Alright as promised, albeit a little later than anticipated, I've finally sat down to sort through the pictures, random notes, and bits of memory from my most recent greater Korealand adventuring.
A few weeks back, the ROK celebrated both Buddha's Birthday and Children's day and, as a result, I had both Thursday and Tuesday off of school. In a wonderful twist of fate, both Ali's and my school were founded on the same day, thus giving us the additional Friday off in honor of our school's birthdays. Aaasaaa! Happy 4th birthday Banji!!!
We decided to take advantage of our opportunity and head down to Busan, the second largest city in Korea, for a mini Spring break on the Southern Coast.
Because we are trying to live a more hobo lifestyle (ie: making some attempts to save money for our summer adventures or say... the future) we opted for the slow Mugunwha train (5hrs) rather than the bullet KTX (3 hrs). For this reason, we also opted for a bleary-eyed, early morning departure to maximize our precious mini-vacay. After a Wednesday night slumby in Pyeongtaek, we rolled out of bed around five thirty and headed to PT Station in order to catch an early train South.
We deposited our bags, settled in with some kopi or, in Ali's case, some mudlike choco-coffee grinds mixture of iced distgustingness, and promptly passed out for the first few hours of the trip. Overall I'd say the slow train was an excellent decision. The half priced tickets allowed for a few hours of slumber, along with an hour or so of reading, munching on some Family Mart snacks, and taking in the lovely Korean countryside. We rolled into Busan around 11:45 and quickly transferred ourselves and our bags to the Subway bound for Haeundae Beach, from which we were picked up and whisked off to our weekend mimbak.
A mimbak is best described the Korea equivallent of a hostel. It is basically a budget guesthouse, providing shoe box sized rooms equipped with ondol floors and blankets, as well as a communal common room and kitchen. Mimbaks are not often utilized by foreigners, as almost all the information to be found regarding location/reservations/availability are in Korean, which explains why our host seemed simply extatic to pick us up form the subway. The facilities may or may not have been a little worse for the wear, may or may not have required a good dusting upon arrival, may or may not have had floor to ceiling Model T wallpaper, and may or may not have included a room which to enter one must walk through the adjoined bathroom. Oh, and I forgot, the bathroom may or may not have utilized a half-size bathtub for both bathing and hand washing purposes. Needless to say, it just scraped a passing grade on the hobo test. Place to sleep sans bedbugs? Check. And, it was just a short walk from the largest, nicest beach in Korea. Checkmate. Somehow, I neglected to snap a photo of these four star accommodations. My B.
We dropped our bags and changed into some lighter clothes, before heading off in search of beach and food. As it is still May, we hadn't really expected sunbathing weather; so we were pleasantly surprised when, post delicious sandwiches, we were able to catch a few hours on the beach dozing, reading, and relaxing under a blazing sun.
After we were had soaked in our fair share of sun, and thoroughly covered ourselves in sand, Ali and I decided to make our way towards Yongdusan Park to take in a view of the city. It was cool to see the true scope and size Busan Bay and the city sprawl; but, true to [Korean] form, even from the 118 meter vantage point of Busan Tower, I felt a little clostrophobic looking at the sheer number of building jammed in between the busy port to the South, and rolling mountains to the North, West and East.
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| Most Korean-high school-student-esque picture EVER. |
Our first evening in Busan, found Ali and I wandering through Gukje Market, spending a lovely few hours 아이쇼핑 (ah-i-syo-ping...eye shopping...window shopping), actually shopping, and accidentally eating a a street food dinner/feast of delicious 파전(pajeon) green onion pancakes and 만두(mandu) dumplings. Kamsah Arri, turns out ordering two mandu, really means that you ordered two servings of five. Two pajeon and ten mandu later, lesson learned. At this point, we were both about ready to settle into a food comma; so, we decided to head back towards our mimbak and catch a late night viewing of 와타포앨어펜트 (wa-ta-po-eal-aw-pen-tuh... figure that one out) before calling it a night.
Day two we decided to wake up quasi-early (read: before eleven) and check out the two main temples in the area. After a quick round of coffee, we set off for our first destination, Yoeonggungsa Temple (or Yeongung temple... I think Sa is temple...). This was an excellent decision. The temple, perch high on a cliff overlooking the sea, was strung up with about a million colored lanterns in honor of Buddha's Birthday and the effect was simple breathtaking. We spent a good few hours wandering the temple grounds, taking a million pictures and enjoying the sea air.
Deciding to make a day of it, we left Yeonggungsa around lunch time and headed towards the mountains to Bemeosa, a beautiful temple nestled against the lush green landscape of Guemjeong Mountain. The temple was, again, dressed up in lanterns for Buddah's birthday and, as it had drizzled a bit on our way over, was nearly empty. There were also a few buildings that hadn't been restored in recent years, which were a beautiful contrast to many of the pristine temples and palaces I have visited thus far. We spent another hour or so strolling through the serene temple complex, snapping a million more photos (I think I am addicted to lanterns and mini Buddhas) and enjoying a few peaceful moments away from the bustle of the city. 
As it started to actually rain on our bus ride back into the city, we decided to seek shelter in a tea shop recommended by Lonely Planet. We spent a lovely hour drinking mystery tea (the entire menu was in Korean) reading our books, and planning our next South East Asian adventure. There are few things that can make these two travel/bookworms happier.
As evening began to stretch into night we both had thoughts of dinner and showers, but less than stellar feelings about the bathing facilities at the Four Seasons Daegu Mimbak. Enter Spaland, the largest sauna and jimmjilbang in Korea, and possibly in all of Asia. As Spaland is also part of Busan Shinsegae (a very shmancey department store) it goes without saying that is is also the nicest jimmjibang most people will ever set foot in, yours truly included. After stumbling on this gem of an idea, we quickly dashed back to the mimbak and grabbed a change of clothes before heading off to Shinsegae. BEST. IDEA. EVER.
Nice and sweaty we headed back towards the ladies locker room and baths, stripped off, and headed into the fanciest room of soaking tubs I have ever seen. We spent another hour or so soaking in baths of varying temperatures employing an equal variety of jets. We even soaked for a little while in an outdoor bath, designed to mimmick a natural hot spring. Assaahh!
After locking up our shoes, and changing into the provided jumpsuits, we spent about an hour testing out all the different sauna rooms the facilities had to offer. We spent a little while getting nice and sweaty in two rooms that looked like a combination between beehives and adobe mud ovens, before moving on to a series of what I will call "novelty rooms" including (but not limited to) one where the marble floor pulsed almost imperceptibly to the beat of soothing background music, a room filled with a variety of pulsing colored lights and claiming to be sending electronic waves through our bodies, a steam room designed to mimic a roman bath and, finally, a cold room with an aquarium which may or may not have contained uber-realistic plastic jelly fish.
Nice and sweaty we headed back towards the ladies locker room and baths, stripped off, and headed into the fanciest room of soaking tubs I have ever seen. We spent another hour or so soaking in baths of varying temperatures employing an equal variety of jets. We even soaked for a little while in an outdoor bath, designed to mimmick a natural hot spring. Assaahh!
[I will pause here for a note on Korean saunas and jimmjilbangs. The are basically fantastic. There is nothing more satisfying after a long day or, especially, a long hike, than settling in for a nice soak to sooth your sore muscles. I also think that they are one of the few Korean traditions that help balance out the extreme value placed on physical appearance in Korea. The Jimmjilbang is the one place where no one is judging anyone, where no one is expected to be perfect. Everyone is nakie and no one cares. It is a family destination, and a staple in the life of every Korean I know. I think that the bathhouse, and its universal acceptance, can be an amazing enforcer of a positive body image, even in a society as image conscious as Korea. Perhaps the good old U.S. of A. will embrace the Jimmji for all it's glory. My guess...not anytime soon.]
As we had skipped dinner in order to make it to Spaland before the final entry time, Ali and I left squeaky clean and famished. We hopped on the last subway just before midnight and headed back to the Haeundae area in search of some dinner. We settled on a place Ali had seen earlier, which she had noted was packed with Koreans. The restaurant was still hopping on our arrival, which we took to be a good sign, so we grabbed a table and ordered some galbi. Turns out they don't serve galbi. Poop. After taking a moment to dicifer the menu we ordered what appeared to be their standard fare barbeque and hoped for the best.
We were served up something that, based on its name, I was pretty sure was pork, but looked and tasted exactly like amazing delicious steak. I decided to type the name "galmaegisal" into my hand-uh-pone translator to see if it could help us identify the mystery meat. No help there as "galmaegisal" translates literally to "seagull." I was pretty positive we weren't eating seagull (no one has EVER mentioned it in regards to Korean fare) but, as I couldn't be entirely certain, I decided not to enlighten Ali as to the translation. [ Update: after discussing the matter with my co-teachers, I learned that what we ate was in fact pork. Galmaegisal refers to a small portion of the pig, roughly the size of a seagull. So, final verdict? The mystery meat was.... Diaphram. Cool. It was delicious. I'd eat it again in a second.] The night was topped off with some ice cream treats, and a stroll back the mimbak. Successful day 2? 100%
Saturday morning we woke up and spent the morning relaxing on the beach waiting for our friends Sam and Kelley to arrive. Once they did we decided to spent the afternoon exploring Jalgachi Market, the largest fish market in the country. After wandering through the market sprawl that overflowed onto the surrounding streets we eventually found the large main market building. We checked out the lower floors filled with overflowing fishtanks, and overflowing tables of patrons chowing down on seafood that had been dead less than a minute, before heading upstairs to find a place to eat ourselves. Forgetting, again, that Korean sashimi comes with a feasts worth of banchan (side dishes) we ordered entirely too much food, and proceeded to eat our way through our own seafood banquet. Knowing that us silly waygooks were likely to have little to no idea the proper way to consume said feast, the ajumma in charge of our eating station of choice did her best to help us out by dipping things in the appropriate sauces, smashing entire prawns with the palm of her hand, literally shoving food into our mouths, and telling Sam he was handsome.
Our last evening in Busan was spent relaxing, napping, chitchatting, and enjoying a few drinks near Haeundae before calling it a night, and all cozying up in our kitchen table sized room. After an obligatory coffee run, Ali and I made it to our train the next morning with about a minute to spare. I was actually mentally preparing jump onto the moving train, if it started to pull away before we were able to sprint to the correct compartment. Perhaps a little too close for comfort but, alas, we made it onto the train and spent the next few hours dreaming our way back to reality.
Wheeeew... did you make it? If so you have earned a special place in my heart and for that I leave you with the following hilarious nugget: In light of recent news, Miss Logi Faye and I have spent the last few minutes having a very serious discussion as to who would win in a shankfight/poetry slam/walk-off/dance battle etc between the KKK and the WBC. The conversation has since moved on to whether Dumbledore or Voldemort would win a jello wrestling match if they couldn't use magic. So there's that.
Love you all for being interested in my ridiculous ramblings on life in the ROK. I assure you I am equally interested in your lives, and would love to hear updates on life in the land of stars, stripes, and Lucnhables.
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