Climbing Moss

As we alluded to last week, we have been away on holiday and a busy and full holiday it was, a month long trip to South Korea and then Japan. This week we are going to tell you about the first stage, flying from London to Seoul and then getting to Busan in the South and all that we found there.

So read on for part one of the adventure…

We flew from Heathrow Terminal 4 at the start of June with Korean Air.

Ash’s first time flying long haul and the our first with this airline. The flight was 12 hours long, we were just flying economy, which over such a long flight isn’t the best, but given the costs of the whole holiday was really all we could justify. The flight itself wasn’t too bad, the seats were fairly comfortable – we were on the wing to the right of the plane, with a young Korean female in the window seat, who was nice enough and who slept through most of the flight. Every seat on the long haul flights has its own screen to watch TV or Movies on and the cabin crew appeared every couple of hours with some form of beverage or meal. Which over the 12 hours was welcomed, but the problem was in the food provided. Airplane food is always notorious, but Korean Air do give the option for selective and special dietary requirements (which is more than British Airways do) and so Bob requested a Vegan meal for herself (easiest option) and a Lactose Free for Ash.

Yeeeeeah… don’t do that! The Vegan option is basically rice! The main meal consisted of a couple of segments of fruit (apple and Orange) then a bread roll with sunflower butter and a Corgette rice thing with balsamic vinegar?! The Koreans do struggle with veganism at times and here they seemed to just do rice and a bit of fruit – it seemed as though they rushed around trying to find anything that was vegan regardless of what it was or whether it went with the meal (A couple of sachets of Sugar?) The girl to side of us got the full Korean menu option with multiple sides and random extras – so we quickly realised there is no point trying to book special meals. She had Tofu Curry, Ramen, and Soy milk in tea, Ash didn’t get milk of any sort and the main meal was inedible (I can’t remember what it was).

By the time we landed in Seoul – Bob was Decaffeinated! So first things first, having very quickly and smoothly cleared customs and collected cases etc and found the first coffee shop and ordered huge cups of coffee.

Then we had to get out Pocket Wifi which we had pre booked and paid via Trazy for so after a chaotic search we found the booth and collected the mobile router for the 16 Days, we went with SKT Portable Wifi Router for £30 at the time.

(Tip: Do make sure you are covered for the duration of your stay, make sure that the coverage lasts up to and even over the last day, we ran out as our coverage went up to midnight of the previous day, so we had to take screenshots of everything and everywhere we needed to go, before leaving the Airbnb (As we didn’t have wifi on our pocket wifi for the last day!)

With the Wifi in hand we needed the Korean version of an Oyster Card – A T-Money Card, available from most convenience stores – there is a C U Store in the airport and the staff all speak English, so super helpful! We got cute teddy bear logo version and topped up the cards on the spot (with about 20,000KRW about £10) and then headed for the train station.

Right that’s that done with now on to stage 2 – getting from Seoul to Busan. This involved the train and yes we checked for Zombies before boarding!

We had to get from Incheon Airport into Seoul and then find the trains out of the city. This was remarkably easy to get right and 40 minutes later we we queuing for the tickets to the Express Train to the South.

We were a little tired and hungry but didn’t realise how soon the next train was and so a relaxed bathroom break to clean up and refresh suddenly became a mad dash for platform 24 and the 18:30 train. Thankfully we made it, stowed our luggage and collapsed into our seats for the 2.5 hour train journey, all for the total expense of £54 each (120,000KRW). The journey seemed to rush by – it was so flawlessly easy and quiet.

By 10.30pm we were out of the station and exiting Busan Station to the sight of the neon and bright lights of Korea’s 2nd largest City and our new home for four nights.

We wandered a little confused, searching and relying on Naver, the alternative to Google (Google doesn’t work so well in this country). We ended up walking up and down the main road a bit too much in search of the aptly named Hotel BS. But we found it and were guided to our room.

The Hotel:

Well the room was a little basic and not what we were expecting. We had booked a room with kitchen facilities – clearly that meant a kettle to make ramen and a fridge. The room consisted of a double bed and and a 1.5 single, a small desk, holding the kettle, a lamp and with the fridge under it. One chair that just got in the way, an air conditioning unit which was charged additionally every time you used it and a window that looked out onto the fire escape and more air con units – So no natural light.

The bathroom which was the same size as the rest of the room was a wet room but nice enough, apart from a sink that was balanced on the pedestal and a cistern on the toilet that was fine so long as you didn’t touch it! Thankfully it was only for a few nights.

Busan as a city:

We took a brief wander around that first night, to find the convenience store and get a few supplies and then took a wander to acquaint ourselves with the local area, which turned out to be – an array of Girly Bars!

The next morning in glorious sunlight we headed out to start our sightseeing and learnt how to follow the bus systems, after a bit of a false start we soon got the hang of it.

Tip: Tap your T-Money Card when you get on and then again when you get off, or you will be charged a maximum fare and lose a lot of money, no one tells you this but thankfully we watched people alighting the bus and quickly cottoned on.

Cultural Village:

We headed to Gamcheon Cultural Village via 2 buses – the second a tiny 10 seater driven up windy country roads so steep it seemed impossible. But the little bus did it with ease, depositing us on a hillside road overlooking the village. A mass of small houses all painted bright colours and the weaving streets were filled with Koreans and Westerners alike in Hanbok (Traditional dress) and taking in the steep roads, the little boutiques and shops, getting iced coffee and ice cream, sweets and other treats and taking 90,000 selfies. Koreans do love a selfie – but it’s not as annoying as others- maybe because it’s so normal and no one screams or make a fuss, it’s just a quick snap and on you go to the next photo op!

We stopped for a break and an Iced Coffee, before leaving via that same little bus and back to the city centre and then on to the coast and the beach!

Beach Area

Songdo Beach is the quintessential sandy beach, a deep void of yellow soft sand leading to a shallow sea, that though cold is not as cold as say Spain! (Is anything as cold as Spain?!) While the locals perform a strange daily ritual of covering their entire bodies in clothing (except their feet for some reason) and walk back and forth along the shore, sweating and stomping around. We however took to the water – slowly in some cases, plunging in and bracing the chill in others – and swam a while. It’s not a holiday if you don’t go swimming, is it? After a while of water and sun, sitting watching the traversing Songdoites, the expensive cable car crossing the cove and drawing the vista in our sketchpads, we took a wander along the promenade and went to the wonky bridge. From the viewpoint on the beach the bridge in the distance looked twisted and oddly spaced. Once on the Skywalk you realised why, it’s a twisting, turning route over the sea, with mesh and wooden flooring to give a view of the water below, while the wind tries it’s hardest to push you in. Halfway along it there is a strange construction, a fake cave and a statue of The Little Mermaid.

Food.

Food is difficult when you are allergic to certain staple ingredients, then add in Vegetarian and Lactose/Dairy intolerances. So with Naver on full scan we sought out Vegan/Veggie Friendly in a country that is all about eating every part of a chicken, including the feet! So we walked up this road, back down that road, around this corner, on this bus, off that bus and then along a road selling socks -just socks – nothing but socks, naturally we bought some socks, we mean it would be rude not to!!

Then found 述古堂(Sulgodang) a Korean Restaurant with a cool view and ordered One Vegan Japchae (Cold Glass Noodles) and Beef Doenjang jjigae (A Beef Spicy Stew) that came with vegan Banchan (Side dishes) Before leaving and meandering around the shopping area with large outlets for everything from Beneton to Lacoste and Korean brands and at least 5 Olive Young’s.

The Temple:

Then we saw stairs and escalators with neon signs adoring the walls. Korea loves stairs and for some reason we climbed the stairs then an escalator and more flights, another escalator and then a gym(because Korean’s seem to think you have to walk at least 10km up a 1:2 gradient slope before you should be allowed to use a gym!) Bob was tempted but held out. We followed even more stairs and more escalators and finnnnaaaaaalllyyy got to the Diamond Tower and Yongdusan Park and Temple. A really great view – it wanted to be after all those stairs (This is Ash moaning fyi) and more importantly for Bob – Cats!

A lot of cats – which seem to be aloof. They weren’t particularly interesting in giving the humans interactions but would gladly be petted. In true cat fashion they wanted praise but none of the companionship – this followed through the whole country it would seem! Unless of course treats were involved.

Having walked up the stairs it meant we had to walk down the stairs, we were like the Grand Old Duke of York (Reference Bob doesn’t get!) and we headed for refreshments at one of a number of Craft Beer Pubs in Busan. This time Galmegi Brewery, with a view over shopping district we sipped at a Stout and a Sour and formulated a theory…

Ash’s – Group of Five:

This is in no ways meant to poke fun or stereotype but…

Well Ash formulated this theory.. Koreans travel in packs of five and they are a formula that is typical all over the country but truly found in Busan. On nights out and at social events, five friends will gather – this group must comprise of one of each, an executive or manager of a company, then a business owner, like a shop, gallery, convenience store owner, someone who is their own boss, third is the Sporty, a Jock if you will, always in a tracksuit and more athletic, counter to them is the foodie, the slightly to fully overweight food lover (maybe chef, or waiter, restaurant worker, that sort of thing!) and last the Artist, the oddly dressed, free thinker, weird friend! Now we have this in the west, but it is a formula that Koreans seem to stick to and whether male or female they gather their group at school/uni and hold on to it for the rest of their lives. The women have their other groups but always full back to their core five. The female Koreans also have a strange growth from the Sporty Schoolgirl, to the Tracksuit wearing university student, to the slender, active tennis or gold playing 20-30yr olds, who then in their 40’s cut their hair shorter and start to wear a Gilet, in their 50’s they start to add a floral print shirt and after this it’s a simple slip perming their black hair putting an oversized visor on top, adding netted gloves, a mass of clashing fabrics and print, shirt, gilet, trousers and flat pump trainers, with a Leki walking pole and a small backpack and to go hiking up the hundreds of hills and mountains within the country, you see them on trains in their pack of five going on an adventure.

---

Anyway that was Day 1! A lot was packed in there! We will be back next week for Day 2.

So stay tuned…