Beautiful Busan

Busan is the second biggest city in South Korea. It's a port city on the south-east coast. Ever since I came to Korea, I've wanted to visit Busan because I love the sea. Finally, this past weekend, my roommate and I made it for one night and one day (1N1D).

I was really glad we did. There's a different feel to Busan than Seoul--it's more relaxed and open, which makes sense since Seoul is a capital city. People were more talkative and even the foreigners I saw seemed to be more relaxed and comfortable than in other cities in Korea.

My roommate and I had a tight schedule and budget but we managed to fit a lot in. Busan is a 5-hour by slow-train, 2 1/2 hours by rapid train ride from Seoul.

We arrived late at night and stayed in this jjimjilbang on Gwangalli Beach. It was called Aqua Palace.



A jjimjilbang is a Korean sauna with showers and public baths separate for men and women. There's also a "resting" public area, where you can sleep. If you are okay with sleeping on a hard floor in a room with lots of people with snoring, talking, cellphones ringing, etc., it's a cheap place to stay and you can have a relaxing shower and bath.

This jjimjilbang was nothing fancy but it had a great view of the beach and the sea from the bath and resting areas.



The next morning we headed out and saw Gwangalli Beach by day. This is the view from the beach.


After that, we visited the "World's Biggest Department Store", the Shinsegae Department Store. It has an ice rink, a spa, a golf course, a roof-top park, and boasts the largest amount of retail space in the world.



We then visited one of only a few of Korea's Buddhist temples on the sea. This one is called Yonggunsa. Isn't the view beautiful?







After that we stopped off at the famous Haeundae Beach. We dipped our feet in the water where there were lots of people bobbing in floating tubes. The sand has lots of crushed shells and stuck to our feet. In the busy season, this beach is normally packed full of umbrellas so even though there were lots of people it wasn't considered to be crowded at all.


We ended off the day by going to the Jagalchi Fish Market. We saw lots of interesting live and dried fish, including these octopus below. There are lots of restaurants, too, where you can choose the fish or seafood you like and have it cooked right in front of you.




While waiting for our train back to Cheonan, we were treated to a light, music, and water show at the fountain in front of the train station. I think this might be common in Korea in big cities (I've seen a small one in the stream in downtown Cheonan behind our apartment building) but this one lasted for about 40 minutes and lots of people gathered to watch.





When I first arrived in Korea, someone asked me if I liked the mountains or the sea. My first thought was to say, "Both", but my answer came quicker than my thinking, "The sea". I like the mountains, too, but there's something about water that makes me feel relaxed, happy, and more connected with nature, with other people, and with myself. I'm glad I had the chance to visit Busan and if I get the chance, I'll definitely be back.