Back to Busan

After an interim of nearly three months, Katie and I finally made it back to Busan for some much needed relaxation on Saturday. The weather was perfect and, as the high season was nearly over, Haeundae Beach wasn't too crowded. We documented our excursion in photos.

Our journey started at Starbucks, where we ate pastries and drank "real" coffee. Korean coffee is really awful. You know the coffee that comes out of a machine and is dispensed into little cups with poker cards on them? If you've ever been so unfortunate as to have tasted that, you have a pretty good idea of what coffee tastes like here in Korea. Though I don't care much for Starbucks coffee at home, here it tastes really wonderful.


While we were having our coffee, we noticed this new-hire orientation taking place. Koreans are serious about service, so I'm sure these guys were taking close notes.


After coffee we took a cab to Nam San Bus Terminal. Unlike most things in Korea, cabs are actually pretty cheap. It only cost us about $2.50 to be taken the five or so miles to Nam San.


A one-way ticket from Nam San Terminal to Sasang Station in Busan is a little over $3.00. We've never waited more that twenty minutes for the bus to arrive; I think they're supposed to arrive every fifteen minutes or so.


There was already a line for the bus to Busan when we arrived, and when the bus pulled up it already had passengers on it. Knowing that the bus would be too crowded, Katie and I opted to let this one go and wait for the next one. We've made the mistake of boarding a crowded bus before, only to find that we were unable to sit next to eachother. Also, no one ensures that the number of passengers boarding the bus doesn't exceed the maximum capacity, and Koreans will think nothing of standing in the aisle for the entire bus ride. I once had a woman stand in the aisle next to me for the duration of the much longer trip from Changwon to Daegu.



The trip from Changwon to Busan is about an hour or so, depending on traffic. As Changwon is situated in a valley, the bus climbs until it reaches a tunnel, and then descends toward Busan on the other side. The approach to the tunnel is beautiful, and facilitates a closer look at some of the dramatic looking mountains that surround Changwon.


Upon arriving in Busan, we were dropped off at the Inter-city Bus Terminal. When you get off the bus and walk into the terminal, you are greeted by dozens of stores and restaurants. This is a shot of the outside of the terminal after we had walked out. Immediately outside there is access to the subway (Sasang Station).


Inside the station, while waiting in line to buy our subway tickets, we spotted a couple of Korean sailors. It is not uncommon to see them, particularly in Busan.


After buying our tickets, we made our way to the platform to wait for the train. The subway in Busan is very easy to use, and all the stops are posted in English as well as Korean (though Katie and I would do just as well without the English, as we've become pretty good at reading Korean).


The subway is generally not too crowded, and if you can't find a seat right away, you usually can within a few stops. The ride from Sasang Station to Haeundae Beach is about 45 minutes.


We finally arrived at the beach, noting that the crowds must have thinned considerably within the past week. Haeundae Beach is popularly known as "the most beautiful beach in Korea", and the entire country converges upon it in August, Korean summer vacation. The umbrellas and life guards are only present during this time, and I suspect that the next time we go they will have vanished.



Katie and I staked out a claim beneath one of the umbrellas for a fee of about $5.00. We then kicked back and spent some time relaxing and declining the dozens of solicitations we received for fried chicken and maikju (beer). Vendors passed us at intervals of approximately three to five minutes.


After lunch we headed to Haeundae Market, which is located on a narrow street not far from the beach. The market is full of quaint, old-fashioned shops selling everything from produce to shoes. Fish are also abundant, like these toothy eels.







Katie snapped this one of a man she spotted sleeping on the floor. Koreans traditionally slept on the floor, and many still do not own western-style beds.


I thought the market provided a good opportunity to show and explain some of the Korean foods we have eaten since coming here. This is a particular variety of Asian cabbage that seems to be primarily used for making kimchi. You can find it in every grocery store, and Korean mothers buy it by the bushel. The traditional way of making kimchi was to add all the ingredients together and allow the mixture to ferment in huge earthen pots that were buried in the ground. Today Korean women use "kimchi refrigerators" -huge refrigerated vats exclusively for making kimchi.


Though kimchi can take many forms, this seems to be the most typical variety. As you can see, the individual cabbage leafs are still clearly discernible, but they are wilty and covered in a spicy, garlicky, red substance. I have to say, I was not a fan of kimchi at first, but if it is warmed up (or cooked), I now find it quite delicious...


Seaweed is a common ingredient in Korean dishes. It's another commodity that's sold in bulk quantities.


These two kinds of leaves seem to turn up as a side dish at many restaurants. You can use them to make little "wraps" by filling them with grilled meats and vegetables. I am very partial to the ones that look like lettuce, but the others -which are sesame leaves- look, feel, and probably taste like elm leaves.


Katie really hates this. We are relatively certain that these are cooked pigs' feet, but for whatever reason they pack a powerful and distinct odor when they're cooked. They seem to be quite popular and they even sell them at E-Mart. I find the smell pretty awful, but poor Katie begins dry-heaving at 300 yards.


These skinny, long eggplants are commonly seen in grocery stores and markets. I've only eaten them once, and they taste pretty much like regular eggplant. I keep meaning to buy a couple and try frying them.


After spending some time at the market, Katie and I headed back down to the beach again. It was around 5:30 by this time, but a lot of people were still enjoying the water and sitting under umbrellas.


At about the middle point of the beach there is a wide, paved area that is designed to accommodate a stage. On this particular day there was an event called "Street Lounge" taking place. The event consisted of various talent groups doing routines. Katie and I watched this group for some time. They did a lot of poorly choreographed dancing sprinkled with some almost-impressive break dancing. Their music was being played so loudly over giant speakers that I think I saw a couple of birds knocked out of the sky. We've noticed that everything in Korea is several notches louder than western ears are comfortable with -concerts, the movie theater, grand-openings, etc.


As we began making our way back toward the subway station, I saw this little boy standing at a toast shop window. "Toast" is very popular in Korea. The word is thrown around the way that we use the word pizza: "Hey, wanna get some toast?" What they are actually referring to is a toasted sandwich filled with almost any ingredient you can think of and slathered with ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard. Toast shops like this one are nearly everywhere.


This last shot is of the street that we use to walk to and from the beach. It's a little run-down, and seems an unlikely area to host a subway station. It seems an even stranger place to be so near Haeundae Beach. Busan has a much different feel to it than Changwon. Changwon is a new city, only developed over the past 20 years or so, whereas Busan is nearly 2,000 years old.