Monday, November 17, 2014

Busan-Gyeongju Trip 19th-- 22nd Oct 2014


It was Sunday 19th October, we woke up early and took the KTX train at 7.20am from Seoul to Busan from the main Seoul KTX Station. The journey took around 2 hours and 10 mins. The KTX is clean, fast and on time! I love the public transport system in South Korea. There is no delays or cancellation. When we reached Busan, it was nearly mid day so we used our T-Money Card to move around Busan subway system. Our hotel is in Nampo-dong and it's called Ekonomy Hotel located in Gwangbokdong area. Our hotel reception guy is friendly and helped us with the luggage though we had to climb 50 steps to our room. Place was new, clean and good location.
We were recommended to try the seafood at Busan - that is the Jagalchi Fish market. It's not too far from Nampodong. But we took the subway to Jagalchi station and we could smell the seafood and fishy salt smell from the sea. 

We tried the Gyeongju Restaurant as recomended by the hotel people. It was visited by 1N2D crew members, Eun Ji Won.
A set of whole grilled fish costs nearly KRW48,000 and with side dishes and rice. We ordered the spicy grilled eel and costs us another KRW 28,000 but for 4 people to eat, it was to the max. We were so stuffed up and full! Then it was time to walk around the fish market and port area. It was packed with people and tourists looking for a bargain in seafood. This place can be costly if you do not know the locals or how to bargain. You can be paying $100+ for an Alaskan King Crab or some abalone. So make sure you do know the prices around before you order.


 

However our trip to Gyeongju was disastrous as it was pouring heavy rain and we could hardly walk anywhere at the Tumoli Park. We managed to see the Bulguksa Temple in clear skies but as soon as we boarded the bus to the windy road up to Seokguram Grotto, weather was super crap! I had to buy disposable raincoats as our umbrellas were breaking apart. My mom caught a cold after this trip because of the rain. Our shoes were wet, our jeans and clothes were muddy too. Yuck! We hid in the Gyeongju National Museum which was free of charge but we couldn't go anywhere. So we took the cab straight back to Singyeongju Station to board an earlier KTX train back to Busan. 


                     

 

When the rain eases a bit, we managed to visit Yongdusan Park which is the Busan Tower but the happiness didn't last long. The rain poured continuous for the following days so we had to hide in the shopping malls. We ended up at Hyundae Department Mall at Seomyun so we went shopping spree of buying PANCOAT shirts. Ha ha!
Then we had some coffee and rest time in Lotte Gwangbokdong Store. 














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