Busan

New country klaxon! Arriving on the ferry in the late afternoon, Busan looms out of the harbour mists like an imagined land hovering above the sea. After port immigration it all becomes very real, and very Korean—bright lights, Hyundai buses, floppy haircuts, kimchi galore! We are relying heavily on a Korean pronunciation guide from Chelsea’s friend Jess, as well as Google Translate, which has been fairly successful. Unfortunately, bus times and walking routes are wildly inaccurate on Google Maps (we think to confound North Korean spies) so logistics are much more complicated than Japan. Even apps and websites with English language options here are prone to include sporadic bouts of Korean, which makes them hard to use.

We checked in to a minuscule room whose only redeeming feature was that it was on ‘Book Street’. Instead of giving us two regular towels, they provided eight hand towels. Roughly the same number of square metres, but not quite what we needed. The first day was mostly admin: buying SIM cards, trying to prebook some of our Korean travel, and shopping. Dan finally replaced his 3yo phone with a new Samsung (they're much cheaper here because there's no import charges) so expect to see much higher quality photos from now on!

Day 2, we caught a bus to Haeundae for the cute tourist train to Gudeok-po and Songjeong beach. We saw a battalion of South Korean military men doing jumping jacks in the sea: very athletic. In the evening we jumped back on the scenic train and headed to the yacht marina for a sunset cruise. As we boarded, a crewman shook his head and muttered ‘so many Chinese’ in English. He was correct. Many many Chinese girls, in teeny weeny outfits, doing photo shoots on the yacht. We sat to the side, bemused, and tried to ignore the production of softcore in the bow of the boat.

We’ve been eating a bit more sporadically as Korean cuisine is extremely meaty. Instant noodles from the 7-Eleven are a staple food again. We were very happy, therefore, to find pajeon in Gukje Market—a savoury carrot and spring onion pancake that we’ve attempted to cook previously at home (with mixed results).

Following our market meandering, we caught the bus to Song Do and swung across the bay at 86m above the water in a glass-bottomed cable car. On the other side there was a short hike, dotted with exercise equipment. Dan of course had a go at the jumbo hula hoop.

Busan also gave us time to plan our onward journey to China, as we need to prep for visa shenanigans. Dan completed a heroic amount of admin while Chelsea explored colourful Gamcheon Cultural Village. She discovered Duf Coffee, an unhinged ADHD café full of ducks, run by a North Korean defector who swam to freedom. Not that Dan missed out or anything 😡

Next stop, Gyeongju!Read more