South Korea - Busan

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David here...

On to the 8th (and 5th new) country of this trip, South Korea. We were both feeling a touch sad about leaving Taiwan after it had become so familiar and easy for us in the 2 weeks we'd been there. Korea is supposed to have less English speakers than previous places we'd been, so we wondered how we'd get on.

The flight was surprisingly good actually as the Air Busan plane had tons of leg room as standard and came with a free rice dish and soft drinks. Disembarking (deplaning is NOT a real word) we were quickly processed through immigration and into the baggage claim area, which was heaving. Our bags arrived safely and we were then into the arrivals hall. We had a scare with the first ATM as it had nothing but Korean language with no English option. While Korean is supposed to be the most logical written language in the world, it meant nothing to us. We did find another Global ATM and soon we were on our way to the buses, breaking a big note up at the ubiquitous 7-Eleven by buying a Twix.

We knew that one of the airport buses went near to our hotel, just not the number. We found the right one through a combination of online information and the Maps.me application, proving much better for us in Korea than Google maps, which struggles with Korea for anything more than the basics. The bus turned up and after telling the driver where we wanted to go and paying the 6,000 Won fare, we were on our way. So far, so good.

The driver told us when we got to the stop we wanted and it was a short walk to the Comma Hotel. Check in was fast and we were soon in our rather strange room. There was a little porch area as soon as you walk in the door to leave your shoes and the second door leads into the room, where there was a bath and sink on you left, next to 2 PC's (which were not working anyway). Behind them, slightly raised, was the bed with a huge TV and a fridge. While it was a strange layout, the room was warm and we settled right in.

The clock had gone forward an hour and it was now dinner time, so we hit the town, looking for something to eat. Our first impressions of Korea were that it is not disimiliar to Taiwan really. Lots of bright lights, tall buildings and neon signs. The big difference was the temperature, which was around freezing. We knew it was cold and thought we were prepared for it but it still took us a little by surprise.

Suzanne had found reference to a place called Piewang that sold pies so we headed there first. We arrived to find they had only one pie left. Denied, or as we said at the time, depied. We then wandered round looking for an alternative option. As we were thinking it might be Burger King time we stumbled across Johnsons American Diner that had a decent menu. After hooking up to more free wi-fi we found a good review that made our mind up. As we walked in, Queen was playing on a speaker downstairs, a good first start.

The place was upstairs and the staff were eating their dinner when we arrived. We were soon welcomed and seated. The waitress had some broken English and helped us through the menu. We decided on a Burger combo for Suzanne and a pulled pork platter for me, both of which included fries and unlimited soft drink, the lemonade being sour and lovely. The meal was pretty good and we left feeling full and like we had got a good deal. Korea, like Taiwan before it, is going to hammer the budget. By now, it was even colder so thankfully it was a short walk to the hotel where we had some coffee before settling down to bed.

The next day we didn't get out of the room until after 11:00. We were shattered and slept in and took our time to get ready. The only plan for the day was to go to the museum of art and to do some shopping for warm clothes. We got to the MRT stop and after figuring out that the ticket machines took only 1,000 Won notes and having to change a 10,000 note in the handly placed change machine, we were soon on our way. The museum stop was Bexco and it was sign posted very well. We arrived and immediately had a coffee before making our way round the gallery. There was some confusion to begin with as we thought all of the gallery had to be paid for but we realised that it was only one exhibion, which we skipped. We saw some nice pieces of art and overall it was worth the journey out. On our way back to our hotel we managed to buy some warm clothes and gloves in the hope that that will be enough to see us through the next 2 weeks.

I made use of the spa bath in the room, making a right mess, with bubbles everywhere, before we went out for food. We had chosen an Indian restaurant called Bombay Brau in a nearby shopping area. We arrived to find it empty of customers. Undaunted we went in and were served by a Frenchman who we found out spends about 6 months in a country before moving on and finding work when he can. We spent a good amount of time chatting with him about travels, language and countries. It is also worth mentioning that the food was lovely. As close to Anglo-Indian food as we'd had on this trip. We had pakoras, samosas, lamb vindloo and chicken tikka masala. All washed down with lovely, house brewed beer. We told the waiter how much we enjoyed the food and word must've got to the chef as he then produced some free chicken tikka for a dessert for us. That was our kind of dessert, it has to be said. After saying 'Kamsahamnida' we ventured out into the cold and made our way back to the hotel to settle down for the night, stopping off at a convenience store for...no, not beer, yogurts for breakfast in the morning.

It was another lazy start, not getting out until around 11:00 after coffee and yogurt. While the lay-out of the room is odd, it is a very comfortable room. We got the subway up to Beomeosa, or Leo Sayer, as I started calling it to go to the Beomeosa temple, supposedly one of Busan's big sights. We found the 90 bus stop up a short hill which would take us the final 3km up to the temple. The bus cost 1,300 Won each and the driver gave change. Once at the temple gate it is still a short walk up hill however it is a lovely walk through the trees, across a small river with lanterns everwhere. The temple itself is quite a big complex but we only took 20 minutes to look round. You are not allowed to sit on the steps and there are no benches so you cannot sit and watch the world go by, which is a shame. The temple itself is lovely and the surrounding scenery beautiful, if a little stark in the winter.

Taking a slow walk down the hill, we got the 90 back into town and hopped a few stops South to Oncheonchang where there was a cable car to a Geumjeong Sanseong fort that overlooks Busan. I managed to buy some gloves on the way to the cable car station, which was a bonus.

We weren't sure if the cable car was running at first but a park security guard pointed us in the right direction saying "cable car" very excitedly, most helpful. We got to the ticket booth to find the price had gone up since the guide book was published and was now 8,000 Won each for a return trip. As we'd made the effort and knowing Suzanne would not forgive me if she was denied a cable car ride, we paid and waited for the car to arrive. When it did, it looked like the front of a car, kind of quaint looking. There was only 1 other person plus the attendant but it still didn't hang about and we were soon rising high above the treeline to see a wonderful view of the city for miles and miles around. It was truly stunning and looked like a screenshot of the game Sim City. It was worth every penny we paid for that view, it was so good. The ride took 5 minutes and we were soon on top of the mountain. Not much to do up there apart from walk to the nearest fort gate (the South one) take some pictures of the old fort wall and bead back down. The fort and area is really good for hiking however as it was late in the afternoon and bitterly cold, we just headed back down to the city and got a subway back to our hotel, stopping at the 7-Eleven for some yogurt and a Korean beer seeing as we'd not yet tried any.

In the room we sampled OB beer from the huge 1.6 litre bottle we had bought ("they come in pints?"), did some South America research before freshening up and heading on out for dinner. We were determined to have Korean food so opted for Bimbibap, a rice dish that comes in a sizzling hot bowl with things like raw egg, meat and lots of vegetables and seasoning thrown in. You are supposed to stir it all up and anything raw will cook in the heat. We ended up in Woojungs near our hotel and Suzanne had chicken and I had ham sausage Bimbibaps. The meal came with Kimichi (slightly fermented vegetables) an onion-y broth and a slightly orange coloured drink that just tasted of water. The meal was pretty good, though you could really taste the seaweed that was in it. We'd be willing to try it again, though ideally with the raw egg you are supposed to get (as the ones we choose didn't have that). The best part of the meal though was the cost as for both of us it came to 10,000 Won, excellent value.

We decided to try out a local bar, only for research purposes you understand, to try different Korean beers. A lot of bars are hidden from view, usually up or downstairs so you do not know what you are getting. We decided on a place called Western Bar as they were advertising heavily outside their 2 doorways. We walked downstairs and opened the door to find a big, open, clean bar. The lighting was moody and there was lots of dark faux-leather booths. The music playing was old smooth classics and the place had a lovely atmosphere. We sat down in a booth and menus soon appeared. They sold draft Cass in 400cl or 700cl so we opted for the bigger glass of beer, only to find it was a 500cl glass with the beer right up to the top of the glass, above the 500 line. Apparently that constitutes an extra 200cl in Korea, and we had read that this can be the case. A bit of a cheat we thought.

Also, to order you had to press a call button at the table, which is for a polite Brit abroad like me, took some doing I can tell you. We only stayed for the one beer each (which came to 13,000 Won) before leaving. Just before we left Suzanne popped to the toilet and found an iPhone in there. She took it to the bar to hand in and the waitress thought it just needed charging. Cue a good minute of sign language between Suzanne, the waitress and eventually the owner, who first thought Suzanne had dropped it in the loo before realising she had found it. It actually belonged to a woman playing darts (badly) and she came over to thank Suzanne personally, a nice touch.

We then made our way back out into the cold, back to the hotel, picking up another 1.6 litre bottle of different beer (Hite) to try in the room before settling down to bed. The next morning we had coffee qnd yogurts again before packing up and leaving Busan for Gyeongyu. We were out the room for 10:00 as it is nearly Chinese New Year and we had read that everyone travels so we were worried about getting a bus. We jumped on the subway up to Nopo station where the bus terminal is and easily got tickets for the next bus, no panic. We are struggling to find ATM's that accept my card though which is always a worry, hopefully we'll find one in the next stop as our funds are low. Busan to has been a good introduction to Korea and we've settled in well and are looking forward to the next week or so we have here before leaving Asia.

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