Busan

The next stop on my journey is Busan, the second biggest city in Korea. I’ve been told it’s actually the most visited city by international tourists, but a quick google search did not corroborate that fact, so I’m not entirely sure it’s true. Nonetheless, it’s quite a popular place to visit by tourists and it’s a very large city. I stayed in the market district, with its large flashing lights and copious street vendors. It was a bit exhausting at times, but it does make for a more comfortable place to walk around in the evenings when you are in a location that is fairly full of people. 

The first day in Busan (pronounced Pusan) I wandered the streets around my hostel. Often on travel days I’m a bit uninspired to travel far from my hostel cause I need to drop off my bags, then go back to check in between 2-5pm and then go back out or lug my bags around all day. So I usually just drop by bags off whenever I get to the city, usually around noon-ish and stick around until 2 when I can check in and then spend a bit of time relaxing before heading out for the evening to find some dinner nearby. This was no exception. I met some of the other girls in my room, a polish girl and an American. We didn’t have a lot in common, but it was nice to chat for a bit. The American was Mormon, but just here on vacation. I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or something about Korea, but I’ve met 4 Americans here, all of them are Mormon. I”m not sure whats up with that, I find it quite strange, although Korea does seem to have a high proportion of cults so maybe Mormons see that as a prime target for missionary work? I’m not really sure, I find it very strange. The polish girl was also quite different, she is a party girl, partying her way across Asia. At 11pm I was laying in bed, teeth brushed working on my tablet, and she was just beginning to get dressed and do her makeup for her night out. She returned to the hostel the next morning at 6am. Our waking hours have very little overlap. lol. But they were both nice enough for a bit of a chat. 

The next morning I took the train out for a hike of the tallest mountain in Busan. It was a really lovely hike about 1800 ft in elevation, nearly 9 miles, but a beautiful view. Along the way I met many ajumas (Korean grandmas) who of course gave me tons of snacks. Per usual I had nearly more food in my bag returning from the mountain than I had going up despite snacking along the way. I’ve started bringing chocolates with me too so I can give them something back when they give me the treats, but this only encourages them to give me more. It’s a cycle that I cannot win lol. But it’s really sweet and nice and makes you feel connected even though you cant communicate. On this trip I got the funniest gift yet. I was at the top of the mountain and I saw a woman who gave me a treat earlier, so I opened my bag rushing  to grab her some chocolate and she opened her bag. At the exact same moment we both whipped a treat out of our bags… and she gave me an egg. Harboiled and marinated in soy sauce. We were both giggling at our rushed attempts to be the first to give a gift and I a little bit at the shock of being handed a whole egg, which in the moment i didn’t know if it was hard boiled or not. It was a really nice moment though. 

After a hard day of walking I decided to go to the hot spring park. It’s a classic, although quite luxurious, Korean bathhouse. When I walked in I was given keys to a locker where I would leave all my clothes. You have to go into the bath house (separated by gender) completely naked. You aren’t even allowed a towel. The first minute or so of this is always uncomfortable, but I got over it quickly enough. I had done them in Japan as well and it’s the same idea. 

Anyway, you go into the shower room first and you take a shower and get clean before heading to the baths. There were probably 13 or so baths, as well as 4 saunas, and a  rubdown station. The main bath is 40 degrees C, so quite warm, but comfortable. The other baths range from cold to very very hot, as well as some with different minerals like salts, celadon (whatever that is), and other signs I couldn’t read. There was a pressure shower which dropped huge balls of water on you from above and felt like an incredible massage. People would lay on the ground underneath them and be pummeled. The sauna itself was quite beautiful with ornate designs and was a really nice area. The sub down area is where you can pay extra (I did not) to have ladies use coarse brushes to scrub your entire body. I decided I did not want to do this because I have heard it’s quite painful and either done with hard plastic brushes with the purpose of removing excess skin, but truthfully it sounds quite unpleasant to me. There was also a second floor to the bathhouse which I didn’t have time to visit where you rent a robe and it is mixed company and there is a restaurant and massage chairs and a sleep room and a bunch of other stuff, but I was happy enough with the first floor that I didn’t feel the need to explore further, especially as it was getting late and I still needed to get back to my hostel about an hour away. 

Overall, it was a really great way to spend a day and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a relaxing day. Hopefully I’ll be able to make time to do another one before I leave, but if I don’t I’m glad I got at least one in.