27 October 2018
Busan, South Korea
Today I took a day-long tour of Busan. It began at the Busan Train Station, Exit 1, where the majority of the tourist met to get accountability, then load a coach bus to head to the next two pick up spots.
After leaving Busan Train station, we headed for a 30-40 min ride to the Seomyeon Station to pick up about 10 folks. From there, we headed to Haeundae Station to pick up the final person for a total of 38 people who would go on this day-long tour (Some from China, Singapore, and other Asian Countries).
After we left Busan Train station, we ended up taking about an hour and a half to pick up everyone, so the tour didn’t actually start until about 0945. Our first stop would be the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple (unknown if spelled correctly). We spent an hour there before meeting at the bus to head to our next destination which took about a fifty minute drive, a little longer with traffic.
From the temple, we headed to Taejongdae Park, driving over a well-known bridge called Diamond Bridge, to view the Yeongdo lighthouse and look out at the East Sea from the observation deck. We spent about an hour there before heading to the main town just outside the park for lunch. We were able to walk the main street and find a restaurant of our choice and were given an hour for lunch before we headed to our next destination which took us about forty minutes to drive too.
From the Taejongdae Park, we headed to Songdo Skywalk, just off Songnim Park where we spent about 45 minutes walking around Turtle Island and the skywalk which walks you over part of the East Sea.
From the Songdo Skywalk, we headed to Gamcheon Culture Village for an hour to take pictures and look through all the gift shops available. After that hour, we loaded the bus and headed for our first drop off point back at Busan Train Station.
Overall, a fun day seeing some of the sites. It’s exactly what I had in mind, giving me a little taste of Busan to determine if I wanted to go back, and if so, where I would focus on going. In light of this tour, I would definitely go back to the Songdo Skywalk area and Gamcheon Culture Village. On our way back to our drop off point of Busan Train Station, the tour guides pointed out the International Market Place as we drove by (called Nampul Market, spelling may be incorrect).
The day was comfortable, however, getting use to the Asians on the tour bringing snacks of miscellaneous seafood they picked up from each stop to snack on the bus was a little nauseating, as well as, the bus was packed. But between a packed bus and smelly snacks, not bad and would recommend to anyone interested in getting to know Busan.
As for each site visited, the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple was a nice temple with history. According to our tour guide, a Buddhist, I missed the name of the Buddhist, had a dream of the Goddess of Mercy telling him to build a temple on the site of where it’s located now. This was back in the 1300’s. However, when Japan finally invaded and occupied South Korea, the Japanese burned the temple to ruins. Once finally rebuilt, the Korean government used cement to recreate the temple, where it sits today. The site is extremely crowded with tourists from all over the world, and very commercialized with souvenir shops and miscellaneous food tents for snacks, to include the ever loved E-Mart.
Our second stop was the Taejongdae Light house and observation deck. Very nice, a lot of steps to go down (and back up), but a great view of the East Sea. The town I ate lunch in (and the restaurant) was very quaint and nice.
The third stop at the Songdo Skywalk and Turtle Island was fun, but I would have liked a little more time to walk around and look at the shops and take the over head tram for some panoramic viewing of the area. Apparently, there is a story behind turtle island. According the tour guide, a fisherman fell in love with a mermaid, and as such, the mermaid had to return to sea, so the fisherman waited for her return, which never happened. His eventual death came when he turned to stone (reason was not given why he turned to stone) which became Turtle Island. The name of the island has to do with how the rock formations (from certain angles) look similar to a turtle.
Moving on, I would have also liked a little more time at our fourth stop, the Gamcheon Culture Village to do more walking around and shopping. At this site, it has become a tradition for visiting Koreans to rent traditional wear and walk around for hour or so in said garb. Some of the above photos, you’ll see some nicely dressed males and females in what are traditional dresses and suits (or whatever it is they call the traditional clothing).
It would have been nice to be able to fit in some time at the International Market Place, but by the time we drove by it, I was ready to call it a day, anyway. So, maybe next visit to Busan.
The price for this tour was $41. We returned around 1800hrs. There was a chill, especially when the wind blew, but overall, a nice sunny day.
