3 Days 2 nights in Busan - II

Two Weeks Vacation in South Korea - Part V

Part IV: Two Weeks Vacation in South Korea - Part IV
Part V: Two Weeks Vacation in South Korea - Part V
Part VI: Two Weeks Vacation in South Korea - Part VI

Itinerary to South Korea

Day 5: Busan

My dad and I woke up early in the morning to have a breakfast at 32nd Floor. The buffet breakfast at Park Hyatt Busan had lots of choice. I loved it so much. From the restaurant, I could see the view outside. The view itself was just fabulous.The same view can also be viewed from the lobby floor at 30th Floor.

View from the restaurant

Gamcheon Cultural Village

The first destination that we went to was Gamcheon Cultural Village. We took a cab to go this place. This village was also known as "Santorini of South Korea". This village was full with arts. You can buy a map for 2,000 at the visitor and collect a stamp around this village. 

Direction (Public Transportation):
1. Take Green Line, transfer to Red Line to Toseong Station Exit 6.
2. You will be facing an intersection. Turn right at the corner and walk straight. You will see a hospital on your right. The bus stop is right in front of the hospital.
3. Take either Bus 2 or 2-2
4. This will take you to Gamcheon Culture Village at top of the hill.

Santorini of South Korea

Credit @ Two Wandering Soles

 

We went to the community center in this village. At the roof of this community center, the running man TV show was filming with Choi Ji Woo as a guest.

In front of the community center, there was stairs to part of the village. My sister and I actually walked toward the community center from the other side of the stairs. My sister told me that she got dizzy. When we arrive at the community center, we saw a board and the stairs that we just went through was called as "Stairs to See Stars". The reason was that one felt dizzy when they climbed up the stairs.

Jagalchi Market 

It was already a lunch time. From Gamcheon Cultural Village, we then head out to Jagalchi market, the biggest fish market in South Korea, was bigger than Noryangjin fish market in Seoul. We visited one of the fish store. The ahjumma who stood in front of the store was holding a small calculator and pressed it when we asked the price for the seafood that we wanted to eat. We ordered a king crab, a raw abalone, a raw sea cucumber, and live octopus. The total was 80,000 won for 4 people. I would rate the restaurant 4.5/5 since the services were amazing. The taste of the abalone and sea cucumber was not bad at all and I would eat it again in the future.

Direction (Public Transportation): Jagalchi Station (Busan subway line 1), Exit 10.

Jagalchi Fish Market in Busan (Credit @ Two Wandering Soles)

 

Since we did not have a lot of time in Busan, we skipped BIFF square and the ssiat-hotteok. This ssiat-hotteok was very popular and became more popular after Lee Seung Gi ate it at one of the 1 night 2 days episode. For the information, please check this site Two Wondering Soles. From Jagalchi market, we headed out to Taejongdae before they closed. 

Taejongdae

Direction (Public Transportation): From Busan Station, take Bus 88 or 101 and get off at Taejongdae (태종대). This place was named after King Taejongmuyeol, the 29th king of Silla kingdom. He used to travel to this place for shooting arrows. Taejongdae was also a place to perform a ritual for rain during the droughts season. The rain on the 10th of lunar May is called as the Taejong rain.

From the entrance, we had to walk inside to the Danubi train ticket counter. It was free admission to the Taejongdae park by walking but it was a long walk from one place to another. Therefore, I would recommend to take a Danubi train. 

Fee: 1,600 won/person for a family group of 3 or more. 2,000/person for adults, 1,500/person for youths, and 1,000 won/person for children.

Danubi Train

The Danubi train stopped at 5 places:

1. Taewon Jagal Madang
2. Gumyeongsa Temple
3. Observatory
4. Yeongdo Lighthouse
5. Taejongsa Temple

 

The most famous stops were observatory and yeongdo lighthouse. From the platform, we directly went to the observatory as our first stop.

Inside the Danubi Train

View of a Tsushima island (Japan) from the observatory. It was foggy and cold during my visit.

Observatory Building

Mother and children statue in front of the observatory building

From the observatory, we then went to Yeongdo lighthouse. It was very close to the observatory. We ended taking the Danubi train since the train arrived when we are about to walk there. After we arrived at the Yeongdo lighthouse, we walked down thru stairs toward the light house. It was a long walk to the destination.The blue red looks like arrow statue called as "Light Beyond Limitation". The blue represents sky and sea, the red represents the sun, camellia flower, universe, five oceans, and six continents, and the arrow represents the light from the lighthouse. Under the lighthouse, there was a table rock called Sinseon Rock. At this rock, there is a figure called Mangbuseok, named after the story of a woman who waited for her husband who capture to Japan. 

We stopped at the red blue arrow and relaxed there for 30 minutes before we went back up to where the Danubi train was. From Taejongdae, we headed back to our hotel to take a rest. For the dinner tonight, we bought four bowls of noodle cup at the convenience store next to our hotel.  

Spa Land - Shinsegae Centum City

After took a rest, we headed to Spa Land at Centum City Shopping Center. Please click the link for information on Spa Land. Spa Land is a jimjilbang and one of the best jimjilbang in South Korea. I would recommend people to go there. They were open from 6 AM to 12 AM. In this jimjilbang, one of the running man episode filming here. I wrote a post for Spa Land itself due to lots of information about it.From Spa Land, then we headed back to our hotel with a cab. It was about 12:30 AM.

 Continue Part VI: Two Weeks Vacation in South Korea - Part VI

3 days 2 nights in Busan - I

Two Weeks Vacation in South Korea - Part IV

Part III: Two weeks Vacation in South Korea - Part III  
Part IV: Two Weeks Vacation in South Korea - Part IV
Part V: Two Weeks Vacation in South Korea - Part V

Itinerary to South Korea
 

Day 4: Seoul - Busan

Incheon International Airport 

Our parents should arrive this morning at 8:20 AM via Air Asia but the night before the flight that should depart at 1 AM delay for 3 hours. They ended arrive at 11:20 AM. Therefore, we had a chance to eat breakfast at the hotel since we did not have to leave early to the airport to pick them up. We decided to take metro to the airport since we wanted to experience it. After breakfast, we walked to Yeongdeungpo station. 

Direction:
1. Take line 1 (blue line) from Yeongdeungpo station to Singil (2 stops)
2. Take line 5 (purple line) from Singil to Gimpo International Airport (13 stops)
3. Take AREX from Gimpo International Airport to Incheon Internation Airport (5 stops)

Alternative Direction:
1. Take line 1 (blue line) from Yeongdeungpo station to Seoul station (7 stops)
2. Take AREX from Seoul station to Incheon International Airport (10 stops)

Note: For the airport railroad, make sure choose the right train that go to Incheon International Airport. We chose the wrong one and had to exit Unseo and caught the next one. It really did not matter anyway since it did not make you wait longer. After 90 minutes or so, we arrived at the Incheon International Airport. 

Tips: I will suggest to take Airport Limousine Bus rather than metro to the airport if you have lots of luggage especially on the weekend. I will explain it later when we were on the way to catch KTX from Seoul Station to Busan. 

 AREX at Gimpo International Airport (Credit @ Seoul Man)

Underground Walk Way from Transportation Center to Check-In Counter

From the airport, we took airport bus limousine 6008 to Courtyard Seoul Times Square hotel with my parents and 3 luggage. Remember to use 1,000 won coupon from the coupon website links on Part I. When we arrived at the hotel, my mom would like to take a shower before we went to Busan. We bought night snack food in front of the Times Square so my parents could fill their stomach since they had not eaten all night long. Four of us have a total of 8 luggage, 4 were 28", 3 were 26", and 1 was 20". We decided to take 2 28" and 1 26" to Busan and Jeju Island. The rest we request the concierge at the hotel to keep it until we went back to Seoul. That was the great thing about Courtyard Seoul Times Square. They also let us to check out at 4 PM as complimentary for a gold elite member.

Yeongduengpo Underground Shopping Center

We then walked to Yeongdeungpo station to Seoul station to catch KTX to Busan. That day was a Saturday, and how regret of me to pick that day to go to Busan. The underground shopping and the metro were full of people and packed compare to the week day. It was unbelievable. That's the reason I mentioned not to take a metro to go to the airport with lots of luggage. Also, they were lots of stairs at the underground. Some station did not have elevator at all, only stairs and stairs. 

My dad was wearing sandal at time while taking one of the luggage. On the way out from times square to underground shopping, there was revolving door. My dad got in to one of the empty door with the luggage and an unknown pregnant woman also got in the spot where my dad got in. Both of them stuck and the revolving door did not stop revolving. My dad sandal stuck at the revolving door and he could not take out his foot from the sandal. One good thing about South Korea was that everyone directly help my dad and couple men tried hold the door so that the door did not nip my father's foot. The security came and turn off the revolving door. What a stupid  mistake, we should just take a door next to it. A lesson to remember.

Underground Shopping during the Weekend

Underground Shopping during the Weekday

Subway during the Weekend (not as bad as during rush hours on weekday) Credit @ Larry Suen

Stair and Stairs (Credit @ Sarah Kuszelewick)

Direction:
1. Take line 1 (blue line) from Yeongdeungpo station to Seoul station (7 stops)

Seoul Station

We finally arrived at Seoul Station. This time we could take an elevator. What a relieved. Then, we head up to where the KTX were. I had to change my KTX ticket due to my parents' flight delay. Luckily, they allowed me to change the time of the departure. Since we have time before the departure, we bought food since all of us were hungry. I just bought mayak-gimbap for me. My parents and sister bought teriyaki with rice and noodles at one of the shop. After that we departed from Seoul Station Terminal 8 to Busan Station. It took approximately 2 hour and 40 min.
  

KTX tickets to Busan Station

Food Counter at Seoul Station

Seoul Station (Credit @ wikimedia)

Seoul Station (Credit @ Kevin Revolinski)

Seoul Station (Credit @Explore Metro)

Seoul Station (Credit @문인종)

My mom and sister at the KTX train

Busan Station

It was a good experience to ride KTX to Busan. Even the economy class chairs were very comfortable. I would take the KTX again in the future. My rate for KTX is 4.5/5. 0.5 off due to the WiFi. There is a free WiFi inside the train but it kept disconnected. We ended up using our KT WiFi Egg. 

KTX arriving at Busan Station

Mom and I inside Busan Station

My parents and I outside Busan Station

Since it late already, my parents requested not to take a metro but a cab instead to our hotel. They had not had enough slept due to the delay on the flight in the morning and both of them could not sleep at the airplane. Therefore, we walked to where the taxis were parked. In there, one of the ahjussi told us to use CRV taxi type. There was no indication that the CRV car was actually a Taxi nor it had the meter. Therefore, we asked the ahjussi, how much to go to our hotel at Park Hyatt at Haeundae. He charged us 30,000 won. I guessed it was not bad. 

The Haeundae view from taxi

Gwangali & Haeundae Maps

We finally arrived at our hotel at Park Hyatt Busan. This is one of the best hotel that I had ever visited. As a diamond member, the room was upgraded to the suites. We stayed here for two nights.

Fountain in front of Park Hyatt Busan

Gumsubokguk

After checked-in, we decided to have dinner. For the dinner, my sister would like to try "Fugu/Puffer/Blow Fish/bok-eo". There was one road section at Haeundae that had couple restaurants that served this fugu fish. Fugu fish is poisonous due to its tetrodotoxin so that it must be prepared very carefully to remove the toxic parts and not contaminated the meat. One popular restaurant that served this fish was Gumsubokguk. Since they were very popular, they opened a branch in Seoul. We took a taxi from the hotel to get there and cost us around 6,000 won since it was very close.

Fugu/Puffer/Blow Fish/bok-eo

Gumsubokguk Restaurant in Busan

In front of Gumsubokguk Restaurant

 Fugu Fish Dishes at Gumsubokguk Restaurant

I would rate this restaurant 5/5. The fried fish and fish soup were great and we liked it. I liked the last one too but my mom and sister thought the smell are so strong on that dishes. For 4 people, 3 dishes were too much for us. Also, the food were on the pricey side but it was nice to try it and I would recommend people to try it. 

Haeundae Beach

From the restaurant, we were to full and decided to walk to Haeundae Beach. The beach is amazing at night. I would rate it 5/5. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Haeundae Beach at Night

Gwanggali Beach

From there we were taking a cab to Gwangalli beach where we could see the diamond bridge. The rate is about 6,000 won. The beach was fabulous. I would rate it 5/5.

Diamond Bridge at Gwangalli Beach

After that we went back to the hotel. Since it was a Saturday night and where most of the bars located, it was a little difficult to catch a cab since there were lots of people also were waiting for the cab.

Continue to Part V: Two Weeks Vacation in South Korea - Part V