Busan

I took my last trip in Korea over the weekend: a short journey to Busan. I now officially have a month left in Korea, which has been leaving me with a bunch of mixed emotions. Before going to Busan, on Friday I stopped by a huge "festival," if you would call it that, hosted by the Ministry of Unification in the Korean government in Gwanghwamun Square. At least 100 NGOs related to North Korea and Korean reunification were represented, including PSCORE. In addition to receiving a ton of free items, I also learned even more about North Korea and reunification, which I didn't think was possible at this point. For example, the Korean government currently doesn't archive defector information/interviews, and instead only NGOs do. Additionally, the problem of housing during reunification was presented. Which model would housing in North Korea follow? Would it privately owned or publicly owned? Would North Koreans pay rent? Would they have a high security deposit (key money) like South Korea? I never seriously pondered these questions before.

The festival in Gwanghwamun.

Another view of the festival. So many tents!

We took the KTX to Busan on Saturday, which was a great choice. Instead of a 7-hour bus ride, we took a 2.5 hour train ride on a super smooth train with bathrooms and plenty of sitting room. In other words, it's well worth the money to take the KTX to Busan even if it's for just a weekend.

Riding the KTX.

We left at 7:30 and arrived around 10 a.m., and we took a bus to the famous Gamcheon Cultural Village. We got off the bus and had to walk uphill, not a first for having lived in Korea for 9 months. The village is pretty much known for its artsy, colored buildings, so we climbed to a nice spot on a hill and took in the view. On the way we were greeted with several Koreans who wanted to take our photo, again, something not new but definitely more pronounced in the south. 

Gamcheon Culture Village.

Outdoor exercise equipment. Imagine if they had these in the U.S.

After walking around a little while, we headed to where our hostel was so we could check in. We stayed at the Popcorn Hostel, which is located a couple of blocks away from Haeundae Beach, Busan's and Korea's most famous beach. We took the subway down to the beach area, ate lunch, and checked in to our hostel, which was very clean and new. Korea is definitely on its hostel game. We then headed to a famous cliffside temple, Haedong Yonggungsa, by taking a cab. Unlike the majority of Buddhist temples in Korea, this temple is located by the coast. The temple wasn't anything new as far as architecture goes, but I did enjoy the ocean and the calmness that it produces. I'm surprised not more temples are built by the coast for that reason.

Haedong Yonggungsa.

Another view of the temple by the coast.

After visiting the temple, we took the cab back to Haeundae and ate dinner. Unfortunately, Lea and Marisa aren't big seafood fans, so as much as I wanted to eat the famous Busan seafood, I didn't really get a chance and instead compromised by getting Western food dishes with a little bit of seafood in it. If I go to Busan again I definitely want to focus on eating the food because it was something I really wanted to do but missed out on. After dinner we took the subway a couple of stops over to Gwangalli Beach, the beach known for its nightlife. We enjoyed the view of the lit-up bridge and then had some drinks at a nearby bar. It was nice being able to take it easy for our Busan trip instead of running around all the time.

Gwangalli Beach.

The weather on Saturday was rainy the whole day so I was pleasantly surprised when the weather turned out to be beautiful on Sunday. Our whole Sunday was spent chilling on the beach, which coincidentally had a sand sculpture festival hosted on it. Artists from around the world and Korea came to create giant sand sculptures for the public to see for free. There were also several tents selling food and crafts. The beach was very nice and reminded me of any other beach, but I felt out of place because there aren't that many nice beaches in Korea. I would love to live in Busan just to chill at the beach all the time and enjoy the water, something you definitely cannot do in Seoul.

Haeundae Beach.

Chilling by the water.

One of the sand sculptures in the festival.

Another sculpture.

Another view of Haeundae Beach.

I really liked Busan because it was so much more relaxed than Seoul. People cared less about looks and everyone was just more easy-going. Seoul can get so suffocating sometimes, so it's nice to escape once in awhile. Like I mentioned in a previous post, if I come back to Korea I definitely want to live in the south. Visiting Busan reaffirmed that commitment.

After being at the beach, we ate a late lunch and then headed to the train station to catch our 8 p.m. train. Despite not doing everything I wanted to do, at least our transportation was nice and on time the whole trip. I really love taking the KTX so much more so than the bus, and if it wasn't so much more expensive, I would take it all the time. I spent the train ride back memorizing my Korean speech and playing games. I arrived back in my apartment at 11 p.m. where I soon passed out from a long couple of weeks of traveling. I'm actually really looking forward to this weekend so I can sleep in for once, haha.

Like I said, traveling to Busan was my last trip in Korea. However, I'll be planning for my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia and studying for finals (which are coming up in 2 weeks, yikes), so I'll still be busy. I'm not sure when my next post will be, probably after finals, but until then, see you later!