Bus to Busan

If you’re like me and love a good zombie film, you might be familiar with the city of Busan because of the film Train to Busan. Or, if you’re also like me, you might know of Busan because you’ve been dying to visit the colorful coastal city with wide beaches and tall skyscrapers. With a 3-week winter break, I knew Busan had to be on my list of places to visit. So, my friends and I booked a 3-day and 2-night stay and hopped on a bus (not a train) to Busan.

Day 1

From Gwangju to Busan, it is about a 3-hour bus ride. You can also take a train to Busan if you absolutely want to, but it will take longer and is more expensive. The bus terminal is quite far from the main tourist areas of Busan, so it was another 40-minute taxi ride to our hotel. We were luckily able to drop our bags off early before checking in so we could go explore.

Our hotel was right next to Haeundae Beach, one of the most popular beaches in Busan. It’s obvious why the beach is so popular. As I looked to my left at the cityscape, I felt like I was in Chicago or New York but on my right, there was a sparkling blue sea. We walked along the beach some before grabbing some lunch. Nothing like a burger and a margarita to make me feel like I’m right back home.

After lunch, we headed over to Blueline Park. At Blueline Park, you can buy a train ticket that faces outwards towards the sea, giving you the best view of the coast. We were lucky enough to get our tickets right around sunset. The view was breathtaking, I’m not sure if the pictures do it justice. The train goes for about 30 minutes, and you can buy a round trip if you want to get back to Haeundae beach. I would recommend the round trip since the station at the end of the train ride does not have much to see around it but the round trips were unfortunately sold out so we took a bus back to the area around the hotel.

We got some cocktails and dinner to wind down for the day and finally finished it out with a beer on the beach.

Day 2

We started the second day by grabbing a coffee and some baked goods at a local bakery. We enjoyed our little breakfast by the beach. The reflection of the morning sun on the water was blinding yet hard to look away from.

We then took the bus to the Gamcheon Cultural Village, a must-see in Busan. From Haeundae beach, it is an hour bus ride and then another 10-minute bus ride to the top of the village. As soon as the village came into full view, I was in awe. Hundreds of colorful houses lined the hills in the village. It was like looking at a painting brought to life. In fact, when I posted a picture on my Instagram, I had several people ask if it was real.

The first place we found at the edge of the village was a great place for pictures and also had a hidden away jewelry store. The best part of the store though had to be the owner’s golden retriever that came to greet us. The owner was so nice to take some pictures of our group and show us the path to get to the village entrance.

At the entrance of the village, you can pick up a map from the information center. The map provides you with several routes of varying duration to see most of the village. There is also a stamp card on the map so you can collect stamps as you go. If you get all the stamps, you can get some free postcards!

We started our journey through the village and stopped as we went to take in the sights and random stores along the way. There are many spots where you can take pictures as you weave through the streets. The most popular one is the little prince statue, there will usually be a line to take a picture there. Once we got hungry, we stopped at a cute restaurant that served traditional English foods. My fish and chips were, dare I say it, better than the fish and chips I had in London.

We wandered for a few more hours before finding Duff Coffee. This café could probably have its own blog post entirely. In the center of the village, it is a multi-level building café straight out of a children’s book. As you wait for your drink, you can explore the many wacky rooms in this café. Every inch is covered with something strange. The strangest part might be the live ducks that live in the courtyard and with your purchase of a drink, you are given corn to feed the ducks. If you are in the Gamcheon Cultural Village, you must visit this café. The strangest room for me was probably the bathroom with a life-sized gorilla in the center.

After hours spent in the village, we left to get some dinner. You can spend an entire day in the village and still not see everything, so I definitely want to go back someday.

For dinner, we got some simple late-night bibimbap which never fails to be a filling and rewarding meal. By then we were exhausted from our long day in the village, so we called it a night.

Day 3

On our last day in Busan, we slept in a bit before heading to brunch. We went to an adorable place called Off On. I highly recommend going here if you’re in the area. The two owners were so nice, and the vibe of the place was very calming. I dug into my food before I remembered to take a picture, but the smoked salmon was some of the best I’ve had.

After brunch, we hopped on a bus to the last big thing we wanted to see in Busan, Haedong Yonggungsa Temple (해동 용궁사). This temple is unique in that most temples in Korea are in the mountains while this one sits on a cliff overlooking the sea. It was a gorgeous sunny day when we arrived, so the site was a memorable one. From the bus stop to the temple, it’s a 15-minute walk with some incline so wear comfortable shoes.

Although I am not Buddhist, I could see how many would feel very spiritual here. Looking out over the sea as a beautiful temple towered over me, I felt so peaceful and relaxed. It does not take long to walk around the temple, but it feels nice to stop and take in the sights along the way. I will say this temple is a tourist spot. So, you will be taken out of your serene moment by an out-of-place banner saying this is “the most beautiful temple in Korea.” But I can’t blame the local government for pushing tourism, especially when I am a tourist myself.

We grabbed a snack after exiting the temple and I, of course, had to try the famous Busan fish cakes. Slightly sweet, slightly spicy, and cheap? Sign me up!

With only a few hours left in Busan, we made our way back to Haeundae to grab some lunch. We stopped at Spain Club which sits right by the beach and is a part of the Paradise Hotel. The tiled floors and light wood chairs did make me feel like I was actually in Spain. Even better, for our vegetarian folk out there, you can get vegetable paella! With our paella, some tapas, and sangria, we were left feeling very satisfied with our Busan trip.

All that was left to do was grab a last-minute sweet treat at a café before picking up our luggage and getting on the bus back to Gwangju. And there we have it! My trip to Busan with no zombie outbreaks involved!

---

A Heartwarming Moment

As we were leaving Duff Coffee, we saw an elderly man come up the hill with his small poodle wrapped in a sweater. We all thought the dog was adorable so smiled and bowed in respect to the man. He seemed a bit shocked to see a bunch of foreigners and immediately asked where we were from and how long we had been here.

He saw our gazes at his dog and insisted we all take pictures with it. He was very involved in the mini photo shoot, making sure we were getting the best angles. Once we all had our turn with the dog of the hour, he said goodbye and carried on his way.

Although I am decent in conversational Korean, I still get anxious and scared at times. There’s always the thought that I will embarrass myself or say the wrong thing. Sometimes I look back at a moment when I should’ve said something but didn’t out of fear.

And yet, it’s moments like these where I realize the language barrier is much smaller and less scary than we might think. Because behind the language barrier are humans. And as humans, we want to interact even if we don’t speak the same language. In this case, this elderly man really wanted us to have pictures with his dog. And so we did. And I think that’s pretty cool, language barrier be damned!