Busan

Day 1

The Hanok guesthouse quickly went from cute to fucking uncomfortable. I knew as soon as I lay down that I wouldn’t be getting a good night sleep. I tossed and turned on the hard floor until around 3/4am when I finally fell asleep, only to be woken by the alarm at 7am. 

The sweet old lady serves us a tray of breakfast in our room before we catch our bus to Busan, not to be confused with the train to Busan, which is full of zombies. We dump our bags and then head to Biff Square in the Nampo district to have some street food for lunch. We share some dumplings and sushi rolls then have a stroll through the fish market, which is pretty fucking rank, cause it stinks of fish. Funny enough. 

From there we hoof it up a big hill to Gamcheon culture village. Refugees settled here during the Korean War. Since then, students, artists, and residents decorated the village with murals, and the town grew into a tourist attraction. It’s been nicknamed “Korea’s Santorini” and the “Machu Picchu” of Busan. In no way does it remotely resemble either of those places! Although Rachel and I both agree that it’s very similar to Comuna 13 in Medellin. 

That evening we head to Wildcat brewery for some beers and fried chicken. Hands down the best fried chicken I’ve had in my life. Juicy, succulent, moist. Everything you want your chicken to be. It was coated in a sticky honey dressing with some sort of cheese sticks, plus fries and sauces. I’m drooling just writing about it. Afterwards we head to Thursday Party pub, with it being Thursday and all. The atmosphere is a bit flat so we have a few games of darts and then head to bed.

Day 2

We’re up early to secure our tickets for the sky capsule, which is a scenic coastal railway which runs between two beaches. Our slot is for 1230 so we stop for a quick pastry at Liberta (the egg tart was simply sublime) and then we check out Haedong Yonggungsa temple on the coastline. It’s pretty rammed with tourists so we snap our photos and make a quick exit. 

The sky capsule is cute, and the views along the coast and Haeundae beach are nice, although I’m sure it would’ve been far more scenic on a sunny day. Sadly we’ve been very unlucky with the weather in Busan, and it’s been grey and overcast the whole time we’ve been here. It’s definitely not beach weather, so we head to the local street food market to eat some more dumplings. For dessert we share a hotteok, which is like a deep fried pancake filled with seeds and honey. Calorific, but absolutely delicious.

That evening we head to Heuksoe Korean bbq in Seomyeon. This was my second bbq experience, the first being the food tour in Seoul. This one was hands down the best so far. We ordered the mixed beef platter which came with a sweet, sticky sauce for dipping. The quality of the meat was amazing, especially for the price of £15pp! Korean food is so cheap, we’re barely spending any money. 

After eating, we realise we’re next door to Thursday Party bar, not having realised there’s more than one branch in the area. This is the one we were supposed to go to last night as it has a much better atmosphere than the other one. We see a lot of the same faces, in particular a group of three Americans. You can spot an American a mile off - backwards baseball cap, tank tops, straight for the beer pong table. We couldn’t figure out the dynamic initially as it was a guy in his 50s plus two really young guys. I originally thought a sugar daddy and his twinks, but we got chatting to them that night and realised it was a father and son and his best friend. They were lovely though, and we ended up sitting and chatting with them most of the night. When they left we were joined by a guy from
Birmingham and a Danish guy. It turned out to be a great pub for meeting fellow travellers, as well as local Korean girls who I think mainly go there to pull a foreigner. I think it was about 1 or 2 by the time we got back to the hotel.

Day 3

The next day the weather is miserable, and the rain has started. Which means all the other plans we had, such as the coastal walk, went out the window. Instead we each decided to do our own thing. That’s the great thing about travelling with Rachel, she’s similar to me in that she often travels alone and likes her own company and doesn’t want to be joined at the hip the whole time. Obviously she’s gonna be reading this blog, so I can only say nice things anyway! She decided to have a pedicure and then spend the day at Spa Land, which is exactly as it sounds. A massive spa complex with over 10 different types of saunas ands baths. Originally I was going to go with her until I discovered that to access all the good areas, you need to be stark bollock naked. Perhaps in a room full of strangers I wouldn’t mind, but going with your friend and being totally naked while awkwardly talking about the weather didn’t sound too appealing! 

I decide to book a Korean massage after breakfast, which turns out to be nothing like I expected. I was made to change into shorts and tshirt and was then poked and prodded for an hour. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it wasn’t the nice relaxing oil massage I’d been hoping for. So I immediately find the nearest Thai spa and book in for a 40 minute back massage, and boy was I glad I did as it was one of the best I’ve had in my life! 

Suitably relaxed, I head to Bonjeon for lunch. It’s a popular spot with locals specialising in dwaeji gukbap, which is pork soup with rice. When I arrive there’s already a queue, but luckily it moves quickly. The pork broth is served with a whole bunch of accompaniments such as leeks, shrimp paste and gochujang and you add whatever you want to taste. On it’s own, it’s a little bland, but as soon as you add the chilli and shrimp paste it turns into this orange bowl of spicy goodness. Absolutely delicious, and only £5!

After lunch it’s time for coffee and dessert at Strut. The flat white here is the best I’ve had since I arrived, and their egg tart is insane. I honestly think they give Portugal a run for their money! From there it’s a trip to Olive Young, a famous health and beauty chain here in Korea. They’re on every street across the country, and they’re always absolutely packed with people. Koreans have such beautiful skin so it’s hard not to spend a good £100 on face creams and serums to take home in my quest for eternal youth. 

With Rachel still at the spa, I make my way to Gwangali Beach where they have a drone light show every Saturday. I wait patiently for it to start at 8, which comes and goes.   Usually things here are so efficient, so I go on the website to find out it’s been cancelled tonight due to the wind. Can’t catch a break!

I think we’d have enjoyed Busan more if the weather was better. Overall, we didn’t love it as much as Seoul. I thought it fell a little tackier. But it’s still a cool place, with some amazing food!I 

Next stop, Jeju Island....