Dreams Come True in Busan

This week's adventure was an absolute TREAT. Last weekend we spent two nights in Busan and had the best time imaginable. Busan is South Korea's second largest city and there were a plethora of activities to partake in and pictures to procure. I found my personal photo count to come in at over 430 images in less than 48 hours and on day two of our trip we clocked a total of 25,430 steps! Obviously there is a lot of ground to cover and pictures to share so let's get started! 

As soon as we arrived in Busan we set out on a city bus for Haedong Yonggungsa. This is one of the most popular temples in South Korea as it is quite large and positioned just perfectly along the sea. Although we had heard it was a must see we were shocked by all of its beauty once we actually arrived. There was so much to take in from hundreds of stone sculptures to the sweeping rocks jutting out of the perfectly blue sea. When you first arrive at the temple location you are at the top of a hill. There is a stone staircase including 108 stairs that slowly descend you down the hillside all while surrounding you with stone lanterns on each side. The view of the temple and the sea becomes clearer and grander with each step. 

Inside the sanctuary we saw many different statues. Some of my personal favorites:

A coin wishing well, Buddha for academic achievement, & Buddhist Goddess of Mercy

Giant golden Buddha, Buddha Granting a Son, & our Chinese zodiac: the tiger

After exploring the Yongungsa temple we headed to another hot spot in Busan: Haeundae Beach! Obviously we are exploring South Korea in the winter so unfortunately there was no swimming or a dip of the toes in the water during our visit. We did however manage to arrive just before sunset which helped the experience to seem just a little more magical. One tourist recommendation was to visit Dongbaekseom or Dongbaek Island although it isn't really an island anymore but connected to the mainland. On Dongbaekseom we hiked to the legendary Princess Hwangok's mermaid statue, to the carved stone of Haeundae, and the statue of Choi Chi-won. All of these pieces were beautiful to discover and have an interesting story or piece of history attached to their name. The princess Hwangok statue was erected in 1974 but was carried away after a very strong typhoon in 1987. Brandon and I found a lot of these stories interesting but I will save my breath for those who don't care to hear about it. A quick google search can always bring more information if you are curious but just look at these awesome pictures set against the sunset! 

After soaking up the beauty and sea in Haeundae we headed for a super classy McDonald's dinner and GS25 snacks. Our Airbnb was located on the 14th floor which was very exciting for us as this was our first stay up high in an apartment building. At first we weren't sure if we would stay one night or two but after such an exciting day we knew we wanted to spend a second night. We were lucky that nobody had booked our same Airbnb for the next night so we extended our stay and allowed ourselves to sleep in a bit the next morning after a lot of walking around! 

To start day two off right we headed for a highly recommended breakfast spot; Sinchang Toast. When we got off the bus and were walking around looking for it in the alleys of Gukje Market we walked right past it at first and eventually had to double back realizing we were looking for something a bit different than the tiny shop front. The entire space inside was made up of two long bar stool seating sections and a single file line down the middle. The food was cooked outside on a small griddle that is almost the same width of the entire shop. But my golly, that was a good sandwich. Brandon and I both got a "Special Toast" which was made of Spam, cheese, omelet, and toast. It was a great start to the day and I would definitely make the trip back if we were to visit this area again. 

After eating our toast we headed to the Kakao Friends store that was nearby. For those unfamiliar, Kakao friends are the animated characters associated with KakaoTalk which is how pretty much everybody in South Korea chooses to communicate. The store consisted of three levels filled with Kakao stuffed animals, notebooks, doo-dads, and everything in between. After looking through all of the themed memorabilia we headed to the fourth floor 'Apeach Cafe' where we enjoyed themed drinks to top the experience off. 

Another spot highly recommended in Busan is the Gamcheon Culture Village. You may have even seen pictures of this brightly colored area as it can look a bit like the Cinque Terre with its brightly colored houses all bunched together. Gamcheon was initially created in the 1920's when the Busan administration wanted to relocate poor Korean citizens out of the way of the ports. But the most influential event in Gamcheon village was refugees fleeing from all over the country to this south eastern town seeking refuge from the Korean war in the 1950's. The huge influx of people in such a short amount of time lead to very crowded and poorly built houses that seem to have popped up overnight. The village has since been revamped to increase tourism and bring new life/art into the community. We spent a couple of hours wandering through the winding alleys and reading a bit about the history of the village. One of my favorite parts about the cultural village was finding stamps spread throughout the village. If I had done more research before arriving I would have discovered that you can purchase a map for a small fee that tells you where to find all of the tourist stamps and how to make sure we saw all the sights. Unfortunately, we went in with no plan and didn't know what we were missing out on. I felt pretty proud of myself for finding a bank receipt in my backpack (literally the only piece of paper we had) and was able to collect 4 of the 8 stamps on our own. It was a really cool experience but next time I will definitely track down the map beforehand! 

After seeing the Gamcheon Village we headed to nearby Songdo Beach. Here we walked along the cloud trail that stretches out into the ocean offering picturesque views of the clear water, sandy beaches, and cable cars passing in the background. When we were finished taking the view in from the ground we made our way to the cable cars and took to the sky for an even better vantage point. Once we made it to the end of the ride we were able to get out and view the sea at the observatory station in Amnam Park. I was shocked and delighted to find a family of cats/kittens roaming the park and was even able to pet a few of them before we headed down the mountain for another view of those crystal blue waters. 

We've made it so far today and now we are hungry for some street food! Jagalchi is a very famous seafood spot where you can pick out the live fish you want from the tank and then it is brought upstairs and prepared for you. We thought we would be adventurous and give this a try but in the end it just ended up being too much for us. Neither one of us really loves seafood and it was kind of dispiriting and overwhelming to see all of the poor creatures crammed in tanks. Instead we headed to one of the neighboring shopping areas, BIFF street. BIFF (Busan International Film Festival) was full of street food classics and we knew we needed to try Ssiat Hotteok: a sweet Korean pancake filled with brown sugar filling and then stuffed with sunflower seeds and peanuts. While we were sitting down to eat our snack I just happened to glance up to a magical sight: "Pet Cafe on 7F". 

Since the very first day of our quarantine I told Brandon that we HAD to go to a Raccoon cafe. I read an article talking about the unique cafe experience that can really only be found in South Korea and I knew we needed to go no matter what it took. Brandon promised he would take me and I've just been waiting for the opportunity ever since. As soon as I saw that sign I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my night! I love Raccoons and I couldn't wait to see what was awaiting for us on 7F. We headed up the elevator and paid the entrance fee; 10,000 KRW each (about $9 USD and a free drink once inside). We changed into the slippers provided and put on a clean apron to protect our clothes. The owner provided each of us with a paper cup of shredded chicken and showed us to the enclosures. We started in the biggest room full of cats. It was really fun to see all of the cats and how eager they were for that chicken but none of them were very interested in being petted or touched unless they brushed up against you in an attempt to earn some chicken. In the same room as the cats we could see a very large, light colored raccoon but he was curled into a ball with his face hidden behind a post and the window. I was honestly crushed that there didn't seem to be an opportunity for a raccoon encounter but was excited to see the meerkats in the room over. 

The meerkats were crazy! Brandon and I sat on the floor and the meerkats were instantly climbing all over us and chittering in an attempt to get food. If you left the cup too close to the floor they would jump up and stick their whole head in to make sure they got what they wanted. It was very cool to see them running back and forth and fighting over that chicken but also a little overwhelming as Brandon and I both sat down and were attempting to feed, observe, and take pictures of each other at the same time. This was such a unique experience and was truly enjoyable until one little friend sunk his teeth deep into my index finger, mistaking it for the chicken I had dangling. This left my feeling really anxious and worried as I ran to the bathroom to stop the blood from getting everywhere. Although it was pretty scary at the time I'm glad that I had a good amount of time with them before that happened because looking back it was definitely a very unique and exciting experience. After my run in with death I was ready to grab my drink and seek the less strenuous task of feeding the cats. 

My face when I realize these guys are NOT messing around with their chicken.

While we were sitting in the cafe area enjoying our sodas we looked into the cat/raccoon enclosure and noticed that there was now a second raccoon! The original light color raccoon had come out of hiding and was looking into the room and another raccoon seemed to have appeared out of thin air. We ran over to the room to get pictures before he disappeared again! I'm not kidding when I say this experience was truly one of my biggest dreams coming true. 

These furry friends are so cute! You can see the light one poking his head out here & the more social one digging in Brandon's pockets looking for a treat.

I think these pictures say it all: Raccoon sees hat, raccoon grabs hat, Claire doesn't like it. 

After we had a chance to see the raccoon we headed out to see the last animals: a 7 month old baby deer and a bunny. I'm not sure why they felt they wanted a deer but he was honestly very sweet. He just sat on the ground eating his straw and cuddling up to his BFF, Mr. Bunny. It was so interesting and sweet to see the two of them together! Mission accomplished. 

I told you there was a lot to do and see in such a short amount of time! We ended our night with way too much walking in the cold as we greedily tried to cover too many markets at once. We eventually chased down some food to take home and hobbled home with sore legs and a 25,000 step medal in our minds. But after it was all said and done this was certainly one of our very favorite trips so far. We are very happy we decided to spend that second night so that we were able to hit pretty much every item on our to do list. We are excited to have a full week of work to recuperate and plan an action of attack for the remainder of our vacation time in February which will include a trip to Jeonnam, Seoul, and Gangwon. Until next time folks!