On May 28, my alarm went off at 4:45am so that I could catch the first subway at 5:30. We had booked a day trip to the southwestern corner of the Korean peninsula, which required getting an early start.
Our tour bus was picking us up from a subway station on the other side of the river at 6:20am, and we miraculously made it there early. We then boarded the bus to make the 5 hour drive to our first stop, the Boseong Green Tea Fields.
Boseong county is responsible for 40% of the tea production in Korea. Our tour guide pointed out that, largely thanks to American influence in Korea, most Koreans are more likely to drink coffee than tea, but they are still proud of the high quality tea that is grown in the southern part of the peninsula. I had read that the green tea fields were just strikingly beautiful, and that the best time to see the leaves at their most vibrant was in late May. I was planning a trip anyway when I got an email from Trazy, the same tour company that took us to Nami Island, that they were running a day trip from Seoul for a grand total of $20 USD. Considering that included 10 hours worth of transportation and entry to two different attractions, my friends and I thought it was a no-brainer.
Boseong Green Tea Fields
After we explored in the tea fields, we tried various green tea delicacies at the onsite café. I really enjoyed some green tea ice cream, but Peter got these green tea-flavored gummies that were borderline inedible. I also had to take some time to drink water because stupidly I allowed myself to get dehydrated, which affected the rest of my day and made me feel nauseous for most of it. Like a total fool, I have no one to blame but myself!
Our second stop of the day was the Suncheon Bay Wetland and Ecological Park. Wikipedia describes Suncheon Bay Ecological Park as "a protected natural area...with 8 square miles of mudflats and 5 square miles of reed beds." Part of the reason it's a protected area is because Suncheon Bay is a stop or a home for a number of rare and migratory birds. I've read that the best time to see it is in the autumn, when the reed blossoms sprout and the whole area is awash in yellow, but it was still very nice to be there when the reeds were green, so no complaints from me.
Suncheon Bay Wetland and Ecological Park
Walking the boardwalk through the reed beds
My friends took a short hike to see the wetland from above, but I didn't join them because I still didn't feel well, so I sat on a bench on the boardwalk and listened to the wind move through the reeds. It was actually a lovely afternoon (despite feeling like garbage because I'm like a child who can't remember to drink water).
Our return bus ride to Seoul was blissfully uneventful; the bus dropped us off around 9:45pm and I took the subway home and promptly went to sleep. But it was a great day of being outside and seeing beautiful things, and it was really nice to get out of the city for the day.
The following weekend, we had a long weekend in honor of Korean Memorial Day, so we decided to make the most of it by booking a weekend in Busan. On Friday, June 3, we met at Seoul Station after school and hopped on a high-speed KTX train to Busan. Flights from Seoul to Busan are often cheaper than taking the train (despite KTX being considerably cheaper than Amtrak on the east coast of the US), but personally I really wanted the experience of taking a bullet train. I did also appreciate not having to deal with the hassle of going to an airport, either. As excited as I was to take the bullet train, I couldn't spot a real difference between that and a normal-speed train. Obviously it's not like you shoot out of the station from 0-60mph like a rollercoaster, so by the time the speed builds up to 190 miles an hour, it feels so gradual that you really can't tell. Still happy we did it though!
Our train left at 9pm and we pulled into Busan around 11:40 (as opposed to a 5 hour drive or an hour flight, as a point of reference for anyone reading this). We then took taxis to the hostel we were staying in, which was only a couple of blocks away from Haeundae Beach.
During my European travels, I used Hostelworld exclusively to book hostels all over the place and it never led me astray because I obsessively read reviews. Our hostel in Busan had a really good rating on Hostelworld and it only cost about $50 USD per person total for three nights in two 4-person rooms, each with a private bathroom, so it sounded like a steal. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was not as nice as I hoped. Thankfully it was clean, but the rooms all had carpet in them for reasons unknown, so the whole place had a mildew smell; also, the common area for guests to hang out was lackluster at best. It was basically just a place to sleep and to their credit, none of my friends ever complained, but I do think I would hesitate to stay there again—although the proximity to the beach might sway me.
On Saturday morning, we slept in before grabbing a late breakfast at a café and then heading over to the beach. According to the weather forecast, Sunday was likely going to be a wash so we wanted to enjoy the beach while we had decent weather.
Haeundae Beach
Amazing sand creations on display at the beach that day
The other beaches we've seen so far in Korea have been underwhelming, but Haeundae Beach really is very nice—although personally, the water was still too cold for me to go in. Chloë, Mattie and I stayed at the beach until the late afternoon, while the rest of our group split off to do a coastal walk. We met up back at the hostel late in the day before venturing back out for Indian food for dinner and then an Irish pub.
The following morning, we woke up to pouring rain. Cáitlin and Ailbhe were a little daunted by the weather (and Cáitlin had just been in Busan a month earlier when her parents visited), so they decided to do their own thing for most of the day. The rest of us made the trek to a nice brunch place before we did some sightseeing. As it turned out, the brunch place was a tiny one-woman operation, who was very frustrated when 6 of us walked in at once. She begrudgingly made our food but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that we were there for more than two hours—and we all only got breakfast!
Finally, since it was the middle of the afternoon at this point, we headed over to Gamcheon Cultural Village, which is an area known for "colorful houses, painted murals, shops & cafes," according to Google. Gamcheon used to be kind of a rundown, poorer neighborhood, so, according to Wikipedia, "the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism carried out a public art-themed renovation effort to convert the village to a cultural hub. It called for art students, professional artists, and residents to maintain, repair, and 'decorate' the village with art." It worked like a charm and now Gamcheon is one of the prettiest things in Busan.
Fish mural in Gamcheon
Stairs painted like books!
Mosaic stairs
Peeking through the steep alleyways
Gamcheon Culture Village
Keir and I taking in the views from under our umbrellas
Group selfie at a café in Gamcheon
I really enjoyed visiting Busan because I think that objectively, even with the crappy weather, it's a lot prettier than Seoul. However, after spending a weekend there, I'm honestly so happy I don't live there because I didn't realize how spoiled we are by Seoul's amazing public transportation system. We took a bus to brunch from our hostel and walked a good 10 minutes to and from each stop, then walked back to the same bus stop and took a bus across the city that took 45 minutes, then got on a second, smaller bus to get up into Gamcheon. To get back into the city center, we took the smaller bus back down and walked another 15 minutes in the rain to explore Gukje Market (much of which was closed thanks to both the weather and getting there late in the day) and BIFF Square (so named for the Busan International Film Festival). The idea of taking two buses in Seoul is truly laughable so that was definitely an adjustment for our short time in Busan!
Josh's photo of BIFF Square that I shamelessly stole
If the weather was better, I would have liked to go to the top of Busan Tower to see the views of the city, and maybe also take the Songdo aerial tram, but it was obvious that anything with a view was not worth pursuing that day, as the rain never let up. If I get back to Busan sometime before my time in Korea is up, they are both still on my list!
We met up with Cáitlin and Ailbhe to have Korean barbecue for dinner at a place right near Gwangalli Beach. Dinner was delicious, and then we split up again: Josh, Chloë, Peter, and Keir had booked a return train at 3:30pm so they would be back in Seoul on Monday around 6pm (as we all had to work on Tuesday and didn't want to get back too late), but their train got canceled and they were automatically rebooked on a train not leaving Busan until 10pm. They decided to go to the train station to see if they could get rebooked on an earlier train. Mattie, Cáitlin, Ailbhe and I went over to the beach (still in the rain) to see Gwangan Bridge all lit up, then took yet another bus back to the hostel, because Mattie's train back to Seoul left around 11am and Cáitlin, Ailbhe and I were on a train at 1pm. Thankfully, our friends were successful and got rebooked on a train that left Busan at 5:40am and were back in Seoul before 8am—so at least they had the whole day to catch up on sleep before going back to work on Tuesday!
Gwangan Bridge
On Monday morning, the rain had finally stopped, so Cáitlin, Ailbhe and I took a taxi to Haedong Yonggunsa Temple, a breathtaking temple right by the sea. Mattie didn't join us because with her train being earlier than ours, she didn't want to cut it too close. I wish everyone could have joined us because it really was stunning.
Temple gate
Haedong Yonggunsa Temple
After we explored, we got a taxi back to our hostel and went to have breakfast near the beach. Cáitlin and Ailbhe had kimchi dumplings and I had a bagel from Starbucks like a real American (LOL). We then got our bags and took a taxi to the train station (For the entire previous day, taxis were impossible to find, undoubtedly because of the weather. Monday was the best weather of the whole trip so taxis were available in abundance!). We got back to Seoul around 3:30 and then had the rest of the day to relax.
Train back to Seoul
Overall, the weather in Busan could have been better but we really made the most of the trip regardless. Hopefully I'll have time to go back and explore a little bit more before I leave this beautiful country.
For once, I don't have a bunch of exciting plans lined up, so it might be a few weeks until I have anything to write about. But never fear, a blog post will surely be forthcoming because we have a week off from school at the end of July—which I will be spending in the Philippines!