Buddha’s Birthday in Busan: Day 2

The morning after the night before I felt surprisingly okay. After sampling the local night life in Busan, the city that doesn’t sleep or so it should be called, we jumped back on the coach and headed off on our second full day of site seeing. First stop was Gamcheon Art Village, which is located on the mountainside of Saha-gu. This village became host to many refugees of the Korean War that fled south to this Busan slum in order to escape the North. It is now one of the prettiest spots in Busan and is absolutely covered in art and colour. It reminded me slightly of my home town of Brighton in the UK, as this too is covered in colourful town houses, and decorative street art. 

 

 ART!

 MORE ART!

EVEN MORE ART!

Gamcheon Art Village

We spent a good few hours here, and even had time for one of the best hot dogs that i've ever eaten before...seriously, its all about adding EGG! Next it was off to the Taejongdae cliff walk, which was possibly my favourite place we visited over the whole weekend, with Gamcheon Art Village coming in a close second. The views were absolutely stunning and you can even catch a glimpse of Japan if you're lucky. It’s definitely worth the long walk up to the top to check out not only the view but the beautiful lighthouse, stunning gardens, cliff edge and of course the needle point too. You can also take the short ‘Elephant train' ride to the top if you’re legs won’t carry you. Allocate plenty of time at this destination, you’ll want it.

 The Lighthouse

 

The Bay

Japan in the distance...honestly its there!

On the way back from here, we stopped off at Jagalchi Fish Market, which is the largest seafood market in Korea. As we walked through what seemed like miles upon miles of live skinned eels, octopus and some of the weirdest looking fish I have ever seen, I started to feel more and more like I was in Clean Bandit's music video for 'Rather Be' (google it NOW if you're not familiar) and so I just let the rhythm take over. It was fantastic. I know its just a fish market but we don’t really get this back home, or at least not to this extent so to be quite honest I was having a great time...and I’m allergic to fish so it MUST have been good. 

 FRESH FISH!

 Stretched FROGS! Weird!

 Live skinned Eels!

 Don't ask...they were GROSS!

 Sooo many Octopus!

As we arrived at the other end of the fish market smelling less than desirable, we made our way through the streets of Nampo-dong, which was originally the downtown part of Busan. This vast shopping area is full of everything from clothes and jewellery stores to restaurant's and market stalls selling the strangest looking children's toys you can imagine - seriously someone call Stephen King! Its a bustling place to be at anytime and is also pretty close to Busan Tower and Yongdusan Park - our final stop on the second day. At this location we didn’t have a huge amount of time so it was nice just to wander around and take in the traditional buildings and monuments that this area had to offer. 

 Massive gong!

 

Busan Tower!

Back on the coach once again, and after a hectic but awesome second day we returned ‘home’ to our accommodation for the weekend. We were staying at something called a 'pension', which is basically somewhere between a hostel and a bed and breakfast...but without the breakfast, and sometimes without the bed too. Its pretty basic and not the most amazing place to stay but its cheap, right next to the beach, and when you’re out exploring for most of your time its almost pointless to get anything better. That evening we went out for a bite to eat before heading into the local area for a beverage or 10! However, we were all pretty tired and didn’t want to stay out ridiculously late as the meeting time for the final day was 9AM! 

So we returned at a reasonable (ish) hour, rested, and reflected on the adventures had on Day 2 in Busan, South Korea. 

To be continued...