Final Korean Stop...
As we land back onto the mainland of Korea, and settled into life in the bustling city of Busan. Straight to our hostel, Hi Busan Guesthouse - which at first seemed alright, especially as it's very cheap. However we started to notice there were a few things about it that made it feel a bit grim, especially as our dorm room had no windows and poor ventilation - not to mention being so small we had to sleep with our bags at our feet. Not ideal whatsoever, so think it might be time to change strategy and stay at nicer hostels. You tend to get what you pay for, and when you pay €6 a night, it ain't much. Still, Busan itself looked pretty damn nice - a major city set on the south coast, and it was Children's Day when we arrived, so the area of Hauendae Beach where we were staying was very lively - crowds were gathering to watch the fireworks display on the beach.
We'd a quick look, but starving as we were, we went for some food. Given our time in Korea was coming to a close, we needed to make sure we got all the things we hadn't yet (or wanted to again) - so Dak Galbi was one we had to revisit (the melted cheese/chicken BBQ dish):
Absolutely hit the spot. We'd wondered what one of the ingredients of the meal was, a soft/spongy dumpling we'd never had before. After wandering around the street food market afterwards, we realised it was Tteokbokki - stir fried rice cakes. It works, trust us.
And that wrapped up our night. Children's Day was a good one for us in Busan. Next morning and we decided to walk along the coast - and noticed the aquarium was a pretty big deal here. Given Dani has spent the past month or so staring at the various fish/squid/shellfish in the tanks outside all the seafood restaurants here in Japan & South Korea, we decided to give it a go:
It was actually really good, highlight being the Little Mermaid show we caught right before we left - Dani was loving it. Stu passes no comment. On the way home we discovered a couple of things near the hostel that were well worth a mention:
The best Affogato known to man at Baekmidang ^
And this gigantic bear at an unknown location. Absolute unit.
Another stop on our adventures was a day to Gamcheon Cultural Village - a preserved village which represents a throwback to old Korean village planning, as colourful houses are built sloped so as to not encroach on the front of any other house. Neat.
We mentioned the city on the coast, but don't have any pictures of it yet to show how nice it is. We'd both like it noted that we went for a run each morning along the beach, too.
Important business was carried out on our second last day, as Stu needed to rectify the absolute monstrosity of a haircut he got in China, so a decent barbershop was needed:
And it delivered (well, Stu hopes so). Cheers lads. Next up on our wander was a Dani-led stop at a shop selling ridiculously priced puppies, a massive thing here and in Japan. Look at them:
And one thing we most definitely couldn't have left without doing, a proper Korean BBQ (finally!) at Anga. All cooked for you over proper charcoal, Dani was able to get over her fear of pork, though the BBQ veg was just as good. One of the best meals we've had.
Last up, a lazy day as our sight-seeing time was numbered. After another gruelling, gut-busting run along this beautiful coast:
We felt we'd done enough to deserve a stop at The Pancake Epidemic - an American chain with stores in LA, Seoul, and Busan. If you're ever in those cities, just go. They were unreal:
The whole half-Korean/half-American vibe going on works out pretty well sometimes! And that pretty much wrapped it all up, as we made our way to the airport, and said goodbye to South Korea.
Given we both didn't really know what to expect when arriving in Seoul, the journey through South Korea surpassed our expectations massively. It was a great little two week stop, a country we'd both recommend. It's a little less serious, and more fun, than it's more celebrated neighbour to the east. It's hard to compare Japan and South Korea, they're far more different than we would've expected, but we expected to prefer our time in Japan far more than our stay in Korea - and though Japan would probably still be our pick of the two, the gap isn't that wide. Bye bye to Busan, and now we head on to our next stop, where Stu revisits a country that Dani gets to see for the first time.
Big love,
Dani & Stu.
As we land back onto the mainland of Korea, and settled into life in the bustling city of Busan. Straight to our hostel, Hi Busan Guesthouse - which at first seemed alright, especially as it's very cheap. However we started to notice there were a few things about it that made it feel a bit grim, especially as our dorm room had no windows and poor ventilation - not to mention being so small we had to sleep with our bags at our feet. Not ideal whatsoever, so think it might be time to change strategy and stay at nicer hostels. You tend to get what you pay for, and when you pay €6 a night, it ain't much. Still, Busan itself looked pretty damn nice - a major city set on the south coast, and it was Children's Day when we arrived, so the area of Hauendae Beach where we were staying was very lively - crowds were gathering to watch the fireworks display on the beach.
We promise it was lively
We'd a quick look, but starving as we were, we went for some food. Given our time in Korea was coming to a close, we needed to make sure we got all the things we hadn't yet (or wanted to again) - so Dak Galbi was one we had to revisit (the melted cheese/chicken BBQ dish):
Absolutely hit the spot. We'd wondered what one of the ingredients of the meal was, a soft/spongy dumpling we'd never had before. After wandering around the street food market afterwards, we realised it was Tteokbokki - stir fried rice cakes. It works, trust us.
And that wrapped up our night. Children's Day was a good one for us in Busan. Next morning and we decided to walk along the coast - and noticed the aquarium was a pretty big deal here. Given Dani has spent the past month or so staring at the various fish/squid/shellfish in the tanks outside all the seafood restaurants here in Japan & South Korea, we decided to give it a go:
Found Nemo
It was actually really good, highlight being the Little Mermaid show we caught right before we left - Dani was loving it. Stu passes no comment. On the way home we discovered a couple of things near the hostel that were well worth a mention:
The best Affogato known to man at Baekmidang ^
And this gigantic bear at an unknown location. Absolute unit.
Another stop on our adventures was a day to Gamcheon Cultural Village - a preserved village which represents a throwback to old Korean village planning, as colourful houses are built sloped so as to not encroach on the front of any other house. Neat.
We mentioned the city on the coast, but don't have any pictures of it yet to show how nice it is. We'd both like it noted that we went for a run each morning along the beach, too.
Important business was carried out on our second last day, as Stu needed to rectify the absolute monstrosity of a haircut he got in China, so a decent barbershop was needed:
And it delivered (well, Stu hopes so). Cheers lads. Next up on our wander was a Dani-led stop at a shop selling ridiculously priced puppies, a massive thing here and in Japan. Look at them:
LOOK
And one thing we most definitely couldn't have left without doing, a proper Korean BBQ (finally!) at Anga. All cooked for you over proper charcoal, Dani was able to get over her fear of pork, though the BBQ veg was just as good. One of the best meals we've had.
Last up, a lazy day as our sight-seeing time was numbered. After another gruelling, gut-busting run along this beautiful coast:
We felt we'd done enough to deserve a stop at The Pancake Epidemic - an American chain with stores in LA, Seoul, and Busan. If you're ever in those cities, just go. They were unreal:
The whole half-Korean/half-American vibe going on works out pretty well sometimes! And that pretty much wrapped it all up, as we made our way to the airport, and said goodbye to South Korea.
Given we both didn't really know what to expect when arriving in Seoul, the journey through South Korea surpassed our expectations massively. It was a great little two week stop, a country we'd both recommend. It's a little less serious, and more fun, than it's more celebrated neighbour to the east. It's hard to compare Japan and South Korea, they're far more different than we would've expected, but we expected to prefer our time in Japan far more than our stay in Korea - and though Japan would probably still be our pick of the two, the gap isn't that wide. Bye bye to Busan, and now we head on to our next stop, where Stu revisits a country that Dani gets to see for the first time.
Big love,
Dani & Stu.
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