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Published: August 6th 2013
Back at the start of December; Conor, Deborah and myself took ourselves off to visit Haedong Yonggungsa - Busan's famous Temple-by-the-Sea. Most Buddhist temples in Korea are located in the mountains, so this temple is a rare sight hugging the rocky coastline north of Busan. The temple was first established during the Goreyo dynasty in 1376 and more recently re-constructed in 1970. We walked the gauntlet of street vendors hawking their wares and past tall stone statues depicting the animal signs of the zodiac. Dozens of stone lanterns led the way down 108 stairs symbolizing the 108 agonies and earthly desires of Buddhism. On our way down we spotted various statues of Buddha dedicated for everything from 'academic achievement' to 'granting a son'. Across the bridge we could see the main temple next to an enormous gold leafed Buddha. Scattered around the temple were many different statues, sculptures and a stone pagoda. The nicest part for us was a small underground cave where people were lighting candles and making offerings at a small altar. We headed down to the rocky shoreline across from the main temple for photos and stunning views of the whole area, happy to have found another temple
Candle Offerings
Temple-by-the-Seain Busan that stands out from the crowd.
In April, we headed to west Busan and Gamcheon Cultural Village, which is basically an area of small houses built into the side of a steep hill. A previously very impoverished post-war area it went through a lot of re-development and artists were hired to paint murals and install artwork with the aid of the residents - as a result the buildings are very brightly coloured, sporting various murals and sculptures. Getting there from the subway station involved squashing onto a very full minibus for the windy route uphill, A very nice old man offered to hold my handbag on his lap as I struggled to stand upright! Once we arrived we felt like we had left Busan, or Korea for that matter! It has a bit of a South American feel to it - instant holiday. It was an incredibly pretty area to explore, very quirky, with a relaxed artisan vibe to it. We stopped in an original coffee shop that looked like someone's home (very hard to find a coffee shop that's not part of a chain) where I experienced my first ever peanut-butter and jelly sandwich. After we
street art
Gamcheon Cultural Village got on a series of buses to Yeongdo (island) and Taejeongdae beach. This place comes very highly recommended but we found it disappointing. We had believed that there were beautiful walks around the end of the island through protected woods, but what we ended up doing was walking on a never-ending footpath by a road around the coastline. We stopped for views of the lighthouse before continuing on our quest to get back home again.
One must do while in Busan is visit the areas of Nampo-dong and Jagalchi. Nampo is one of the older areas of Busan and has been the center of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) for many years. It's a shoppers paradise - high end names line the main street while Gukje market offers all manners of items for sale from homeware and souvineers to food and second-hand clothes. Buskers routinely play on the streets and there's all manners of entertainment in the main junction between the shopping streets. It's also a very arty area with many interesting murals to be found around the side streets and back alleys. Back in November when my friend Jennifer visited, we went to nearby Yongdusan park and
went up Busan tower for views of the city at night. I've been told the daytime views are even better! I also visited the park with ICEA - a youth group bringing foreigners and Koreans together for different activities. Around the sides of the park are chain link fences, where young couples in love traditionally attach padlocks bearing messages or their names to symbolise their everlasting love to each other. It's a great place to sit and people watch - while we were there we were able to take part in traditional Korean games such as throwing arrows into large jugs!
Jagalchi fish market is just across the road from Nampo, right by Busan port, and one of the best known seafood markets in Korea. Naturally this is the place to go to see every possible type of fish and sea-creature available in Korean waters! Fresh seafood caught in nearby areas fill display stands all year round: live, dead and dried fish, scuttling crabs, eels, squid and octopus, shellfish attached firmly to the sides of tanks and squirting penis fish are spread out aisle upon aisle. No matter the season, Jagalchi Market teems with female merchants touting their wares
and throngs of customers soaking up the sights and distinctive smells of this unique market. Markets are found both indoor and outdoor, with mini-restaurants attached to the back of stalls. It's a great place to pick a fish for lunch and have it cooked fresh right in front of you. Which is precisely what we did mid-July before we ran out of time in Korea! We picked a stall at random in one of the indoor markets and started browsing. What we ended up for lunch (between five of us) was one flounder, two enormous mussels, sea urchin, abalone and octopus. What came to our table was nothing short of amazing. The urchins came sliced open and still slowly moving their spines, the abalone came sliced and quickly barbequed. Still not a huge fan of either but it's good to experiment! The flounder was perfection. A very flat fish we were concerned that there wouldn't be enough meat on one for five of us, but we needn't have worried! It came barbequed with the skin still on, the meat so fresh and delicious. We wrapped chunks of fish in a lettuce leaf with a clove of garlic and some ssamjang
(red spicy fermented soybean paste) - words cannot describe... The mussels came later, barbequed and chopped, and they were the best tasting mussels I have ever eaten in my life, such great flavour, no accompaniments required. It was an amazing seafood feast, so glad we got to do it before we ran out of time! A Busan must-do!
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