We started our day by learning the Busan subway system. It took us a little bit longer to figure out considering we kept trying to pay for our ticket with 10,000 won and it would only take 1,000 won at a time. As you can tell, we are REALLY bad at reading the fine print on things. Once we figured things out we headed towards the Hae Dong Yong Gung Temple. When we got our subway tickets the "interpreter" told us our pass would be good for the bus as well. LIES! We waited 10 minutes for the bus and found out we couldn't use it. The next bus didn't come for another 26 minutes. So we hopped in a taxi and he was about as coherent as a wall. Todd showed him a picture of where we wanted to go and still acted clueless. However, he turned his taxi around and started heading in the right direction so we were taking baby steps. He made a couple different phone calls and eventually passed his phone off to Todd. We assume it was his nephew trying to interpret for us. I didn't think we were ever going to make it. I'm sure the taxi driver was thinking how stupid Americans are! Anyways, we finally made it in one piece which is shocking because those drivers are nuts!!!
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| The entrance to the temple. That is not a suawastika, but a swastika...an old Buddhist symbol. |
Hae Dong Yong Gung is a Buddhist temple that is set in the mountain looking out over the coast. WOW! This was absolutely beautiful. We spent our time walking around and enjoying the beautiful scenery that was around us.
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| A panoramic view of Hae Dong Yong Gung Temple. It was very beautiful. Pictures don't serve it justice. |
How awesome is that view? It was 10 times better in real life. I could've spent hours in this spot. There were several statues including Chinese zodiac signs and different "good luck" Buddhist statues. Very awesome sight to see!
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| Chinese zodiac statues representing the symbol for each year. |
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| I am the year of the Tiger. |
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| Todd is the year of the Ox. |
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| Buddha overlooking the coast. Awesome view! |
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| Lucky wishing well if you can make it into the cauldrons the Buddha and turtle are holding. |
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| Dragon sculpture with lucky Buddhas surrounding it that tourists have left. |
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| Starting off my morning with big Buddha. |
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| Todd hanging out with his besties. OINK! |
There were also little markets in this area and we decided to try one random snack. We tried something called hoddeok. It was really awesome. It was like a fried pancake with a sweet sauce and nuts in the middle. Yum!
We grabbed the bus back and headed towards Haeundae Beach. Busan is a huge beach area and this is one of the popular places to go during "beach season". We grabbed some lunch here called Kimchi fries. I told you they love kimchi! This was just a huge mash-up of different cultures in one. Also a great way to clog our arteries.
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| Kimchi Fries...good thing we like to share! |
Don't ask me what's all on top because we're not really sure. It was great though!
Katie met us after work and took us on a long, gorgeous stroll up Mt.Dalmaji. This was so beautiful. I know you're probably thinking I say that about everything, but EVERYTHING is beautiful here.
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| A view on our hike up Dalmaji Hill. |
We climbed all the way to the top and down. When we got to the other side we found ourselves in this cute little fishery town. It was fun to walk around and see the lighthouses. A very quiet area that we later learned is very popular for couples to come to at night and enjoy a romantic evening. GROSS!! Glad we hit that up during the day.
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| A view of the fishing area we visited. |
We also came across huge gardens like the one below in the backyards of several houses. You don't see many houses in Korea, so when you do, it's a sight to see.
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| Tiered gardens that went on forever and ever. |
We also found our first patch of sweet corn. So now I know I can make it over here if I don't make it back to the states! Luke would be so proud!
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| Can't get away from the farm life. |
We took a different route back on a new train track path that has been closed for train traffic. We felt like huge rebels!
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| Walking the tracks on our hike back to Haeundae Beach. |
It was really awesome and has been decorated all along the way. There was a big memorial for the ferry accident that happened near Jeju. Very cool!
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| A memorial for the ferry tragedy at Jeju. |
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| Yellow ribbons were tied on the railroad ties for many yards. |
My favorite part of the whole evening was meeting Katie's 2 Korean friends, Sunny and Nicki. They took us to dinner at a very authentic Korean restaurant. It was a dinner of several Korean side dishes that you share among your company. Koreans love to share things! I was very nervous about this at first, but it turned out to be delicious. Sunny and Nicki did work on theirs and were finished before the 3 of us. Check out below for everything we ate. Shoutout to Nicki for writing down and translating every single dish we ate! Holy cow they love to eat!
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| Each picture is numbered with what it was. So much food! Pretty sure that mackerel by #11 still had its eyes in. |
고향맛 Hometown taste (this is what the name of the restaurant translated to)
1. 누룽지 (boiled water with rice, just water is called 숭늉)
2. 김치전 (kimchi pancake)
3. 겉절이 (hot pepper seasoned cabbage)
4. 고구마줄기무침 (sweetpotato stem)
5. 된장찌개 (soybean stew)
6. 고추장불고기 (spicy marinated pork)
7. 버섯볶음 (stir fried mushroom)
8. 잡채 (stir fried noodle with vegetables)
9. 샐러드 (salad)
10. 김치 (kimchi)
11. 고등어조림 (mackerel boiled with spicy sauce)
12. 쌈 (leaves for wrap)
Looks sketchy, but it was awesome! So you think we'd be done, right? Of course not. I told you Koreans love to eat! They took us to another place and wanted to serve us makkoli. This is a drink in Korea that they often love to mix with flavors. We tried banana makkoli and of course Sunny and Nicki order another dish to eat. Seriously?! They're the size of my forearm and can eat for hours! I was so impressed with their eating abilities.
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| More food and banana makkoli. |
We had a great day and night. It was fun trying something new and getting a good taste of the culture.
Fabulous food! How cool is this! You are getting an awesome experience. Enjoy. I would have tried all that for sure....unless the eyes were still on that fish. Have fun
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