Day 10 Busan, South Korea

Today we arrived into South Korea.  I thought it was going to be tomorrow, but here we are.  It was a late arrival, around 11am, and Philip and both commented that it was one of the nicest harbours we have ever arrived at.

The first thing you notice is the high rise. There are no houses in Busan.  Everyone lives in an apartment.  And upon closer inspection of these high rise apartment buildings, there are no balconies.....at all!  Busan is the second largest city in South Korea with a population of just over 3.5 million.  Busan is known as the "Miami" of South Korea.  It has some beautiful beaches and is a tourist destination.  Todays tour was a visit to the Cultural Centre for a performance, then on to the Jagalchi fish markets and ending at the beautiful Yongdusan Parklands.

The cultural performance was wonderful.  It had everything from the drum beaters to the fan dance.  The national costume is gorgeous both for the ladies and menfolk. The drum beaters performance had them wearing a hat with long flowing ribbon attached to it.  By just spinning the heads they could make the ribbon form giant circles.  

Next stop was the Jagalchi Fish Market.  I was a bit apprehensive about visiting a fish market.  I thought the smell would be overwhelming but it was exactly the opposite.  It was so incredibly clean!  All the fish where in large aquariums with clean recycled water.  The floors appeared to be hosed down automatically and I loved walking up and down the aisles with our guide.  It was quite an amazing place and I saw sea food that I have never seen before. I loved visiting here.

Back on the bus and our crazy driver (twice we nearly hit other vehicles!) took us to the serenity of Yongdusan Park.  It is a beautiful place to visit and right in the heart of Busan.  It covers an area of 70,000 sq metres and is heavily planted.  There are many cats roaming freely throughout the park, something that I have never seen before.  There are temples and pagodas within the area that certainly have a Chinese look and feel to them.

Busan is a lovely city and I can understand why people both local and international flock to this city.  We only touched on a little of what it has to offer.