To start our day, kudos to everyone who understands the title reference.

If you didn’t quite get it; consider a google search, spending the rental fee, and be inducted into the world of Korean horror films.

Today’s adventure is of no surprise, we are visiting Busan!

Before I came up with the idea of a massive Korean road trip, my original itinerary included me spending a whole month based in Busan. While I am glad to have the chance to visit the city for a peek at what delights it may hold, I am really glad I chose to do this for a day instead of a month. Honestly, Seoul offered everything that I personally required from a city stay, so a long visit to South Korea’s second biggest city became a bit redundant for me.

In order to get a flavour of Busan and cram as much as I could into a single day, I did as much research as I could on the main popular sights and then picked those that aligned with my interests. In the end I chose 5 activities to complete and planned down to the minute the amount of time I’d spend in each location along with the transport needed to get from place to place.

And you know what? I was pretty darn gobsmacked when it all worked out just as I planned. Seriously, someone, somewhere is smiling down on me while I am here in Korea.

My day trip was made possible due to the fact I am staying in Gyeongju, which happens to only be a 30 minute train ride from Busan. Yes, you heard that right. Once again Korean public transportation comes up trumps.

Leaving my accommodation at 7am, I catch the first bus heading past to get me to the main bus terminal in downtown Gyeongju.

Immediately I accidently veer off course from my plan as I had intended to catch a second bus to the train station, but then got confused by which bus that would be and when, so I braved it up a little and approached a taxi sitting on the side of the road and the driver waved me in.

And with that, another 30 minutes and I was delivered to the train station, albeit suffering a little from the stop/start motion sickness of the taxi driver’s chosen driving style and a smidge fed up by his constant loud sighing like driving me to the train station was totally out of his job remit.   

There was only the slightest bit of awkward back and forth with the booking agent at the station, but in the end I walked away successfully clutching a return ticket for Busan – outbound at 8.30am and back on the 8.30pm.

The train was pretty empty on both rides, my ticket was an allocated seat next to the window, and I watched a little of the countryside and city scenes fly by. Be aware, this train isn’t great for sightseeing simply for the sheer number of tunnels it passes through on the way to and from Busan (lots of mountains to go through, remember?). The ride was smooth and the seats clean and comfy however, and delivered me on time to start my city tour.

First stop – Gamcheon Culture Village.

This is a small terrace-built town famous for its colourful houses and the vibrant murals and artworks spread throughout the maze-like streets. This area was settled by refugees from the Korean War and there is an interesting small museum in the town detailing how the town was built with artefacts from that time period which is well worth a visit.

Not quite sure where to begin my quest, I simply pick the first street I see that leads in the direction of the houses, but am quickly stopped by an old gentleman who waves his arms at me and ushers me back up the hill where I have just been dropped off by the bus. It’s obvious he’s directing me and starts walking up the hill as well, making sure I follow him. He deposits me the next street over and points in the direction of a tourist information office, which is clearly the start of a walking trail. I thank him for his help, pop in to the office, and low and behold emerge a couple minutes later clutching a map with associated stamp trail!

Now I’m sorted, I’m also feeling a tad munchy. Wouldn’t you know, just across the road a nice lady is selling some fish bread and I go and avail myself of two of them – one custard and one red bean – purely supporting the local economy you understand.

Rambling through the streets is rather delightful. There is artwork everywhere to be seen, views over the town and down into the main city, and plenty of shops for souvenirs or snacks. This area, for whatever reason and I’m not sure what that is, seems obsessed with the story of The Little Prince. I have never read this book, but there are statues and art and many themed items to buy related to the story here in Gamcheon.

There are buildings along the stamp tour for you to pop into and check out the art installations, most are quite abstract but some along the way are cute, and of course there has to be some graffiti in a place like this too (I promise I wasn’t the one who wrote this by the way…).

My allocated two hours in the town was just right to complete the stamp tour, and upon reaching the bottom of the hill I jumped on a bus and headed for location number two – Jagalchi Fish Market.

This place is famous for displaying fresh catches of the day and for customers to buy their fish and then have it cooked on site in one of the restaurants based here. Being on my own, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to find anyone willing to cook a single portion of anything for me, so was simply satisfied to walk and look.

And boy there was a lot to look at!

After my second pass through the market, I wandered into the neighbouring building just to check out what I assumed would be more fish, and ended up being wrangled by a Korean chap whose family were running a restaurant right as you walk through the door. He encouraged me to peruse the menu on the wall, and while a little on the pricey side, I really did want to try something there at the market.

I settled for the safest thing I thought I could try (as not being sure what any of the fish would taste like) and went with some grilled assorted shellfish.

Needless to say, it tasted excellent and I finished everything on the plate, including the interesting side assortment of sweetcorn, sweet potato, and peanuts.     

Onto location number three – the Busan Film Festival square. This was the only slight let down of the day, but even then not really because I simply turned it into something else. I am not sure what I expected from this area, but it turns out it is a street and there are some bronze plaques on the floor mostly with the names of directors who I assume have won at the festival. Apart from that, it’s just a normal shopping street. I did a quick circuit to ensure I hadn’t missed anything, before giving my custom to a nice hotteok vendor and then conveniently locating a bookstore around the corner that had an inviting display of books in the staircase, which meant I had to at least spend a good half hour looking around the shop.

Time’s up! We’re ready for another change of venue – we are off to spend sunset on the beach!

A quick hop on the metro and a short walk and we are delivered to Haeundae Beach, a popular place in Busan to watch the sun set.

The event calls for another fish bread (crispy this time) and a shot of banana milk, dipping my toes in the sea, and of course the tourist photo pose.

With the sun having set, it’s off to our final destination before heading home – Gwangalli Beach.

This is the place to come to take photos at night of Gwangandaegyo Bridge, the longest bi-level suspension bridge in Korea that crosses the sea. All of the buildings here are also very brightly lit at night, and so it is a very popular hangout.

However, what I discover while I wait for the lights to appear is actually far more unique and special to me. It’s this chap right here…

I have wandered onto the beach right when there is a gentleman singing a set of songs by one of my favourite Korean singers, Kim Kwang Seok. And to be fair, the chap has a voice with a pretty decent likeness as well.

In case you’d like to try a new type of music, I thoroughly recommend checking out Kim Kwang Seok, he was a Korean folk rock singer who was very popular back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I say was, because he sadly died at the age of 31 in what was recorded as a suicide, but when you read about it the circumstances around it, it all sounds very iffy.  

Anyway, right now, I am blown away to be able to sit on the beach as night draws in, listening to some of my favourite songs being sung live here in South Korea. It’s one of those moments that will become timeless for me, sure to be one of my favourite recollections of this trip.

The evening light eventually fades into darkness and the city lights blaze to life.

And that was my day in Busan.

12 hours and 5 different adventures.  

Just another day here in South Korea.