Summer Vacation Trip: Busan

I still had a few days to go in my summer vacation and didn't want to waste it sitting around at home, so I took myself to Busan for a couple of days. It was a nice little date, albeit hot as anything and slightly ... scary at times.

I left Daejeon and took the KTX to Busan, which only took an hour and a half because it was a real KTX line and actually fast. (It didn't feel or look fast, though, even when looking out of the windows, but the slow train takes 3.5 hours, so I know it was actually fast.)

I got into Busan in late afternoon and headed for Haeundae Beach. Busan is a much larger city than Daejeon and there are almost four times as many people. This was obvious as soon as I stepped out of the metro at the Haeundae stop. I discovered Busan was also a city many other Asian nationalities visit on their summer breaks just as we visit their popular cities, and I later found out some sort of sea/music festival was starting in two days, which was driving up the population as well as local motel prices. The cheapest hotel I was able to find was 60,000won, so I booked it. The motel across the street had prices starting at 120,000won. The scary bit was that upon booking the 60,000won hotel room, I actually had to stay there. It was one of those lock-the-entry-door-and-the-inside-door-and-prop-chairs-against-both-of-them-just-in-case kind of joints. I was okay, but I slept with one eye open that night. Next time I'll do a little advance planning.

Haeundae Beach

I woke up the following morning and checked out of the motel as fast as I could. I headed back over to the beach and to the Busan Aquarium. It was really cool to finally see it, as its quite popular in Korea. There were many exhibits: a freshwater fish tank, a tank of piranhas (supposedly), a lot of different jellyfish, an octopus, a coral reef exhibit, and a large tank that was home to several sharks, sea turtles, rays, a hammerhead shark, a couple of dolphins, and several different species of fish (some separated from the others by clear plexiglass and nets).

A jellyfish exhibit

Shark!!

The aquarium took a little over an hour to see, and when I left it, I headed toward the Busan Museum of Modern Art. It was three floors of all kinds of art, from Asian scroll paintings to various Asian languages written on scrolls, to paintings and sculptures.

Busan Museum of Modern Art

Painting Gallery

My favorite painting. I'm fascinated by the artist's ability to paint rain.

This speaks volumes. Another favorite.

I left the modern art museum and headed over to the Busan Museum, which was a vast history of Busan, including all the way back to when Korea was divided into three kingdoms. It was very educational.

Busan Museum

Scroll-art: Procession of the King

An old projector

Royal ladies shoes

I wanted to head over to Haedong Yonggungsa Buddhist Temple, which is a beautiful Buddhist temple on the seaside, but the entire area is outside so I decided to pass because it was so hot outside that I nearly passed out from the heat just from walking the short distance from the metro to each of the museums. I'll have to go back for a visit in the fall when the weather will be more bearable.

I headed back to Daejeon shortly after my trip through all of the museums. Busan was fun and there is a lot to see. I will definitely have to plan a trip back in the fall.