It was strange, on a whim we were given Monday and Tuesday off from work, they were to be "WILS Days," meaning days that the language academy take off, and thus, the employees get a four-day weekend!
And what do you do with a four-day weekend when you're in a foreign country...
So some colleagues and I needed to plan a trip after having been given a one week notice. We originally wanted to go to Jeju Island, an island south of mainland Korea known for its stunning, beautiful beaches and dominated by a volcano, essentially a nice tropical island. Unfortunately, due to the short notice, flight prices were too high, so we ended up going to Korea's second biggest city, Busan, instead.
Busan is located in the southeast of Korea by the water, at the opposite point of the country than Seoul. Despite this, the distance really was not too great, since Korea actually is a really small country, as Seoul and Busan are actually only separated by approximately 325 km. To put that in perspective, Montreal and Quebec City are separated by 254 km, so the distance is slightly greater than that, and this is to cross the entire country!
We grabbed the bullet train to get there (yes, technology that still does not exist in North America for some reason...) and were there in two and a half hours.
We had a hostel right off the central square and right beside a metro station, making it a really convenient location. In fact, we lucked out so much to have a huge street market right beside the hostel!
Now, as far as exploring the city goes, I think it's fair to say that tourism in Asian cities is rather different than tourism in European cities. First off, at least as far as I know based on having visited both Seoul and Busan, the "downtown cores" of these cities are rather new and developed as opposed to being old and historic. They're usually dominated by high-rises and lots of restaurants and shops. Of course, this is the "typical Asia" photos that we usually see in touristy books for countries like Korea, China and Japan, however I see no difference between a restaurant street in Busan and a restaurant street in Seoul, for example.
In terms of strictly visiting a downtown core, I prefer the European old/historic style as opposed to high-rises, but hey, that's just me.
This all being said, there is still lots to see in these cities, ranging from historic temples colourful villages, beaches, and everything in between.
Saturday in Busan was absolutely beautiful, and we took advantage of the stunning weather to and check out a Buddhist Temple called Haedong Yonguggsa, which is located right by the water! Apparently it's uncommon for Buddhist temples to be located on the water and not in the mountains, but this temple in particular was stunning due to its location!
Just as we walked in we saw a bunch of different animal statues and a tower that really set the mood.
As you keep wandering through the forest, the temple really comes to life, providing unique architecture and stunning views!
The temple was dotted with a bunch of shrines and statues, including Buddha himself!
It's only the second temple that I've visited since I've arrived in Korea (really, I gotta explore more of Seoul), but it's already my favourite. The stunning scenery surrounding this temple really made it worthwhile.
The beach was only a short (and picturesque) walk away, and it was the perfect way to end the day.
After commuting back to Busan and getting a good night's sleep, it was time for another long and exciting day on Sunday.
Sunday was quite humid in Busan, and despite everyone's complaints about the heat, we persisted and climbed to the Gamcheon Culture Village, which they say is a mix between the Macchu Pichu and the Santorini of Korea. Essentially this neighbourhood used to be the poorer area of the city, but within the last few years they've revitalized and redecorated it to showcase a stunning array of colours, of course, dotted with blue rooftops. Truly amazing!
Truly, it was a hard trek to the top, but totally worth it!
After that it was time to eat and grab the train back to Seoul. We opted for the slow train this time because it was half the price, but took double the time to get there.
Of course, no weekend would be complete without an array of delicious Korean food.
The first meal pictured was an octopus and onion stir-fry mixed with rice. The octopus was actually really tasty, but the amount of spice in this dish really made you feel as if you were breathing fire. Other than the noodle dish and the chicken brochette, we had some traditional soups with noodles that were actually really tasty. Something really common here is actually cold noodle soup, something I've had on a couple of occasions, though I much prefer hot soup, even in the scorching summer heat.
Back to Seoul now for another week of work!
-Daniele
