The so-called "Beetle-ferry" ride from Fukuoka to Busan was really smooth. We arrived after a non-bumpy 3 hours-ride and took the metro to find our hostel. The hostel was okay, nice room, but unfortunately it stank like a public toilet, as the drains were broke or something. Anyway, we tried not to breathe in the toilet and used lots of Airwick to get rid of it. Still - we felt like we were back in "Sulphur-Rotorua" in New Zealand.
Busan is a really nice harbour city. We checked out the surroundings, the harbour bridge, the market streets with nice food stalls, Pitt Square, the (quite disgusting) fish market and a one day exkursion to the Geumjeong Fortress, an easy bus ride away from town. We did not plan any hiking on this day but once we arrived it said "6km to East Gate" - WHAT? A lovely Korean showed us the way as we got lost in the first place, then went on the 1,5 hour walk.
The landscape was absolutely stunning and although we were a bit annoyed at first place cause we did not intend a hike with jeans and one bottle of water in the bags, we realised it was the best thing we could have done. Lovely nature, the fortress seemed a bit like the "small" wall of Korea. After 3 lovely days in Busan we took a bus to Seoul.
The first impression was not quite what we expected, mainly because it was raining and it looked pretty grey and dusty. We checked in in our hostel, Mr. Kim`s Guesthouse - looked a bit like a big flat-share, and it was quite how it worked. No real rules, but everybody made you feel welcome. We stayed there for 4 nights in total, as we managed to get a pretty cheap flight to Bejing on the 22nd of May. 4 Days in Seoul is more than enough if we look back, well - at least we had to time to slow down a bit and just enjoy a few sightseeing bits, nothing else. We checked out a few places such as Hongik area (very studenty, lots of bars, nightclubs etc.), the Prison that was built by Japanese who tortured countless Koreans during the 60`s - a very bittercold truth about what happened between Koreans and Japanese, especially strange if you just left Japan...We have also seen two temples, Gyeongguksa - a massive complex of different temples, where we have also seen the guardian change ceremony on this day, as well as Jogyese Temple during Buddha`s Birthday (we happened to be there, AGAIN, when it is national holiday....), which had thousands of little laterns. Besides, we went to the War Museum, which was really interesting and explained a lot we did not know as well as Namdaemun`s Market, where you can buy tasty dumplings and lots of different accessories. We also had great food and one night we had a big BBQ at our hostel, where they filled our stomachs with beef, salad leaves, lots of sauces as well as vegetables and rice - they cooked the beef in a pan on the table, really tasty! Of course, drinking Soju, rice whiskey, contributes to a satisfied evening...However, we soon realised that this hostel is more a party place a la "spring break" for college students, rather a nice little place for couples. So the second night we got a bit annoyed of snoring girls and boys, druken and puking guys and people who just thought they are great because they are partying every day. No thanks, "go back to your room". ...The last night when we left, a friend of Mr.Kim happened to be a fortune teller (he inherited his gift/technique from his grandfather he said). Of course, we gave it a try and he read Mel`s fortune. With only birtday and time and your name he started to ask a few questions and hit it every time. We were impressed, scared and stunned. Overall, it`s looking good;)
So, the last 2 nights we slept for about 3 hours in total, which means that we boarded the plane to Bejing as two zombies, but hey - a backpacker`s life is not always fun and easy, that `s why we don`t call ourselves tourists.
Raf and Mel aka "please, no more sightseeing!"
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