Tears, Tantrums (almost) and Tantalising Vistas

Busan is amazing and I can't wait to come back here again and explore in more depth because our whistle stop tour was just not enough.

We sadly said our goodbyes to our beach side getaway

and made our way to Busan station where we stored our bags for the day, which was a wise move otherwise it would have been a nightmare. (The only problem is that we booked our ticket back to Seoul for a little too early because we originally thought that by the end of twelve hours we would be hanging to get on the train rather than rushing to get to it on time....)

Our first stop today was the UN Memorial Cemetery which was thought provoking and brought tears to my eyes. We were astounded by the reaction we received from a group of Korean nationals who came into the chapel while we were sitting watching a film about the war and the memorial.

They were so lovely, actually coming to talk to us after the film and saying thank you and that without the support of all the United Nations armed forces that Korea would obviously not be what it is today. Jenna and Sarah both remarked that they didn't really know much about the Korean war as they had never really learnt about it at school and most of what Jenna knew was from the TV series MASH (which is maybe not the best representation of Korean history but also one of the reasons that I am so fascinated by the country) Jenna thought that maybe we should know more about where our ANZAC troops have fought and their contributions to international war efforts.

The UN Memorial Cemetery is beautiful with lots of trees and memorials reflecting many of the countries whose soldiers lost their lives in the conflict, in some areas there were just simple monuments which said 'thank you' which I felt was very poignant. When I came to the Wall of Honour I had a moment, a really physical reaction which I have never experienced before at a war memorial or cemetery.

The number of losses was staggering, and that was only the UN troops, I would hate to think of how many Korean lives were lost during the conflict because their names did not feature on the wall and I think that is what I found very overwhelming that somewhere or in lots of different places there will be walls filled with names of all those Korean lives that were lost and that won't number them all (the children and women whose names would have been lost along the way) I really don't know why I was so affected but I actually had to walk away from the others and let the tears flow.

Our next stop was in the direction of Gamcheon Cultural Village which was not as easy to get to as I had thought, I had found directions on line (which I am not putting up here because they weren't accurate) the journey required a train and a bus and after we got out of the train station we realised that breakfast had been a long time ago and we had yet to try a Korean hamburger...and no it was not Maccas....Lotteria is one that you see on more corners than you do MacDonalds so we thought why not go for the local chain. The food was okay, for a fast food chain actually I thought my bulgogi burger was really good but the service was slow....no fast food here!!!!

We then got on the bus and our adventures began (and me having a mini-melt down because the map was telling me one thing but my eyes were telling me another!!!) We wandered around in search of the village but couldn't find it and thankfully a taxi came before I had a breakdown.

And then came a hair raising taxi ride around the winding roads at the back of the village and the sight was amazing, and I wish he had stopped for us to take photos.

Gamcheon Cultural Village was once a ghetto filled with war refugees and is now home to a thriving community after the village art project was launched in 2009 to bring colour and life back into the streets. There is one wide main street at the top of the village and lots of laneways, alleys and lots and lots and lots of

stairs throughout the village. If you have the time (which we were running out of) there is a map that you can get stamped at numerous points throughout the village and that is something to do next time I am in Busan as it would be a great way to explore the village in more depth, the difference being that the next time I come to Gamcheon I will come early in the morning so I can really get lost here (rather than getting lost on the way here).

While we were researching our trip to South Korea Jenna found something she really wanted to do in Busan, which was our last stop of the day, Songdo Cable Car. To get here we grabbed a cab and I can understand why people use them so much here because they are so cheap (especially if you are splitting the cost between four-) .

Songdo Beach is very pretty and has great tourist attractions like the cable car and the skywalk (which unfortunately we did not get time to walk across it) and I could see it becoming as popular as Haeundae and Gwangalli in the future. There is an amazing coastal walk too and if you had the time (and the knees) to do it I would suggest taking the cable car one way and walking back the other (prices are W12,000 one way $15 Aus, W15,000 return $18 Aus).

The cable car journey takes about 8 and a half minutes and gives you wonderful views of Busan and the bays and makes me want to come back and really spend more time exploring this beautiful city. At the end of the cable car journey there are coastal walks, an observatory with some amazing sculptural artwork, more wonderful views, coffee shops, snack bars and souvenir shops and a trip back to Jurassic Park with some animatronic dinosaurs. We had fun wandering around looking at the displays and just appreciating the views and if it wasn't for the fact that we had a train to catch we would have probably stayed longer.

We finished our time in Busan with tteokboki and ramen at the station while we waited for our train and I am looking forward to coming back here and exploring in more depth (and once again I am wishing that I had so much longer to spend in South Korea and how soon I can come back again!!!)

#bUsaN #sOutHkoRea