Hangul Day (the day the emperor introduced the Korean language) meant no school on Friday for everyone! This was on October 9th, so we went to Busan from the 8th (Thursday night) until the 11th (Sunday night). I don't want to say it was last minute, but we made a last minute decision to go to Busan that weekend! We thought it would be the perfect time to go before the weather dropped to low temperatures. Last minute decisions lead to bed hopping...we couldn't find a place available for three nights so we did the best we could with what we had. The first night, we flew to Busan because the KTX was booked and a 4 hour long bus ride sounded unpleasant. The plane ride was a short nap of about 55 minutes so we got to Busan around 7:30 pm. We made our way to a jimjilbang which is a common Korean co-ed spa center. This was my first time at a jimjilbang, the first thing I saw when I walked into the ladies' shower/spa area was a fully naked body. This is perfectly normal because that's what you're supposed to do at a jimjilbang. We were each given a set of clothes to change into (shirt and pants), and we used the lockers to store our things. One floor is designated for women and another for men, even the elevators are separated. Then the top floor is the co-ed area where people can go into saunas, sleep on the floor, eat and drink, etc. My friends who went to other jimjilbangs said that different ones offered more services such as massages. But the one we stayed with did have a "DVD Room" where most of us set up our beds to sleep. We grabbed blankets and a pillow from the shared pile but the wooden floor was too hard to sleep, so I would say I got about 3 hours of solid sleep (no pun intended). It was definitely an interesting experience and the sauna was fun! Make sure to research different jimjilbangs because some don't allow overnight stays. You can also figure out the pricing depending on the times you will check in.
After night 1, we explored the area a bit before heading to the hostel (Kim's House). Our jimjilbang was located near a popular beach, Haeundae Beach. We walked to the beach and enjoyed the view, except no one swims in the water. We didn't stay long because we had all of our baggage. Busan's transportation is much like Seoul's, you take the subway and the bus to get around so it wasn't too hard to figure out how to get to places. As we walked to our hostel from the subway station, we saw people lining up for food. That was also our lunch/dinner, I definitely recommend the 돼지국밥 which is very popular in Busan. It's a pork rice soup dish! Then we made our way to the Shinsegae Mall (biggest shopping complex in the world), it even has an ice rink and movie theater built in. At the mall, we found a wide variety of all brands and shopped for a bit. After the mall, we headed toward gwangalli beach for the view of the bridge. We played with some mini fireworks and sparklers before taking pictures of the awesome view.
We checked out of our hostel around noon and journeyed to our Airbnb. By journey, I literally mean JOURNEY. We had instructions, but we were not sure how to ride the bus because the bus stops were in Korean. After about two hours, we made it! We actually got there a bit early before our check-in time, but luckily, the owner was home. We settled into our room, there were two bunk beds and two futons, so we fit perfectly. Since we spent the afternoon getting to the home, we were very hungry. The owner, Mr. Ha, provided us with details of the surrounding area such as the supermarket, bus stops, restaurants, etc and he had a hand drawn map to guide us. We followed his instructions and had food at a restaurant near the bus stop. The ladies were really nice and helped us order food because we were obviously lost. Next stop, shopping. We had a list of some places to shop at that were mainly underground shopping malls such as Nampo and Seomyeon. Half the group, including myself, decided to go get mani/pedis. I was very tired and the pedicure was relaxing so I almost fell asleep. After shopping and pampering, it was time to explore the famous seafood market - Jagalchi Market. I could not handle the stench of the seafood. But for everyone who loves sushi, this is the place to feast! They prepare the seafood when you order and there's a wide variety of choices. (I didn't stay for the feasting, but a couple of my friends did.)
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1276382 We used this to book our stay, I would recommend it because the owner was very helpful and he kept his home very neat. The interior was filled with wood and it gave off cozy vibes of nature. In the morning, Mr. Ha prepared his own bread and jams for us as breakfast. Our last day in Busan began with tasty breakfast! We were supposed to check out at noon, but we asked him if we could leave our stuff because we wanted to visit Taejongdae which was a few stops on the bus away from the house. He was nice and let us store our bags in the room we slept in as long we came back before 4 pm. We left around 11 am and began walking to Yeongdo lighthouse. It was a great view of the sea and the weather was nice for pictures. It was an easy trip to make and I would definitely recommend! We returned home for our luggage and to thank Mr. Ha for the warm hospitality. We still had time for a trip to Busan Tower before heading to the airport for our 7:40 pm flight. I think going to the tower would have been a great way to start the trip because you get to see everything from the tallest tower in Busan. But it was also a great way to reflect on all the places that we had visited. This was definitely a fun weekend before coming back home to face midterms.