Day 2 in Busan - the weather was still cooperating despite some heavy cloud cover and we got ready to venture out for the day.
Random hotel fact - the room key was an actual key, attached to a sensor card which had to be inserted into a station in the room in order for the power to be on - pretty cool. But it did feel a bit strange to have a key rather than a card to swipe in the door.
We walked over to Haeundae Station’s Exit 7 and bravely jumped on Bus 181
headed for the Haedong Yonggung Temple, which is east of Haeundae and along the shore.
This was our very first time riding on a public bus in South Korea, so we were major newbies…and I have a sneaking suspicion that us frantically swiping our cards at the money machine during the chaotic surge of people to get on may have resulted in us taking a free ride - oops! It was very full and very bumpy (so no pictures to share!)…we were glad to jump off when it was time (all except Michael, who was given a seat by a kindly Korean woman). Onward to the temple!
We climbed a pretty good sized hill from there and came to the alley of shops before the temple - lots of fresh seafood and temple-related souvenirs to pick from.
At the entry area, there were MANY statues and prayer spots - too many to take pictures of - but here are a few of our favorites:
There was an entire wall of statues dedicated to the twelve zodiac figures:
This large stone pagoda had a tire in front, marking it as the place to pray for protection from traffic accidents:
It was time to start the descent towards the actual temple, where we passed through this gate and saw the first set of stairs.
There were many things to see along the way - these turtles, the Buddha head above a tunnel, and a set of five buddhas for prayers for academic achievement.
Then there were MORE stairs (this day will forever be known as “The Day of Stairs!”), leading to a midway viewing area. That’s when we could finally see the Yonggungsa Temple on it’s cliffside perch, as well as another prayer stop.
The monks were praying inside as we arrived, so I took pictures from further away to try to avoid disturbing them. The grounds were undergoing some repairs and repainting, but it was still a beautiful spot.
Little, tiny Buddhas
The weather was still holding up, so we walked down the beach and had opted for a quick lunch at Brioche Dorée.
The menu was nice, my ham and cheese croissant tasted really good, and the dessert selection was soooo much more tempting to me than those we normally see in our neighborhood pastry shops. Nom nom nom...
Next up was some more fun in the sand and surf at Haeundae Beach.
This sign cracked me up, since soooo many Koreans smoke and there were still cigarette butts to be found on the beach.
After we dusted the sand off our feet, we headed over to the far end of the beach to explore Dongbaekseom Park. There are hiking trails and wooden stairs all along the seashore. Yes, more stairs. :)
We stopped to admire this lovely mermaid sitting on her rock.
We braved a very wobbly suspension bridge, with much laughter along the way.
We found a light house and many of what Michael dubbed “meteor rocks” along the shore.
On the far side of the park, we found the Nurimaru APEC House. It was built in 2005 and used for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. We ventured inside, where they have it set up as a mini-museum with items from the meeting.
To be continued…
Busan Day 3
Busan Day 4
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