In Busan we jumped on the metro and headed out to our hostel at Gwangalli Beach, a few miles east of the city. Our hostel, Indy House (so named after Indiana Jones, of whom the patron is a huge fan), is one of the cleanest hostels I have ever seen. We were able to get a double room with AC for just £3 a night more than bunk beds would have cost us. It makes a nice change not to feel crammed into a hostel.
The Gwangalli Beach area is very nice, a mixture of golden sand, modern high rises (which resemble offices rather than hotels), and coffee shops - which seem to be the latest craze. We have walked along the seafront several times and cannot help but notice the empty bars, whilst the coffee shops churn out latte after cappuccino. Which probably explains why everyone stays out so late, and then gets up so late.
Despite the proliferation of coffee houses and restaurants, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of entertainment on offer. We found one small fairground-like stall, managing to pop 12 balloons with our 15 darts. I guess the Koreans are not huge darts fans, given the reaction we received after our best Martin Adams impressions. The nearby fairground, MyWorld was completely closed.
We had an interesting wander around Raw Fish Town. Although in truth it should have been called "live" fish town, all the specimens were in tanks. We treated it more like an aquarium , gaping at all the different species soon to end up on the dinner plate. On our walk back we saw several old folk wading through rocky shallows collecting shellfish. A beautiful fish, shaped a little like a small shark with golden and black stripes, swam dangerously close to an old man's homemade rod, but turned away at the last minute, narrowly avoiding adding his name to the menu.
We took a taxi out to a Buddhist temple, Haedong Yonggungsa, which is located about 10km from Busan on a stretch of coastline. The tranquility of the location only disturbed by the rhythmic incantations of a monk into a loud hailer. This temple has had an interesting history, the original being burnt down in the 1590's when the Japanese invaded Korea, and didn't get rebuilt until 1930! However it has obviously found a use today, as numerous people gathered their prayer mats and began their rituals, ignoring the many cameras pointed their way.
All around the temple you can see signs much like a swastika, which denotes a religious site, and you are constantly climbing up uneven rock steps to see the golden Buddha or the Goddess of Mercy. It's a really stunning, peaceful place and somewhat rare, as apparently most Buddhist Temples are located up mountainsides.
However the sound of crashing waves only adds to the mystique of the place, and in fact such noise is common here - every metro or train station we have passed through has had a water feature, usually with a spinning waterwheel, a duck spouting water from his beak or some other oddity. Perhaps that why the Koreans generally seem so calm and relaxed. Really we've only experienced a very minor level of anti-social behaviour. Queues. We all know that us Brits love our queues, but quite a few people have squeezed into the tiniest gap just to push in, which can be very frustrating.
We have made contact with Mr Shin,the port agent here in Busan. He has advised us that our ship, the Hanjin Miami is running a day late, so we leave on the 29th September. We have to meet him outside his office in the city centre tomorrow morning, and he'll take us to the ship from there.
Until then we are relaxing, enjoying the fresh sea air and the excellent food Busan has to offer.
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