Located on the southern coast of Korea, Busan is the heart
of the Korean shipping industry and is also home to the largest fish market in
the country (top 5 in Asia if memory serves me well, but don’t look that up).
Busan Station is located in the center of this industry and needless to say
isn’t the most scenic part of the city. It was, however, very interesting to witness
the massive shipping yards with huge freighter ships, cranes, and trucks
working in harmony with all the imports and exports to and from the country. We
would pass by this area several times during our stay in the South and it was
always cool to see.
Our hostel was located more to the north of the city and was
in a very trendy area called Haeundae. Haeundae Beach is one of the more
popular beaches in the city and was only about two blocks from our hostel. The
beach stretched for nearly a mile and was dotted with hundreds of umbrellas
and beach chairs that could be rented for only about $15 for the entire day.
Since the majority of the week called for scattered showers and Wednesday was
the only day with a sunny forecast, we decided our first full day in Busan
would be dedicated to just relaxing at the beach. We were among the first
people to get there in the morning and were able to secure primo seats right
near the water. As the day went on, the beach slowly got more and more crowded
with families, college students, tourists, and dozens of vendors walking up and
down the rows of umbrellas selling box lunches of beer and chicken. We relaxed
for several hours, had a box lunch from one of the vendors, and I even braved
getting in the chilly water for a few minutes. Being the middle of summer, it
was easy to forget how far north we actually were. And despite the hot outside
temperature, the water was still quite cold.
By mid-afternoon we had had our fill of relaxing and decided
to check out more of Haeundae. We went for a walk around the area, got some
street snacks and drinks, and soon discovered we were in the middle of the
Busan Sea Festival. An entire section of street had been blocked off for a
stage with various bands and announcers, all in Korean, of course, so we
weren’t exactly sure what was going on. One thing that was certain was the giant
water fight happening between participants of the festival. Festival goers
young and old alike wielded their best super-soakers and sprayed each other
crazy, while automatic mounted hoses sprayed everyone from above. It was quite
a site to see, but without our own water guns, we were unfortunately unable to
join in. We watched the festivities from the patio of a street side bar and
eventually went for dinner at a local restaurant, then headed back to the
hostel for the evening.
The following day was a busy one, as we planned multiple
activities all across the city. Our first stop was at the fish market I
mentioned earlier. It was a huge market with hundreds of vendors ranging from
private fisherman with their days catch on the side of the road, to larger
organizations who had more official booths, to restaurants that would cook up
fresh fish you picked from their tanks yourself. Octopus, squid, oysters,
shark, and every kind of fish you can imagine were available in the market for
one to buy. I was really hoping I could buy a fish from one of the vendors in
the market and have the restaurant cook it up for me, but as far as we could understand
from the lady at the restaurant, that wasn’t an option. We could only get fish
from their tanks at the restaurant. After the fish market we took a taxi to
Gamcheon Culture village, a vibrant community made up of colorful homes, narrow
streets full of vendors and street food, and creative art decorating the entire
village. We walked around for a few hours then headed to our last stop of the
day, the 4D theatre.
Apparently 4D is a concept that is available in select
countries all over the world (including the US), but has become most popular in
Korea. Neither of us had heard of the concept before we started researching
things to do on vacation, but we decided it was something we should try. In
addition to the 3D glasses, we sat in seats that rocked, twisted and vibrated at
appropriate times during the movie. There were also fans in the head rests of
our seats and the back of the seats in front of us that blew wind and
occasional bursts of mist in our faces. It was a very unique was to view a
movie.
The next day we went on a city tour of Busan. Although the
tour guide spoke entirely in Korean and we missed out on a lot of the history
and details of the sites we traveled to, we still saw some cool sights in the
city. The two main stops were at Oryukdo Island and the top of Hwangnyeong
Mountain. Both offered some great sights to see and made for great photo
opportunities. And while at the island, we discovered a hiking trail that ran
all the way along the coast of the city, which we decided we would come back to
the next day for hiking. The hike was our final day in Korea and ended up being
my favorite. It was a beautiful 6 kilometer trail that started at Oryukdo and
ended at the famous Diamond Bridge, which is a better sight to see lit up at
night but also beautiful during the day. After the hike, we grabbed a late
lunch and headed to Busan Station for the trip back to Seoul and our flight the
next morning.
Overall we had a great trip in Korea. There was much more we
would have liked to see but we felt we made the most of our week there. We are
back in China now, getting settled into our new apartment in Hangzhou and
trying to get back into school mode before classes start next week. Really, we’re
already looking forward to our next trips later this year!
Haeundae Beach and the water fight:
This little guy had the best outfit by far. He was ready for battle!
Some cool pics from the fish market:
Some of the bigger octopus' would try to make a break for it if they could get over the edge of their containers. The vendors had to frequently throw them back into the water.
The port of Busan:
Some of the biggest crabs we've ever seen!
Gamcheon Culture Village:
Aquarium at Haeundae Beach:
The top of the mountain at the end of the city tour:
The hike on the last day:
(Insert Jurassic Park theme song)
Diamond Bridge:
