Busan

In honor of Buddha's Birthday on May 21st, the entire country had a three day weekend. I headed down south to Busan with Britney and Christine. We left our houses, after staying up all night, at 6am to get to the Suwon train station for our 7:45 train. The train took almost five hours, as we had to take the slow train because everything else was booked by the time we made our official plans. I was so excited to use the train ride as a time to relax, read, journal, listen to my iPod, etc. But the ride ended up being anything but relaxing. People are allowed to buy standing tickets on the train so the aisles were jam-packed with people standing right overhead; breathing down our necks. It was smelly, hot, and uncomfortable. It was hard to relax and have the desire to do anything personal, like journal, as I had someone standing right over my shoulder. Although it wasn't ideal, it did the trick and got us to Busan safely.

We loved our hostel and it ended up being in a great location. We stayed in a Korean-style room which means our room just had mats on the floor for sleeping-no beds. It was just perfect for us, especially considering the price. When we got there on Friday, the weather was beautiful. We decided to spend the afternoon at the largest fish market in Korea and the surrounding area because it was one of the main attractions in Busan. Little did we know, that was going to be the last bit of nice weather we would see the whole weekend so we should have gone straight to the beach: oh well!

We walked along the coast to get to the market and really enjoyed being near the ocean. The fish market was incredible and a much more enjoyable experience than the fish market we went to in Seoul. It was huge and the people were very friendly. After the market we went to a very fun area with lots of people, new street food, and lots of shopping! We stumbled upon a beautiful temple later in the night. We spent some quality time there, and ended the night at Dragon's Head park overlooking the entire city.

Outside of the train station- right down the street from our hostel!

At the fish market, of course!

I am disappointed I didn't try one of these fish, they actually looked very delicious.

Lots of people, street food, and shopping!

A beautiful temple.

The lotus lanterns guided us through the area.

Inside the temple.

Looking at the Busan Tower from the bottom of the mountain.

Up at the top: in Dragon's Head park!

Up close and personal.

On Saturday, our plan was to spend the day on the beach, but it started raining almost as soon as we got there. We ended up just walking all over the area we were in, and finding ourselves a nice ferris wheel. Later in the day we sat down for a nice meal overlooking the ocean and sat and talked for almost 4 hours, because the weather had gotten really bad. Also, I had forgotten my umbrella in a cab earlier in the day, so I was hesitant to venture too far out in the rain. Luckily, we came across a CARIBOU COFFEE, and sat and talked some more! :) It was such a fun surprise! That evening we went back to our hostel, got ready, and then met up with some other co-workers, that were also in Busan, for some drinks! We definitely didn't let the weather ruin our time.

The Beach! Too bad it was raining!

Happy to be on the beach :)

A caramel cooler from caribou!:)

On Sunday we spent the day at a beautiful temple right on the coast. Because it was the weekend of Buddha's birthday, the temple was covered with lotus lanterns. It was absolutely wonderful!

Walking to the temple..

The entrance!

It took awhile to get to the actual temple...

But when we did- the view was incredible!

The bridge we had to cross to get inside.

It was raining cats and dogs all day so it was nice to have little roof over our heads!

Buddha figurines.

The Buddha himself

Overlooking the ocean- I've never seen anything like it.

Ready to go home after 2 full days in the rain!

Even though we did not venture very far from home, it felt like we were in another country. Busan felt so different than Seoul. The scenery, the laid-back attitude, and the fun atmosphere made for a great weekend getaway!