Well, you thought my day on the tour back in Seoul was long....ok, it was longer than today, but we did a whole heck of a lot more than on the tour I booked in Busan. Four stops in 10 hours with a lot more walking around (but less mountain climbing, thank goodness!).
On the bus at 9:20AM and we were off to our first destination. Haedong Yonggunsa Temple is known as the most beautiful temple in Korea.. It invoves a lot of stairs and inclines, but well worth it.
Our tour guide made us all pose in front of this stone pagoda at the entrance, known as the Traffic Safety Tower (where people can pray to avoid car accidents). Although she promised to send it to us all, I still haven't seen it.
Then there were stone statues of all the signs of the zodiac.
The temple was originally dedicated to Gwanseeum-bosal, depicted here. She is the Bodhisavatta of Compassion.
We then hiked up to a scenic overlook (known as the Sunrise Platform because this is a prime spot to watch the sunrise on the first of the Lunar New Year) where you can look out over the ocean and back over the temple complex. It is very pretty...
We then headed down and went under the arch to enter the temple area.
This is a unique view looking down at the lanterns that we've seen everywhere in celebration of Buddha's upcoming birthday. The pagoda there is Jinsin Stupa.
This is the main building Daeungojeon Hall, again, no photos inside, but most temples are open to the outside and it's easy to get photos inside. This one was pretty packed, so no meditating for me today.
Paintings on the outside celebrated the local legend of the Dragon King...
As well as Buddha. This appears to be a depiction of Buddha's death.
In a cave underneath the temple is the Gulbeop Buddhist Sanctum.
And here is the Dragon-King of the East Sea, who appeared in a dream to the great monk Naong telling him that if he built a temple at the edge of Bongrae Mountain and pray there, the drought that was greatly impacting the area would end and that the people would be led back to happiness.. He did, and they were.
This is another statue of Gwanseeum-bosal.
A long view of the main hall, with the celebratory lanterns and large Budai (not Buddah) statue at it's side.
If you have a child with an upcoming exam, pray here...
There were far fewer people, when I left the temple. When I came in, I rubbed this Budai's ear and nose in hopes of coming into money.
Very cool dragon on the gate...
We then climbed the steep incline back to the parking lot and herded back on to the bus for the second destination of the day, the Cheongsapo Daritdol Observatory. We took another brief hike with a few more steps to don shoe covers in order to walk over the ocean.
I This is us walking out with our shoe covers on. It was super windy that day, so there was a nice surf. I found the views from the walkway a lot more exciting than actually walking over the water...
I told you it was windy.
Next stop was lunch. It was a seafood barbeque place, but I didn't feel much like cooking at the table.
Seafood ramen, it was. Yes, that's a whole octopus, a shrimp, and an abolone. There were also some little clams in there. The broth was nice...I ate the abalone and kept the shell. It tasted a bit like any other mussell...I'm not a huge fan of mussels. The octopus was rubbery. I prefer them fried. It was pretty tasty overall though...
The rest of my group had decided on taking the sea train or the sky pods at Blueline Park. I decided not to do either but to walk down to the two lighthouses here. You know me and my lighthouses.
These are the twin red and white lighthouses of Cheongsapo. I walked out to the red one, which is closer. Didn't feel I had enought time to get to the white one, so I headed back.
Past Alice Donut.
Here is a sky capsule. I was tempted earlier, but kind of glad I went for the lighthouses instead.
And the train...
I then bumped into our guide, Katrina, who led me solo onto our bus. We then proceeded to the end of the railroad to get the rest of the gang. After loading up, it was off to Huinnyeoul Cultural Village. There are a couple of these villages that originally developed during the Korean war when refugees poured into the temporary capitol of Busan when Seoul was occupied by the North Koreans. This village is a bit smaller than the more famous one (that we will visit later) but it is right up against the ocean. This makes for some fantastic views.
Below you can see part of the Jeoryeong Coastal trail, which appeared to be closed for refurbishment.
There were a lot of hills and stairs. Colorful murals abounded as well as touristy shops.
This spot is popular for group photos. That I found it mostly deserted was a miracle.
View looking across to the bridge and city.
In a cafe garden looking over the coast.
Residences had doors like this...there were several and they were very cool.
Another Cafe...all of Korea is big on cafes.
Back to the bus and off to our final destination - Gamcheon Cultural Village. Another area that was built up by refugees fleeing from Seoul during the war. Many settled here permanently and the area began to fall into disrepair. It was decided to revitalize the area and make it a colorful tourist trap. It was actually a lot of fun.
Before we actually headed in, our tour guide took us to a good spot for taking photos.
I think I reminds me a bit of Cinque Terre in Italy.
We wandered about snapping photos of the murals and art while popping in to some shops. I found a snow-globe and a keychain of a Hanbok to turn into a Christmas tree ornament.
More colorful stairs..
Lots of The Little Prince artwork.
This was a fun looking shop...
Of course, our boys Jimin and Junkook...
And the rest of BTS. A whole generation is on hold while they complete their military service.
More Little Prince.
A whole shop of crochet dolls. I did buy a little pig keychain where he's dressed as a bunny.
Another overlook and a Video Panorama.
This tiny painting was right by a curb. It was teeeeeeeeny...
I thought this fish, which is a collection of individually painted panels is cool. This was on the way back. We only had an hour, which was not nearly enough time to explore this area. Someday....
We loaded up on the bus, headed back to central Busan. I got off at a subway stop with an underground mall and poked around a bit. Didn't buy a thing there.
Took the train back to my stop, and it started to sprinkle as soon as I emerged from the depths of the subway. I stopped in a convenience store for something to eat as I was too tired to walk down the shopping alley. When I got out, it was pouring. Luckily, I had my grocery store umbrella with me.
Got back to the room, packed most of my stuff and looked at the day's photos. Wish I could say that I slept well... Oh well, I did the previous night, so there is that..
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