The train from Seoul to Busan takes approximately 3 hours and mercifully stayed zombie free for the whole journey. I splashed out a whopping $12 for the first class ticket and settled into my luxurious ride to the other side of the country.
Busan is a small seaside city and so I found it very similar to Qingdao (where I now live) in its appearance and set up. What is different though is the
local artsy culture and the huge famous fish markets. I actually went for a walk and found both by accident as I was wandering about but both were fascinating. I have seen the green lights of the squid boats off the coast of Pau Quoc in Vietnam but never up close, or at least close enough to appreciate just how many lights are involved. I chatted with some fishermen who explained how everything worked and showed me around the market stalls, from which you can buy
straight from the daily catch on the boats. It was all very interesting but so damn smelly! Even with the nice open air market, it was still enough to make your eyes water.
The art district, or culture zone (depending on who you asked) is about 4 km outside the town on the side of a small hill. It's amazingly beautiful but just SO MANY STAIRS!!!! In every direction at all times, there were stairs! Rather frustratingly, I don't remember going down any at any point. Only up!
It made for some stunning pictures and a very nice, albeit shattering, afternoon wandering about the
alleyways of cafes and boutique shops. After my grotty hostel in Seoul, I thoroughly enjoyed my sea view hotel and comfy bed and was genuinely sad to leave the quaint little city.
After a very quick two days in Busan I braved the train back to the city and to a different (nicer) hotel for my last few days of National Day.
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