. We then attempted to find a hotel, but due to the busy season this was a little bit more challenging. We finally found a hotel and headed straight to the beach. It was beautiful. This city was nice, but it did have a funky smell to it, as do most Korean cities. We made it an early night to wake up and hit the beach early.
The next day we hit the beach extremely early (12:30pm), and rented a umbrella. No one lays out because in Korea the light un-tanned skin is most desirable. As you can see in the pictures, there were umbrellas lined up for miles. The beach and the water was packed. The waters were rough from the resent storm here, and where crashing down on people. I almost
died twice! Not really but the wave did take me under and carried me up to the shore. Josh pulled me out of the water with a gallon of salt water up my nose and in my eyes. Water Worlds tiny Thunder Bay, doesn’t even compare to these massive waves. Josh had a blast; he is such a little fish. That night we went to a pub and josh ordered one of the biggest pitchers I have ever seen. Needless to say by the end of the night he was slurring his words. We had such a good time and were so exhausted from the waves and the drinking that we decided to stay at this beach for another night.
The next day we walked along the beach and went to the Busan aquarium. It was huge apparently they had a certain fish that are only at a few aquariums in the world. Their aquarium was pretty impressive, it was very modern and had many fish, weird~! After the aquarium we took a terrifying taxi ride to the coastal ferry terminal. On the way there our cab driver got pulled over and they gave him a ticket for making
Geoje Island
Waterless waterfall, of course! an illegial u-turn. It was pretty funny, we couldn't understand what they were saying but the facial expressions and the tone of voice was more than explanitory. After that we got on 45 min ferry ride to Geoje Island. We then had to sit for a while for we were all feeling nauseous from the taxi ride and the extremely rocky boat ride. Then we took a beautiful taxi ride to our hotel. The island was amazing it was so charming. We went out to eat and ate fresh fish killed and cooked fresh on a restaurant overlooking the bay. That night josh and I sat on the rock pebble beach and lit of fireworks for hours. The sound of the waves was really unusual you could here the water taking the smooth rocks up and down, it was very calming.
On our last day on the island we decided to take a taxi to see one of the waterfalls. The 45 minute taxi drive was beautiful we got to travel through native towns and through one of the forest parks, we just finished rainy season so everything was very green. When we finally got to the base of
Haeundae
View of the famous bridge at night the waterfall we had to hike up the mountain to get the waterfall. We all had our huge backpacks and it was hot and humid so by the time we reached the top we were a sweaty mess. All along the hike there were families camping along the river, on designated wooden camping pillars. When we got to the top however, we were a little disappointed, there was no water! But, we still played in the little puddle to cool off. Then we headed down the mountain to take the ferry back to the mainland.
Once we arrived back to Busan we Gwangali Beach. This beach was a little less crowed and had an amazing view of the Grand Bridge. Our hotel here was nice; we overlooked the bridge and the beach. Unlike Haeundae Beach, the waters were really calm. The night life of this town was a little more exciting because all the restaurants and bars were actually overlooking the beach. Josh, Kristen, Ruth and I all stayed out late playing darts, walking the beach and drinking extremely strong beverages. On our last day we laid by the beach for a couple hours, grabbed a pizza, and made
Train Ride
This is one of out friends Kristen she works at BIS with us. our way back to the train station. It was time to go home, our vacation was over.
One last thing I have to explain myself and the grey hat I am wearing in many of the photos (Josh). I did not bring a hat on this trip and it was very hot. Anyways when we got off the subway and walked up the steps to Haeundae Beach there were a lot of vendors selling various beach parfinalia. So I was being a jackass as I usually am and I put on a bunch of hats one of which was the hat I purchased. Anyway when I put on the hat everyone said it looked good, and I was on a trip with three girls, so I said no, they said yes, and I said how much? The guy said two thousand won, a little less than two dollars, and I said deal! And that’s my story so I know I look stupid, I know.
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mom
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hat
I love the hat but I can't see your new haircut or is this the before picture? xoxox mom