Today was our full day in Busan and we made the most of it. The weather was wonderful! The temperature stayed below 80 and there was a cool breeze. Perfect weather for exploring this coastal metropolis.
First, we visited Beomeosa Temple, another place I didn't make it to on my last visit to Busan. On the subway we had another person come up to us and ask if we were Spanish. Koreans are pretty good at pegging our ethnicity, they're just one peninsula off! Of course she also told Christina how pretty she was, a theme that comes up throughout the day!
Beomeosa is one of the most well-known temples in Korea, and it was easy to see why. This place was buzzing with activity from monks, temple stay patrons and worshipers. The temple is set high in the mountains in the north of Busan and has some amazing scenery.
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Beomeosa Temple
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Beomeosa Temple - Mountainous Grounds
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Beomeosa Temple Door Art
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Beomeosa Temple - Mountainous Grounds
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Beomeosa Pagoda
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Woodchuck in Shoes! Korea, you're so crazy!
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What?! Mexican Chicken?!
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| Humetro (the Busan Metro) has an adorable mascot....but I don't know what it is. Rail car? |
After the temple, we went to Seomyeon City Center to find some lunch. We found a Chinese restaurant and got some jjajangmyeon (noodles with a bean paste sauce with onions, pork and shrimp) and fried dumplings. Yum! Seomyeon area is sort of like a downtown, it's mostly a business and shopping area.
After lunch, we checked out the Jagalchi Fish Market followed by the Gukje Market for some souvenir shopping. The fun thing about the Gukje Market is that you get to negotiate prices. The venders know that as well, so they try to flatter you. Christina was told how beautiful she was at at least a couple shops! She obviously is beautiful, but I'm sure this is probably going to her head.
Despite not being told how beautiful I was...I was able to talk down the price on a trinket to the point the vender called it a "tear price" and gestured that she was crying over it. I'm sure she still probably made a 300% mark-up!
I was reluctant to post about it, but all the walking in Busan makes you warm and thirsty and the perfect remedy for that is patbingsu! We stopped at a coffee shop and got an 8,000 won version of the dish. It was delicious! This one had tteok, ice cream, nuts, mochi and red beans. This version beats out Paris Baguette by far!
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| Jagalchi Fish Market |
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| Busan's waterfront is pretty industrial...which makes me think twice about seafood here |
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| More Patbinsu - Again, don't judge me! This was dinner. |
After over-indulging, and swearing off patbingsu for life (or at least until Atlanta), we went to Taejongdae Park. The park is situated on an island off the southern coast of Busan. It has great cliffs with views of the city and sea. I visited this park before and it's really beautiful.
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| Taejongdae Art |
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| This is how I appreciate art! |
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| Sea at Taejongdae |
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| Taejongdae - Christina |
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| Lighthouse |
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| Look! It's Japan! |
By the time we left Taejongdae it was dark. We headed back towards Nampo and stopped at the Lotte Department Store to check out the sky deck. It turns out there is a children's petting zoo on the top floor. Anyone who knows Christina knows that animals are irresistible to her. She ran around chasing rabbits and petting pot-belly pigs for a good 20 minutes before we headed back to the hotel for the evening.
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This hamster is about the only animal that would let her touch it! |
Tomorrow is our last full day in Korea. We're heading back to Seoul in the morning. We head back to Atlanta on Sunday. This trip has been a great opportunity for me, but way too short. There's always much more I want to do than I can accomplish. Anyway, next stop, Seoul!
