부산 (Busan)

After Level 6 ended in May, four friends and I went to Busan for a long weekend. We left Friday, 5/9 and returned Monday, 5/12. We stayed at the (arguably) most famous area of Busan, Haeundae Beach. We took the train from Seoul Station on Friday morning, and were there approximately 2.5 hours later. The train cost $50 one way for the economy seats, available at Korail.com or at a ticket booth at the station. The earlier trains sell out quick (especially the cheaper $30 tickets, which is what happened to us), so I recommend booking those early online. A credit card is required, though they take overseas cards. Just don't be fooled like me, and assume after you click "Submit" and it takes you back to the Search page that your transaction didn't work. I may have ended up with a few different sets of tickets before I realized it actually WAS taking my money and giving me tickets... it just wasn't giving me any feedback telling me so (returning to the Search page made it seem like there was a problem and I had to search again). Anyway. :) Thank goodness they give full refunds online within 24 hours of purchase (though, obviously not if your ticket is for a train that departs in less than 24 hours). We actually had one girl miss the train, and I was able to get a refund no problem, minus a 10% fee (because it was within one hour of departure). Pretty nice system.

Anyway, just going to post some photos. I know, I'm a terrible blogger.

Haeundae Beach (해운대해수욕장)

I do recommend if you want to go to the beach, that you go in (early) May or September. Check out these photos (from here) from high summer, and compare it to my photos:

(Compared to July/August: Noooooo thank you.)

We also visited this cool temple that's situated on cliffs overlooking the water. There were SO many people that we didn't even try to go in the main temple area. We just sat on rocks along the water.

Haedong Yonggung Temple (해동 용궁사)

And finally, a food picture.^^ Busan has a famous fish market (Jagalchi Market - 자갈치시장), incidentally right across from where (I think) they have the Busan International Film Festival. We went there one day, and while I didn't really get to sample raw fish like I wanted (Joana and I did eat fresh octopus though), we walked around and saw a bunch of fish in tanks (free aquarium!). My favorite are called gaebul (개불)... though, I suppose, it's technically a (spoon) worm.



hehehe.

A few days after I got back from Busan, my parents came to stay for two weeks. We went to most of the touristy spots in Seoul, and also spent 5 days in Jeju. Photos soon(ish). :)