부산 (Busan)

We have been in Busan for 2 days and will be leaving tomorrow. We wish we could stay longer! Every place we have stayed in Korea had its own unique feel to it. Busan is the most touristy place yet. Every other place we visited was filled with about 99 percent Koreans. Busan has a more international feel to it. I've seen several white people (American and European), Vietnamese, Indian, and so on. I don't love the touristy aspect to it, but I do love the beach. And our hotel is right on it. This is the first place we've come to where we can get up in the morning and have something to do right outside our door. Yesterday our only mode of transportation was walking which was a first this whole trip.

This is the view from our hotel room. When I lie in bed,  this is what I see.

Yesterday we ate breakfast at Starbucks and then I went off exploring on my own. The alone time was much needed. I could walk around to my heart's content with no one saying they were hot or tired or being bitten by bugs or hungry or thirsty or having to go to the bathroom. There was no one telling me to stop to take another family photo. It was glorious. I love my family dearly, but sometimes this girl needs her alone time!

I walked on this path for about a mile or so. The boardwalk hugged the coastline which made for beautiful views!

The beach area we are in is called 해운대/Haeundae (hay-oon-day) which means sea cloud. Do you see the cloud in the distance? Those clouds develop all the time. Yesterday was a completely sunny day with blue skies. Even so, those clouds continued to form all day long and they were always very close to the ground.

After my walk, we all went to the beach. Haeundae beach is located on the Sea of Japan. The beach is big, warm, and filled with people. But the water was cold!! Even so, we all went swimming. Everyone went underwater except for me.

We all were a bit tuckered after the hours in the sun, so we went back to our room for a little rest. In the evening, Luke and the boys joined me on the hike I had taken that morning. The sun set while we were hiking and the views were beautiful. I wish I could capture it better on my camera!

Do you see the orange cat in the bottom right of this picture? These rocks were her home.

Jordan couldn't resist- he tried to pet her but she ran away.

After our walk we ate some traditional Korean barbeque. It was delicious!

So many treats to buy on the street! It's hard to see in the picture, but the street we were on was packed with people and bustling with activity.

Today we took the Busan sky capsule. I had seen pictures of this and thought the little cars looked so cute. It didn't disappoint! The car only held 4 people, so it was perfect for our small family. We traveled from Mipo (미포) station to Cheongsapo (청사포) station which was about a 30 minute journey. The car moved very slowly along the rails which allowed lots of opportunities to take pictures and enjoy the scenery.

Aren't the little train cars so cute?

View from the sky capsule

I'll have to post more pictures later. I didn't take many, but I'm sure Luke did!

We spent about an hour exploring the area at Cheongsapo Station. I believe I saw another Haenyeo! I'm not entirely sure, but I saw the signature net and buoy hanging and I saw a woman cutting up fresh sea urchins and octopus. I had read that there are several Haenyeo in Busan as well. Luke tried a sea urchin. He reported that it tasted briny and delicious. I wasn't brave enough to give it a try.

This is a picture of the sea life the woman was cutting up for people to eat.

The net and buoy I saw hanging off the pier

Here she is still in her wetsuit!

This is the beach train we took back to Mipo Station

We ate lunch (a very late lunch) at Mipo Station and then I suddenly became extremely fatigued. Maybe all the travel is catching up to me, I don't know. The lunch area was gorgeous, but only Luke took pictures, so I'll post more pictures tomorrow. My energy is returning, so we are heading out for more adventures soon!