Howdy all. Following from last Saturday’s blog, I continue through the trip – I am now home as I write this by the way, the trip just FLEW by! I am still going through the story of last year’s Dhaka to Dakar trip as well and have not really delved into the trip I took to South East Asia from November last year either! Whew!

Day 14

Anyways. This was my first visit to Korea ever, to be more exact the Republic of Korea, commonly known as South Korea. I had decided on taking the ferry from Fukuoka to Busan – only three and a half hours or so to cross the sea in the fast JR Queen Beetle, booked easily online for less than $150AUD or $100USD, although on different days the ferry was cheaper, or more expensive.

It was cloudy as I caught a 652am train to Hakata station and then a bus to the international port. The Queen Beetle was red and didn’t look much like a ferry. On the inside it felt a lot like a wide plane to be honest, there was a first class upstairs I didn’t get to see, a café, a couple of vending machines and not a lot of passengers. I had a window seat and no-one next to me so plenty of space, and a USB charger too.

The weather closed in as we sped across the water, it was hard to get a great view even with a window seat but I think it would have been very different on a sunny day. Certainly went past a few islands. I think I fell asleep at one point too. At Busan it was raining, but the walkways were all covered. Immigration was mercifully fast too, and it was all covered walkways to the main train station, and my hotel was 100-150 metres from an exit on the other side which I go to no hassles. Then I ran through the rain and got pretty wet only out in the rain for a minute or two. But I got to the hotel okay.

I chilled for a bit but then hit Busan checking out the Busan Modern and Contemporary History Museum, which did throw a lot of Korean History my way, a lot of stuff I didn’t know. Korea is a country I know some basics but I really did learn a lot in my time there.

I had grabbed an umbrella earlier at the hotel which was essential, but at this point the rain had all but stopped. I was feeling good about what I hoped to see on this afternoon. I walked up to the Busan Tower in the Yongdusan Park but no point in going up with the weather, so I headed to the Busan Museum of Movies. This was cool if aimed mostly at kids. When I exited the museum, well, the rain was back and raining twice as hard. I was determined to keep vlogging and exploring, but it just wasn’t possible. I retired back to the hotel which had the biggest bath I’ve ever had in my room, and I used it!

Day 15

Thankfully the rain had completely cleared for my second day in Busan. Before even leaving Australia I made lists of all the things I wanted to see and do in Tokyo. As I went along I continued to make lists, although I had no real pre-planning before I left Australia beyond Tokyo, so the list for Busan was made pretty much on the ferry and later on the evening of Day 14. It was, as most day plans were, ambitious.

It started well enough, I took the subway pretty much out of Busan into the mountains. Busan is a city sort of woven into the valleys because the topography is very hilly and mountainous. The Beomeosa Temple was the first stop, a Buddhist Temple up a mountain. From the train station there was a bus though to the entrance of the temple. It was an impressive temple, you kept climbing to get to the temple proper passing walls, gates and courtyards. At the top there were beautiful coloured lanterns – I wasn’t aware at the time but this was in preparation for Buddha’s birthday.

From here I took an Uber to Geumgang Park. Uber proved very inexpensive in Korea for journeys like this where I needed a bus, train and then a walk to get to where I needed to go. For around $10AUD or $6.50USD, the Uber Taxi picked me up in the mountains and drove me 25 minutes to the park. Strangely, there was no option to tip for Uber in Korea. I know in some cultures tipping could be considered insulting, but I don’t know why in Korea the tipping option didn’t appear after my Uber rides.

At the park I took a cable car up the mountain, where I proceeded to walk to the Seobulsa Temple. However, I lost probably 90 minutes because I managed to get lost. I walked a lot further than I needed to, and the final ascent was super steep, I was fracked to be honest. The temple is below these rocks with some amazing Buddha carvings in them though, which is why I chose this temple. If you can drive there are carparks 500 metres or even less below the temple so I would recommend that, because I did a lot of climbing and descending steeply this day and it was NOT easy! But then I’m old, fat and unfit!

Then it was back to the city proper by Uber and subway, to the Jagalchi Fish Market, which was awesome to tour and see so many fish in tanks waiting to be bought and eaten. Finally the day finished at Gamechon Culture Village. It was now late in the day but the sun was setting and I enjoyed walking this part of town. It was painted in 2008 I think by students to liven up one of the poorest parts of Busan. Now it is full of coffee shops and selfie spots and brings tourists in by the droves. It was great!

By the time that was done it was after 7pm. And that was my day done, with a train journey ahead to Seoul booked for the next day, I was about to head to the Korean Capital! Thanks for popping by today – take care wherever you are and May the Journey Never End!