Our travel day to get to Busan, South Korea, was a long one. Taxi to the train station in order to catch the Haruka train to Kansai airport. I had purchased the tickets on Klook and needed to download the tickets as we had QR code tickets. With connection issues at the train station, I ended up with two lovely train staff helping me and, thankfully, we had plenty of time to get the 9.30 departure. In less than an hour and a half, we were at Kansai international airport, with a short wait for check in to open. Once check in started, the magic of The Devil began – we were given fast track tickets and put in row three on the flight. Immigration was easy and we settled down to have a late breakfast in what is a very busy airport.
Recharged, we made our way to our gate, thankfully with loads of time. Following the directions, we were guided to a shuttle which took us from the main terminal to our gate. If we had waited, we would have been in a huge rush, so definitely glad we like to get to our departure gate early.
When the flight was called we joined the queue to board. Then one of the staff noticed my walking stick, and we were ushered to another check counter and given priority boarding. It meant we were first to board, so settling into our seats was quick and easy, especially as the flight was full. It was a good flight, with loads of legroom and before we knew it, we had landed in Busan, South Korea.
Being off the plane quickly, we got to immigration and very short lines. So much better than Haneda in Tokyo. Our luggage arrived and, with nothing to declare, we were in South Korea. Google Maps was not being very helpful, so a quick google search and we were on the light rail, making our way to Sasang station to transfer to the train to Haeundae Beach. Still not sure we were doing the right thing, we settled in for the hour long trip. By now, it was six o’clock, and we were feeling pretty tired, so we found a taxi to take us the rest of the way to the hotel. After a bit of confusion with the language barrier, we followed the map and were reassured that our taxi driver was taking us where we needed to go.
Wow, eleven hours on the move, but we arrived and checked in to our hotel. The room had a lovely ocean view, but typical of Asia, was small. We dumped our bags and set off to find dinner. Two doors down was Don Blanc, a Korean BBQ restaurant. Prices looked good at 17500 won for a BBQ pork. We had no idea what we were doing, but we settled at our table which had a griller and made our choices from the menu.
Side dishes were brought to our table, and glory be, there were bowls of vegetable matter that looked fresh and delicious. Drinks arrived, beer, of course, and the national drink Soju, which ended up being a version of rice wine. We had ordered pork belly and pork shoulder, unsure of serving sizes but hopefully that with the sides and some rice, we would be covered. Then, the meat arrived. We thought we’d be cooking it ourselves, but the staff did it, monitoring the process so the meat was done to perfection. Our concerns about cutting the meat were allayed when the staff used scissors to chop the meat into bite sized portions.
Finally, the meat was ready to eat, and our tantalised senses could be satisfied. And satisfied we were. Best darn meal we’ve had since leaving Australia. Staff added a bean sprout mix and a cabbage mix to our grill plate to complement the meal and we were left to our devices. We didn’t like the metal chopsticks which made picking the food up a bit more difficult than wooden chopsticks, but we made do.
The transfer from the airport to our hotel was long, perplexing and arduous, so a great meal and a beer or two helped to ease the stress we felt after a long travel day. We went for a short walk along the beachfront, gawking at the towering skyscrapers, but the brisk breeze and our weary souls needed to get horizontal, so we headed back to our little hotel and settled in for the night.
Breakfast was included in our room rate, so after enjoying a bite with a view over the ocean, we set off to explore Busan. We are right on the beach – Haeundae Beach is by all accounts the best beach in Busan, and it has a distinct holiday vibe. We have been confused by the limited directions we can get from Google Maps until Colin googled why. Due to the ongoing tension with North Korea, Google Maps is limited to showing just major public transportation routes – you can’t see walking or car directions, so it is a big gap in a tool that we have come to rely on as travellers.
Colin went for a walk along the Blue Line Park while I managed to find my way by bus to Gamcheon Cultural Village, about an hour and a half by two buses. Without directions, I managed to walk a lot further than I needed to to get to the bus stop I had to use for the 1003 bus. Busy looking at the schedule, a lovely Korean couple assured me I was on the right track and I boarded the bus feeling reasonably sure I was going the right way.
Busan city is much busier even than Tokyo, with masses of towering skyscrapers. The traffic is chaotic and even in the middle of the day, chokes the multi-lane roads. The bus got very full but had emptied out by the time I had to get off to catch the 87 bus for the short trip to the village area. While waiting for the 87 the driver of a smaller green bus beeped me and held up a sign asking if I wanted to board. Clueless, I shook my head as I had a plan. I would soon discover the error of my ways.
The 87 was not far away and I boarded with confidence. At least Google Maps follows the public transport routes so I monitored the journey and got off at the right stop. From here, I had a map of the streets and where the village was located, so I set off up a VERY steep hill, heading in the right direction.
Breathing heavily, I watched a smaller green bus drive past, going up the VERY steep hill faster than I was walking. Hmmm…
Earning my step count, I made it to the village and looked down at the colourful houses that clung to the hills rising from the valley. The village was built during the 1920s and 30s when the Busan city administration decided to relocate the working-class population into an area secluded from the port, yet close enough to provide labour. During the post work recovery in 1955, about 800 families moved to the village. The village, until the early 2000s faced persisting poverty and poor living conditions.
In 2009, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism set out on a public art-themed renovation of the village to convert it to a cultural hub. Students, professional artists and residents were called upon to maintain, repair and decorate the village with art, and the village has turned into one of the most featured tourist attractions in Busan. The village was interesting to wander, narrow laneways connected by steep stairs. It’s a colourful maze and the artwork I saw was modern – if it is helping the standard of living for the residents, it’s a good thing.
I enjoyed a pumpkin latte (yum) and macaron type sweet looking out over the valley towards the ocean in a small café that thankfully took card for payment. Lots of visitors to the village choose to add to the colour by hiring Hanbok, traditional and colourful Korean dress. The outfits are very pretty and look to be much more practical than the Japanese kimonos as the skirts on the Hanbok don’t restrict leg movement.
I retraced my steps to get back to the hotel – the hour and a half journey both ways made for a big day – but we weren’t done. We set off to explore the nearby market street and, with google maps’ restrictions, managed to find the street which was chiefly made up of a lot of seafood restaurants. The range of offerings was extensive, from live crabs and shrimp to eels, fish, slug-like critters and something called sea pineapple. Sea pineapple did not look appetising, and now that I know it is an edible sea squirt, I’m glad I didn’t opt to try it.
Both of us were feeling rather foot sore after our big walking day so we googled for a restaurant nearby. Colin had tried a sandwich from CU, the local convenience chain, but was not impressed. The Aroi Thai restaurant was just a short walk along the beach so we braved the cold, brisk sea breeze, only to find that it was closed. Feeling cold, we dived into the nearest food outlet – a fried chicken place. It was busy, but rather dingy and while the chicken and chips were ok, it was hardly the quality of the bbq dinner of the previous night. And, for what we got, it was expensive at $40 for a pile of fried chicken and ordinary fried potatoes.
There is a bar and restaurant above our hotel, and feeling disappointed with dinner, we decided to check out the Oase restaurant. The staff were very welcoming and we opted to stay for a drink. The restaurant looks great, the menu interesting and it would have been a much wiser choice for dinner. Live and learn.
Our last day in Busan was very quiet – a load of washing and some tv. Our feet needed the break. Scarred by the previous night’s dinner shambles, we played it safe and returned to Don Blanc for another Korean bbq, choosing the pork belly and beef ribs. Beef is expensive in Japan and Korea, but for the extra $10 it was delicious and left us with good memories of Busan.