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Former IT office worker, now liberated to chase a dream! Read more Wooloowin, Australia
  • TravelerSouth Korea
    4
    Day 28

    Busan Day 4 afternoon and evening

    October 25, 2017 in South Korea ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    I missed out on the BIFF (Busan International Film Festival) by one day. I am curious to see where it was staged, namely the Busan Cinema Center. This will require a metro trip to Somyeon station where I will need to transfer to a line running east. The Centum City station is my final destination.

    The area around this station seems to have been redeveloped in the recent past. Besides the Cinema Center, there's also a large auditorium as well as the Shinsegae department store (world's largest). A Trump building is also nearby 😫 nobody panic! I walk around some of the levels of the Shinsegae store and have some gelati. I'd like to buy some socks but apparently the world's largest department store can't fit in a store that sells socks 😄

    It's a long way back by metro. Detraining at Nampo station, I think of taking some night-time photos of Busan from the Tower. I take some photos from outside the tower and then go to the ticket office. Sorry - facilities inspection - tower closed. We just weren't meant to be ...

    There is an Indian restaurant close by my hotel in BIFF Square. I order a seafood curry. As per usual with Indian restaurants here, they are light on with the seafood. At least the view's good.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Korea
    11
    Day 28

    Busan Day 4 morning

    October 25, 2017 in South Korea ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    The weather is excellent today so I decide to check out some of Busan's coastline.

    The island of Yeongdo is connected to the mainland by a number of bridges. One of these is not far away from where I'm staying. The #8 bus takes me over this bridge and deposits me not far from the front of Taejongdae Park.

    There is a circular path around the park that runs along the coastline. I am distracted by a monument to medical units so then start to walk clockwise along the path. If I'd walked anti-clockwise, I would have passed the park complex containing tourist information and tickets for the Danubi Train. This road "train" is very cute and runs anti-clockwise around the park. Passengers with a ticket can hop on and off when the train pulls up at various destinations.

    To be honest I was never going to take this train. And tourist information wasn't really needed. The first attraction is the lighthouse. It's not possible to go into the lighthouse but there is very decent coastline scenery from the vicinity.

    Further along is an eatery complex with a top floor observatory. While the eateries look open I don't think the observatory is. There are a lot of middle-aged and elderly people milling around, are they waiting for the train (or Godot)?

    I walk further around so I'm now on the west side of the park. There is a pebble beach here and steps down. I'm up for the challenge so hike down. It's not the easiest thing to walk on the pebbles!

    Further along I reach the park complex. Ah well. I walk off and take the #8 bus back to the hotel.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Korea
    1
    Day 27

    Busan Day 3

    October 24, 2017 in South Korea ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    A very "local" day as the weather deteriorates over the day. No bus, subway or train trips - huzzah!

    Coffee at Angel-in-us again - same server, nobody else around, a little bit Groundhog Day. I walk from there towards Yongdusan Park. This is where Busan Tower is located and I want to check out the view from the observatory. Naturally, the tower is located a fair way uphill in the park. Very very fortuitously I find the side street that leads to a bank of escalators (5 perhaps) that means I don't have to take the stairs. Some decent views of Busan at the top of the escalator stack, also a GS25 store, which are my "go to" stores for most food and drink.

    So I walk over to the ticket office for the Observatory. Sorry sir, there's a fire. No ticket. Bummer. So I walk down all those stairs to ground level.

    There's a Lotte mall across from the park, so I wander in. Level 1F is food court territory along with a supermarket. At the higher levels there are cinemas. A quick Google search reveals that "Blade Runner 2049" is playing here at 4:05 pm. I buy some rice paper wraps (see photo) and head back to the hotel. It is possible to walk the complete way from Lotte Mall underground!

    The weather starts to deteriorate as the afternoon goes on. Around 3:30 it's drizzling. I head back to the cinemas for the movie - walking underground I don't have to worry about the weather. It costs around $10 to buy the movie ticket. There's allocated seating, but on entry to the cinema I sit where I want ...

    The movie's great, with Korean subtitles so fortunately not dubbed. A guy takes a 5 minute phone call during the movie, different culture what? I'm around the last to leave, sitting through most of the credits. I think that something I had for lunch has had a gluten effect on me, it's been a while since that's happened 😫    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Korea
    1
    Day 26

    Geumgang Park

    October 23, 2017 in South Korea ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    Back on metro line 1, I plan to take the cable car from Geumgang Park. After a stop a man sits next to me and starts a conversation with me. Fortunately it's in English otherwise it would have been a little one-sided. He was interested in my origins and where I'd been travelling. As it turns out, he used to live in Japan. Anyway it's good to have that connection when you're on the road.

    I had to leave him with goodwill at Oncheonjang station. Walking around the streets there, it was a little tricky to find the cable car entrance. One thing you can guarantee in S Korea is that you will need to do a fair bit of uphill walking before you reach the cable car.

    I find the park and was directed to the cable car entrance. I'll do the round trip today rather than walk down. One of the last into the carriage (again) so minimal opportunities for photos on the way up.

    When we reach the top, I sit at a bench nearby and eat my lunch. Gimbap again, but I do like it. It's cheap, nutritious and very fiilling.

    After that I walk to the South Gate of the Geumjeongsanseong fortress built here (try typing THAT name when you've been drinking). There's 17 km of fortress walls remaining, I take way too many photos. Eventually I walk back to the cable car until I wander off the path and seek some local help to find it again. Thankfully, a man who speaks decent English in my time of need.

    There are only 3 of us in the cable car going down, giving me the opportunity to take way too many photos of Busan on the descent. The beauty of digital photography, they are easily taken and easily deleted.

    Back to the metro station, I disembark again to go to the e-mart. It's open, huzzah 😃. I pick up a nice bottle of Chilean red, then notice a pretty girl offering wine tasting. Sweet white, then a sweet red (Moscato). Dessert wines, not something I drink very often.

    Back to the metro station, I detrain at Nampo. I'm able to walk through the underground shopping complex from there to an exit upstairs that is very close to my hotel. Takes the traffic out of the equation.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Korea
    Day 26

    Beomeo-sa Temple

    October 23, 2017 in South Korea ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    I don't want to go out. I'm still depressed about yesterday afternoon's abject failure (not the first time that phrase has come up in this blog) and haven't had that much for breakfast. Ah well, I'll have a latte at Cafe Angel-in-us around the corner and think about things.

    As it's just after 9 I practically have to wake the server as the cafe is empty. In case you haven't realized, the ROK population are not morning people. This cafe will however be chockers at 7 pm.

    Anyway the weather is too good today to not do anything. The wind has dropped from yesterday. So I decide to go to Beomeo-sa temple. This temple is a working temple that offers a templestay program, where outsiders can live like the monks do for a day or two. Not me, unfortunately, as I'm on a tight schedule.

    The subway stop for the temple is quite a long way back towards Nopo. So I'll try to come back through smaller trips. From the temple's subway station it's a 3 km uphill walk to the temple. Or you take a taxi. Or you take bus 90, which comes within a couple of minutes as I'm considering my options. Lucky that.

    There are quite a few people on the bus. Maybe it's because it's FREE to visit the temple on a Monday? Never mind, it's all good and peaceful. There are a number of monks scurrying around, as this is a working temple. One of the photos shows a monk carrying what looks to be a chalice.

    It's a very tranquil setting in the hills. There is an adjacent forest with streams to help meditation. The forest also hosts a number of hiking trails that are particularly popular on the weekend. All in all, a good place to come to relieve stress.

    I decide to walk down rather than take the bus. It's an easy hike back to the subway with some forest scenery.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Korea
    Day 25

    Busan Day 1

    October 22, 2017 in South Korea ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    I'm off to Busan for 4 days today. Staying at the Stanford Inn at Jagalchi. It's a bit more upmarket than where I've stayed recently. Mind you, full marks to Hotel Elena for having a laundry room around the corner from my room. I did a lot of laundry ...

    I roll up to the bus station for the 10:20 bus and board without issue. The bus will reach Busan around 1:15 pm. Fortunately there's a stop along the way to buy food or have a toilet break. None of the Korean buses have a toilet on board.

    The bus station in Busan is quite close to Nopo subway station, which is the terminal for line 1. Luckily my hotel is not far from both Nampo and Jagalchi stations on this line. It is an hour long trip with around 23 stops.

    I always enter the metro's last carriage when I'm hauling my luggage. It's not crowded at Nopo station but as we progress the post-lunch crowd come on board. One particular group is, shall we say, a little pissy? One of the guys in this group is hugging one of his mates (I luv you man) and then leans against my luggage. And then half-sits on my luggage. I am concerned he will be gored by my luggage as it has a nasty spike (somehow).

    Anyway no international incident occurs and I detrain at Jagalchi station. There is a map showing the station exits, for some reason it is inverted (south at the top, north at the bottom). Consequently I end up on the wrong side of the road walking in the wrong direction. Big sigh.

    Eventually I navigate my way through the masses of locals, tourists and street vendors. Room 1408 is alright, good city view.

    Given I'm here for 4 nights, I want to stock up for meals, snacks and ... alcohol. There's a bus that runs through 2 e-marts and its stop is not far from here. It doesn't look too far ...

    This is where things go pear-shaped. Busan is a big city. It's a Sunday. There is a lot of traffic. The bus trip out takes way longer than expected and it's airless on the bus. Nobody opens a window but everyone over 40 dresses like they're living in the Arctic. It's a windy day but not cold, certainly not on the bus.

    Anyway I leave the bus and check out the first e-mart. Closed (Sunday?). I go back to the bus stop to wait for the bus to the 2nd e-mart. Across the road 2 girls are dancing to K-Pop music to drum up trade. I don't envy them, they are finding it tough going in the wind.

    So the next bus comes and I take it to the 2nd e-mart, which is around 2.6 km along the road. This is part of a large shopping centre. Most of the shops are open in this centre, but not the e-mart 😥

    So I take the bus back to the hotel. Stand all the way. It takes an hour with the traffic. Nobody opens a window, but it's a free-for-all as far as coughing and spluttering are concerned. I try not to breathe ...

    It's a Dante-esque level of hell. I buy some supplies at a convenience store just to keep me going. I think about how much time I spent on public transport today.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Korea
    Day 24

    Geumodo Island ferry trip

    October 21, 2017 in South Korea ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    A great day all round 🤗🤗. On the down side, I didn't find a sandy beach, and I MAY have paddled in water containing raw sewage, but on the up side the weather was perfect and the travel went without a hitch.

    I bought 2 tickets at the ferry terminal for a round trip to Ham Geum port on Geumodo island. The ferry going over was to leave at 9:50 and the return trip would depart at 4:05 pm. It was a car ferry and would make 2 stops at other islands before Geumodo.

    Although it's a Saturday (and you know what THAT means), there aren't the usual weekend crowds. On the ferry I sit outside taking in the view. On Korean ferries there can be an internal room with wooden floors and a landing for shoes. It seems to be mostly used by women and children. Bit of a waste to sit there today as there are magnificent views of various islands as we proceed. Very different from the other ferry trips I've taken on this holiday.

    We arrive on Geumodo at around 11:15. I remember it's a car ferry and successfully avoid the cars disembarking. A notice board supplies some information on hiking around the island. My plan is to walk clockwise along the main road, look for a sandy beach, swim, eat my lunch and return to port for the ferry back.

    The road is quite elevated from the sea. This means the views continue to be stunning as I walk on, but it does make it problematic finding a trail down to the sea. I walk through a small fishing village which also contains quite a few persimmon trees. Back on the main road there are stretches of long mesh tarpaulins along the side of the road where the locals are drying baitfish. I see no other hikers all day.

    I eventually reach a village called Daeyu around 1:15. This is the end of the road and my lunch spot. Although it's on the water, there are no beaches. I take off my boots and socks to dip my feet into the water at a jetty. Although there's a pipe nearby, there are fish as well as they jump into the air periodically to catch insects.

    Long walk back, maybe 13 km in total. I'm running low on water and end up with none on the returning ferry. However, I do get to enjoy the sunset over the water (took way too many photos). We reach Yeosu a bit before 6 and I catch the 555 bus back to the hotel.

    I have been looking forward to the Bledisloe Cup match from Lang Park, but daylight saving (in Sydney and Melbourne) means that it starts an hour earlier than usual. So I miss the first half. But I see most of the 2nd half and celebrate the win with soju and red wine. Go Wallabies! Hope that ticket for their match against Japan is waiting for me in Tokyo 🤔

    POSTSCRIPT: I woke up the next day and noticed rashes over the lower parts of both legs. They do go away within a few days thankfully.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Korea
    Day 23

    Yeosu Day 1

    October 20, 2017 in South Korea ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Yeosu is a bustling port town with a population of around 300,000 and was the site of the 2012 Expo. The weather today and tomorrow is near perfect, as can be seen from the photos. Temperature range between 17 and 22 degrees with a light breeze, really good weather for hiking or sightseeing.

    My hotel (Elena) is in an accommodation district that has many options for food, drink and coffee in the area. I want to catch a bus to Busan in a couple of days, so I walk up to the bus terminal (across the road from the e-mart). That's done, so I decide to take a bus to the Expo site. The bus I take gets there eventually and not particularly directly.

    The Expo site, like Brisbane's, is a cut down but still functional site. I find a tourist information kiosk there, who give me English brochures and direct me to the Sky Tower.

    The Expo site sits on a former cement factory and two 55 metre high silos have been artistically transformed into the Sky Tower. I buy a ticket for the observatory on the 20th floor and ascend. The views from the observatory are breathtaking. There are many islands spread out across the sea. I take in the panorama while drinking a banana smoothie. In the next booth a 60ish man takes a brief nap while his wife wanders around. Isn't retirement great 😚

    From there I want to go to Manseongni Beach, which is famous for its black sand. The bus service there and back leaves a little to be desired. Even though it's only 3 km away, I don't think it's possible to walk there. Anyway the bus comes eventually and I take it to the beach.

    I haven't brought my thongs so it's tricky walking on the pebbles and rocks (after taking off my shoes and socks for a paddle in the water). There are a few people around, but given it's mid-autumn it's not too crowded.

    Back on the bus, which can drop me not far from the ferry terminal. I'd like to buy a ticket for a trip tomorrow, but the woman at the tourist information kiosk outside tells me that I will have to wait until tomorrow morning. Ah well. I take the 555 bus back to the hotel. Yeosu is set up in such a way that there are gaps between districts so walking is not an option.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Korea
    Day 22

    Jeju to Yeosu

    October 19, 2017 in South Korea ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    There's a bit of travelling to do today, a one hour bus trip, a 40 minute flight followed by another one hour bus trip.

    At breakfast I chat to a young Melbourne guy who's cycling his way around Jeju. That's the way to do it, no waiting for buses or being stuck in traffic jams. Then I give instructions to a couple of French girls about how to get to the Yeongsil trail. So breakfast takes longer than usual ...

    I had planned to spend more of the morning in Seogwipo but decide to take the 10:25 bus to the Jeju airport. I pack up, farewell my gracious hostess and hit the road with my luggage. Well as far as Cafe Wookun anyway, which is on the way to the bus stop. I stop in for a final flat white then cruise to the bus stop.

    Catching the 181 bus back, it's pretty much on time. We pull into the airport around 11:30, I find a seat and have something to eat and drink. No rush. I check in my luggage a little after 12 and head to the departure gate. Even though I'm flying domestically to Yeosu, I still need to present my passport at a checkpoint before the usual security screening. No fingerprint check or retinal scan fortunately.

    Done and dusted, I browse some of the shops and spend 5000 KRW on a box of Jeju cactus chocolates. I like the taste a lot, not sure whether they'll make it back to Brisbane! We board at 1:15 and I spy an English language Korean Times newspaper as we board, so I snaffle that to read on board.

    Not that the flight is long enough to get through the paper, it's barely 40 minutes from take-off to landing. As we fly lower to land, a vista of islands is presented below us. I see some sandy beaches and bridges connecting islands. Very picturesque.

    Arriving in Yeosu, my luggage is available very promptly. I haul it to the bus stop and wait for the #35 bus. I'll be on this bus for an hour for the princely sum of $1.30. It takes a while for the bus to show (2:40) and I have to haul my megaluggage on board, where I hold on to it tightly to prevent it assaulting other passengers. Although the bus isn't crowded at this point, the bus goes past a school later and fills up with schoolkids. Me and my luggage take up a fair amount of space!

    However most people decamp before I do, so at my stop I'm able to haul my luggage down the stairs and out. It's a 10 minute roll to Hotel Elena, which will be my home for the next 3 nights.

    There is an e-mart around a kilometre away so I head up there and spend around 73 AUD on food and drink. I buy a bottle of Chilean red wine, a couple of Somersby apple cider 500ml cans, a 3 pack of canned tuna and vermicelli. Back in the game for home-cooked meals! I am laden down for the walk back, but it's all good as I enjoy the vermicelli and tuna later.

    I also duck into a convenience store where I buy a pack containing cherry tomatoes and grapes. I am also curious about Soju (Korean vodka) so I buy a bottle that is maple flavoured (see photo). This is popular with the kids, but it's not the same as our alcopops. It's 17.5% ABV and not particularly sweet. Surprisingly it tastes better drinking out of the bottle rather than a glass.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Korea
    1
    Day 21

    Cheonjeyeon Falls, Jungmun

    October 18, 2017 in South Korea ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    This should be a post about "Spirited Garden" but isn't owing to my abject failure in bus navigation. So I needed to take a bus from Seogwipo to Dongwang junction and then take an 820-2 bus from there. Dongwang junction is actually a rotary with 6 exits, and each exit has a bus stop. So I didn't realise this until too late ...

    After wasting the whole morning on this exercise, I take the 281 bus back and disembark at Jungmun's Cheonjeyeon falls. I find that I will have to PAY to see the falls. Having seen Iguazu, Victoria and Niagara falls for free I'm expecting big things from these falls! But first I duck across the road to "Soul Kitchen" and have a steak lunch (with potato wedges!).

    Fortified in body if not in mind I walk back to the falls and pay my entrance fee. Fortunately I can put my bag in a locker there as there are quite a few steps along the way.

    The falls comprise three different viewing points. I read later that Jungmun is the most touristy part of Jeju and you do get a sense of being milked as the falls are pretty but not overly spectacular.

    The most spectacular aspect is the selfie I took 😂. Anyway all posted photos are from the falls. I didn't have any coins to throw into the "Fountain of Five Blessings" so I threw my credit card in instead. Nothing's come up on my statement since then so I presume that I remain unblessed 😄    Read more

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