I took the jet ferry from Fukuoka to Busan. It was a fairly quick trip and quite smooth.
I had booked into a hostel located in Haeundae. This turned out to be on beach to the east of the down town area. The hostel took a bit of finding, as it was on the 4th floor of a building that looked a bit dodgy from the outside. As it turned out, it a really good place.
After checking in, I went for a walk in the local area. It was obvious that winter is not the best time to see this part of Busan. The beach was bleak, however the posters around the place, showed that it is clearly a happening spot in summer.
I found a restaurant offering seafood. I wasn’t sure what I was ordering, but it turned out to be a soup that was cooked on my table. It was good.
Bus Tour
The weather was really miserable the next day – cold and wet. I decided to get a ‘hop on hop off’ bus ticket that allowed you to take two routes through the city.
Busan reminded me a bit of Hong Kong. It is right on a harbour and the nearby mountains constrict the area that can be built on. The result is lots of high rise buildings. There is also a huge bridge that cuts across the front on the central part of the city. The equivalent would be building a bridge from Garden Island to Pyrmont on the southern side of Sydney Harbour.
The tour takes you past the container docks. They are huge and obviously, very automated. It also passed the ship yards. They are also on massive scale. Korea is the leading shipping building country.
I stopped off at the National Maritime. It is a really interesting place. The Koreans are clearly very proud of their shipping and ship building industries.
I also stopped off at the fish markets. It was too late to see the auctions, but I did wander around the outdoor markets. The photos and video are worth look.
I also wandered around an underground shopping centre, selling cheap clothes. It seemed to go on forever.
Another Seafood Meal
I had another seafood meal near the hostel.
Back at the hostel I got into a conversation with a Hong Kong Chinese bloke who was staying there. He is about my age and runs his own ‘hotel consultancy’ business. He said he said in hostel because he stays in a lot of up market hotels for business and tires of them. He had some interesting things to say about his clients and projects. He works in Japan, Korea, Malaysia and California.
Amazing Shopping Mall
I had already decided to travel to Seoul the next day. The HK bloke told me that I had to see the Shinsegae Centum City Shopping Complex. He said the Spa in the complex was a ‘must do’.
I am not into shopping malls – see my post on Dubai. However, I must say this place was worth a look. It is registered by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest shopping complex in the world.
The spa is amazing. There are about 10 bath pools with different temperatures – hot, very hot, cool etc and saunas of differing temperatures. There are separate spas for men and women.
There is also a another huge area with ‘relaxation’ rooms of different themes – ‘sound waves’, timber scented room, Roman room, Egyptian rooms etc. You lie in these rooms and think. These rooms are mixed.
There is also a golf range and an ice rink.
All a bit over the top but impressive.
On the Train to Seoul
It was about 6.00 pm when I finally got on the train to Seoul. The train was not up to the Japanese Shinkansen standards, but quick enough for the short trip north.
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