Markets
Jagalchi Fish Market
Headed here on our first morning and enjoyed exploring the outside area under a cloudless blue sky and endless multi-coloured umbrellas with fresh fruits and vegetables as well as fish and sashimi for lunch (including the local speciality gaebul).
Bujeon Market
This place is pretty much a local fruit and vege market where we swung by to get some ingedients for a picnic lunch to a journey to Taejongdae Park (at the southern tip of Yeong-do Island) which didn't end up happening because we found an awesome festival in Yongdusan Park so just had a picnic there instead
Gukje Market
This place was a lot of fun and a good chance for us girls to do some serious shopping at pretty reasonable prices. There were lots of rows of shops so we split in into two stints with a festival parade in Yondusan Park in the middle
Temples
Beomeo-sa
Took the subway all the way up Line 1 to Beomeo-sa and after a short bus ride from the station we were at the temple which was stunning. We didn't know it at the time but the lanterns were a special event in the build up to Buddha's birthday the week after but made the temple even more amazing than it would have been normally. It was founded in 678 but the buildings have been destroyed and rebuilt many times and is one of Korea's Great Five Temples
Seokbul-sa
A decent walk from the South Gate of Geumjeongsan Fortress, through Nanman Village and down a steep trail, across a small river then up a steep concrete path but well worth it to see the massive boulders with Buddhist images carved into them forming an enclave of worship. There is a small trail on your right once you have come back up the steep forest trail/steps that takes you right back to the Cable Car without having to revisit the village or gate which we managed to find with a lot of luck
Haedong Yonggung-sa
For some reason this temple isn't in Lonely Planet so luckily it was in an information brochure we picked up because it was beautiful. The only information we had was "take bus 181 to Yonggungsa National Fisheries Research and Development Centre" which isnt super helpful when the bus announcements are in Korean but we managed to piece enough characters together to figure it out and very glad we were able to explore this seaside temple. Not sure what time it closed (as we only arrived at 5:30pm) but spent about an hour enjoying the beautiful coloured lanterns and being by the seaside.
Hiking We ended up breaking our hike of Geumjeongsanseong Fortress into two days. On the first we hiked up from Beomeo-sa through a beautiful wooded area with a stream running through the rocks and made it up to the North Gate. From there we made our way past the awesome Command Post and took a bus down to Oncheonjang Station for a well-deserved spa
For the second day we made our way back to Oncheonjang Station and took the cable car up from Geumgang Park and walked to the South Gate. Rather than venturing back into the fortress to find the East and West gates we followed our nose down through Nanman Village heading towards Seokbul-sa, which was a bit of a mission but well worth it and then back past a small hermitage and made a new friend who introduced us to the magic of makgeolli on our way back to the cable car.
Spas
Hurshimchung Spa
Entry was W10,000 and then you charged any extras to your wrist band so we got the casual clothes to wear down in the common area and enjoyed the igloos and oxygen rooms. We spent 3 hours here enjoying all the different spas scattered around or main pool with a glass dome on top of it - awesome!
SpaLand
After some dinner in the massive Shinsegae Department Store we spent a few hours in the evening chilling at SpaLand. This was a lot more upmarket than Hurshimchung (which I preferred) with a focus on the sauna and mixed relaxing areas rather than the spa section as there weren't that many baths at all but we went in after 7pm so got the night rate of W7,000 which was nice.
Festivals
Joseon Tongsinsa Festival
It was a complete coincidence to stumble across this festival but we were might glad we did. Days after seeing the Hakata Dontaku Festival in Fukuoka (which is one of Busan's sister cities along with Auckland) it was great to see another parade and we had a great spot in the park to watch it from and took part in a few of the kids festivities after - notable were the awesome badges we made and masks we got!
Hoehyang Hanmadang as part of the Lotus Lantern Festival
Caught the end of the Lantern Parade at the park and were in a perfect spot for the laser and fireworks show and the festivities (drums and dancing) on the stage
Beaches
Haeundae Beach
There are about four in Busan but we only got time to check out one (too much time was spent up exploring in the mountains) but it was the perfect way to spend our last morning with a coffee in hand walking along the sand and admiring the massive Sand Buddha! before taking our flight back from (tiny) Busan Airport which was waaay smaller than the port!
and of course who can forget the food - here's some pictures of the deliciousness!
Thanks Busan, we had a great time!
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