Busan

In June the health threat level was lowered and we were allowed to travel within South Korea. Our first trip was to Busan, a port city in the far south of the peninsula. Although there is a super-fast train that could get us there in two hours, we decided to drive because we really haven't seen much of Korea at all yet. The drive was about four hours, mostly through the mountains. It was very nice!

As you can see, the city of Busan is built right up to the water's edge. They do have some problems with flooding during monsoon and typhoon seasons, but land is such a scarce resource in Korea that I suppose they feel they don't really have any other choice. 

This is Haeundae Beach, the biggest beach in Busan. We were here early in the season, so for that reason and because of COVID, the beach was fairly empty. Normally during the summer people are packed in quite closely.

Haeundae and Busan from an overlook on the other side of the inlet.

Most Buddhist temples in Korea are built high up on mountain tops, but the temple in Busan is built at the bottom of a cliff. This temple is to honor a sea deity (from what I understand, although that doesn't seem quite right as Buddhism doesn't have gods as such). To get to the temple you have to go down more than 100 steps.

These are representations of various gods from the Chinese zodiac. The boxes in front are for collecting money people give to the gods in exchange for answers to their petitions.

Inside the main temple building. I'm a bit unclear what exactly happens here, but you can see food donations laid out. If you look closely, you can see a box of Choco Pies towards the right. Choco Pies are and extremely popular snack here. So much so, that they have been used as black market currency in North Korea.

This village in Busan, Gamcheon, started as a refugee village during the Korean War. The invasion by the North Koreans never reached Busan, so many people ended up here. The houses are built so close together that the roofs of some houses are the parking spots for the houses just above. In more recent times, the people living here have aged or moved on. But because it is such an important historical site, the government is hiring artists to paint and use the old houses for other purposes. This is also a very popular site for filmmakers.

The decorations on one of the houses in Gamcheon.

We took a sky car over one of the other main beaches, which had a fun park at the other end. Lots of dinosaurs! But also some nice walking paths and snack shops. 

 Busan has a small, but very nice aquarium. Here is the touching pool for kids.