Busing Busan
- Jan 11, 2019
- 5 min read
Busan is huge and we don't have a lot of time here so we decided to do the hop on hop off today so we could cover a lot of ground and see something of the city instead of yet another subway station and it is pretty cost
effective at only $15 Aus for three loops.Unfortunately there was no English commentary on the buses we were on (but that didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves and providing our own commentary). Make sure you are getting on the correct bus though as there are two different Busan City Hop On Hop Off buses which go via slightly different routes.
We started off a little later than we had originally planned mainly because we were lingering over our morning breakfast and although we knew that one of the stops of the HOHO was in Busan we headed in the wrong direction towards the station and ended up catching a local bus headed towards our first destination instead of walking back down to the 'proper' stop.
First stop was the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple which is perched on the side of a cliff and is touted as being Korea's most beautiful temple, and I can understand why people would think that as it is so picturesque even with the weather that we had today. (The rain today was our first since we have been in South Korea which is a complete contrast from our time in Taiwan). It is a bit of a walk from the local bus stop, uphill and for about the hundredth time this trip I have been grateful that my knee has held out (it has been a bit painful towards the end of the evening but generally okay during the day).
We arrived at the entrance to the temple and there are some market stalls here, some selling goods, some selling religious paraphernalia others selling tasty treats which gave us a chance to have a second breakfast and I got to enjoy the hotteok (which are like sweet brown sugar filled pancakes, very delicious and because they are freshly cooked hit the right spot to warm us up in today's drizzly weather)
There are a few statues along the walk depicting the different Gods that are worshipped , there are also statues representing the different signs of the Chinese Zodiac.
You walk past these before arriving at stairs to head down(108 in total to represent the 108 agonies of earthly desire of Buddhism), and get our first glimpse of the temple which is spectacular, simply for it's location amongst the rocks with the sea as a backdrop.
The original temple was built in 1376 during the Goryeo Dynsasty but like many places in South Korea was destroyed by the Japanese in their invasion of 1592-98 and was only rebuilt in it's entirety in the 1930s. This temple is one of the few that is devoted to the Goddess of Mercy and it is said that after the temple was built here back in 1376 the horrific drought that was plaguing Goryeo (the original name for Korea) at the time finished and the country was blessed with a lot of rainfall.
From here we did a coastal walk from the temple to the Fisheries Science museum,
not for the museum but to catch the hop on hop off bus which has this as one of the stops. The walk along the coast was really pretty and just breathing in the sea air was enough to put us in high spirits to enjoy the rest of our day.
We rode the bus from one end of the city to the other taking in all the sights along the way and this city has a completely different feel to Seoul, there's a cool beach vibe mixed with the cosmopolitan city and I can understand why it is such a popular place to visit.
Like many places we wished we had more time here so we could take advantage of the HOHO properly but it was good to sit and see how much this amazing city has to offer (and the weather wasn't the best today so I imagine in great weather Busan would be irresistible)
We arrived at the Peace Park and decided we wanted to get off and have a look, it is very understated, a simple memorial with flags that state the losses of each country.
What I really liked was the simple plaque which had a word of thanks from South Korea because without the armed forces that fought alongside their soldiers, South Korea would not exist. At the other end of the Peace Park is the War Memorial which we hope we will be able to get to before we leave Busan but we didn't feel we had enough time to visit there today.
The bus took us through the city centre, across a few of the many
bridges that cross Busan giving us amazingly spectacular scenic views and I would love to see the city again on a clearer day so we could appreciate it more.
We got back on the bus and headed for the Oryukdo Islets,
which is a set of five or six islands (depending on the time and tide) of which only one is inhabited (Deungdaedo which has a lighthouse on it). As Busan is a huge port city these Islets and the lighthouse are passed by ships every day and have become one of the many National Cultural Heritage Scenic Spots that South Korea has to offer.
The Oryukdo skywalk above the water gives you a beautiful view (even on a hazy day) and I think it would be an impressive harbour to come in to on a cruise ship, especially as you go past these islets and I am hoping that one day I will be on a ship doing exactly that.
We looped around to Gwangalli Beach which I imagine will be incredibly busy in summer as even today in the chilly weather there were people dipping their feet in the water. It is not as big as Haeundae nor probably as busy but I think it would be an impressive sight at night as the bridge usually has a light show and many of the restaurants with beach views are packed in the evening so people can watch the show. We had thought of making our way here in the evening but we weren't in Busan for long enough and we were too busy enjoying the nightlife/streetlife that Haeundae has to offer.
As soon as we arrived back in Haeundae
we headed to the beach to see the sunset and what entertainments were on offer and we weren't disappointed as there were some great buskers singing and dancing for the crowds.
One thing we have noticed is that we don't always eat breakfast, lunch and dinner because we snack on street food so by the time we are actually hungry we are really hungry so we want to have something substantial for dinner (or lunch depending on the meal choice) and there are so many great food choices that we don't always know what to pick. Our choice of dinner was budae jjigae (army stew) which was created after the war
when food was short and people had to survive on what they had mixed with US army rations and it has become a popular meal since then (and it also knocked something off another thing from my to eat list) The meal was delicious, even the spam, and I think it is one of those things that I will try when I get home because it seemed so simple yet so complex at the same time.
After dinner we spent the evening wandering the street watching the buskers perform and enjoying the small market on the side streets, before the call for a sweet potato latte and desert beckoned and our day in Busan drew to a close. Like everything else I have seen so far on this trip I want to come back and explore further because in such a short time I have become attached to the place and need more time to appreciate it properly.
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