2.5. – 5.5.2023
On Tuesday, the alarm clock woke us up at 6.30am, and just after 7am we were in a taxi on our way to the Fukuoka International Ferry Terminal. There we boarded the trimaran Queen Beetle and the ferry journey to Busan, South Korea, could begin. The sea wasn’t really rough, but nevertheless the ship was rocking on the waves in a way that made Risto feel sick. Being a smart boy, he headed for the toilet, but he didn’t quite get there in time. Fortunately, only the recent breakfast was boomeranged and Risto literally caught it with his hands, so no major damage was done. The hoodie just took a few hits. For the rest of the trip, Risto and Jaana moved to the sun deck at the back of the boat, where the sea was less noticeable. Risto took a little nap, and by the end of the trip he had recovered enough to start craving ice cream. Even eating that didn’t go like in Strömsö, because for some reason the ice cream melted in Risto’s hands, so much so that even his t-shirt, which had remained clean from the previous episode, was now taking a lot of hits. After arriving at the hotel in Busan, Risto took a shower right away.
In the afternoon, we just walked to the nearby China Town district for dinner and to buy snacks for mornings and evenings. China Town might as well have been called Russian Town, as there were far more Russian shops than Chinese shops along the street. We too ended up eating at an Uzbek restaurant, where the waiter told us that there are a fair number of Russians coming to Busan by boat. On the other hand, looking at the map, that’s not surprising. It’s not a terrible distance by sea from Vladivostok to South Korea.
On the first actual day in Busan we woke up relatively late. Jaana and Risto woke up at nine, but Ronja and Marko slept past ten o’clock. In the morning we had to look for directions beforehand from Google maps, because in South Korea you can’t download offline maps like in other countries. We could have used some other local map apps, but they only work in Korean.
We took the metro to a station called Jagalchi Market. The place is apparently a very famous market, selling fresh fish and seafood either to be eaten on the spot or taken home. The area was really huge. First we walked around the outside section. There were all sorts of sea creatures available! Then we moved inside, where the market continued. There we found out that it was possible to buy seafood from the ground floor of the building, and take it upstairs to be cooked. Since we were already getting hungry, we chose a fish, which was then carried in a bucket to the second floor. In booth number 36 the fish was fried for us, and we had a combined lunch and dinner. It was good.
From the market place we walked to the nearby shopping street, where the kids bought themselves dessert waffles. There would have been biscuits too, but the waffle won this time. High up behind the shopping street was Yongdusan Park, which was easily accessible via an escalator. So we went there next. The park would have had its own observation tower, but we didn’t go there because the views down to the city would not have been very good.
When it was time to go back home, we noticed that we had already walked so much towards our hotel while wondering around, that it was worth walking the rest of the way back to the hotel. So after a late start this morning, we ended up walking quite a bit anyway.
The next day, we took a taxi to Songdo Beach, because we wanted to go on a ride on the Songdo Cable Car. We took a taxi the whole way, because to get to Songdo Beach we would have had to take the metro to Jagalchi and then change to a local bus. We could have also taken the metro first and then continued on a taxi instead of the bus. A metro ticket to Jagalchi alone would have cost 4200won, so we figured a direct taxi ride wouldn’t cost much more than a metro + taxi combination. Eventually the taxi journey cost only 10900won (about 8€) so we were right.
There was no queue at all for the cable car, so we got on board and across the bay to a small hill very quickly. On the roof of the cable car station there were various statues related to the Little Prince book. There was also a slightly disturbing looking statue of a gorilla, which growled every so often. There was also a time capsule installation, where you could apparently drop in your own time capsule if you wanted to. We just never found out where to get one. There was also a slightly more simple “Sky Swing” on the roof terrace than in New Zealand. Maybe we wouldn’t have got on it even if it had been in operation. It was completely lacking seat belts, among other things.
Behind the building there was a confusing “dinosaur park”. There were a few statues that moved and made noises, as dinosaurs apparently did way back then. There were also little info plates about these dinosaurs, so now we know that the Brachiosaurus were the dumbest of all dinosaurs. No wonder they became extinct among the first dinosaurs.
For a small (I mean really small, about 0,70€) fee, you could also cross a suspension bridge that led to a small island in front of the hill. The idea was apparently to get a better view of the Busan skyline from there, as there was really nothing else special about the place.
Sometime around three o’clock we returned to Busan beach and took a taxi back to the station. There we intended to go for dinner. We figured that since all the stations in Japan had been full of different places to eat, we would find them easily here too. But no, we didn’t. There were a lot of different kiosks, but they all sold doughnuts. There was Dunkin Donuts, Funky Donuts, Mr Donut, Donut Shop and a whole bunch of cafes written in the local language selling…donuts. Finally, we found a real restaurant upstairs, where we ordered ourselves some dumplings and a nice omelette. Of course, for dessert, we had to buy some doughnuts from Funky Donuts.
In the evening at the hotel a danger alert suddenly appeared on our phones, in Korean of course. At first we thought it was a flood warning for the next day, since it should rain for the whole day according to the weather forecast. When we looked at the alert, we saw numbers 155cm and 50kg. Maybe it wasn’t about the rainfall after all. Clicking on the link we ended up on the local police website. We found out that they were looking for an elderly woman who was missing. Hopefully she was found.
An hour or so later we received another alert. This time it was a warning of heavy rain the following day. On the alert they recommended not to go out after ten o’clock on Friday morning. Otherwise we would probably stay out of the rain, but the train to Seoul leaves at noon, so we need to brave the rain. Fortunately, the train station is only a few hundred metres walk away.
Speaking of emergencies, I have to mention the rescue rope in the hotel room. There is a hook next to the window to which the rope is to be attached in case of an emergency. The other end you tie around you, and then out of the window you go. We were just wondering whether the 9m rope would be enough to reach the ground, as our room is on the fifth floor…
