Gallons of tiny fish in red sauce without a tea towel to be found

Today’s travel theme is tours, and in that spirit I we start with a tour of the hotel’s breakfast buffet. We are staying at the Lotte Hotel in Busan, and their breakfast is simply epic. I was able to film a lot of it but I think I missed a few sections, including the dessert bar.

I didn’t capture the whole buffet, because there were just too many stations to capture in a short video. 

One lovely aspect of Korean culture is their treatment of children. Perhaps because of Koreas problematic low birth rate, children appear to be treated very well here. That’s a sweeping generalization, but all our observation supports it. They have special parts of the breakfast buffets (and dinner as well) just for children, with fun cutlery, cups and plates. Children appear very welcomed and cherished everywhere we go.  On the other hand, the children we have seen have all been well behaved and well attended to, typically by multiple adults and generations at once. It’s delightful to watch. 

Here was our breakfast view of Busan:

After our hearty breakfast with a stellar city view, we walked a few minutes to board our tour bus for the day. Busan is notoriously hard to drive in. It ranks worse than Seoul but easier than Athens. During the Korean War, refugees from the north poured into the city which was never taken by communist forces. Refugees settled and built homes without a master city plan.  The city roads grew organically around the neighborhoods making navigating a chore. To simplify, we got a tour package to see the city sites. They’re spread out, and the bus allowed for nap times in between. We typically like to do our own Griffith thing, but we were thrilled with our choice. The tour guides were lovely and gave us plenty of time to explore at our own pace. 

Our first stop was a famous ocean side temple. Korea temples are built in remote mountaintop locations, and this one is appealingly close to the city and on the ocean. It’s a popular place for locals and tourists. 

This is a pagoda dedicated to traffic safety. Jane and I thought they were getting pretty dang specific with their dedications here. 

The temple included the 12 zodiac characters that we have seen in other temples. Jane’s sign is the rat, her favorite. 

Lots of happy Buddas. 

Rubbing the pig’s butt brings good fortune.  We all have it a shot. 

Jane’s fondness for watermelon, her favorite fruit, seems to be shared by everyone here. There were lots of watermelon themed food and beverage. She spotted a cold cup of watermelon, but the shop offered to put it in a blender.  We all agree, that was the best cold watermelon juice ever and we are going to repeat this at home. 

Attitudes toward souvenirs are markedly different than America’s. While the shrine had a massive market of food and trinkets, they sold only a single tshirt. On the other hand, opportunities to purchase seaweed and fish were plentiful. I just wanted to suggest maybe a coffee mug, a kitchen towel, or a book of pictures with the backstory.   

So much seaweed. 

Too much seaweed. 

After the temple, we headed to a lighthouse in a National Park. We climbed to the top of the lighthouse for a big view. 

After a steep hike back up to the top of the cliff side, we all went to lunch. We decided to eat at the restaurant our tour guides recommended. That’s where they ate too. Most of the tour ditched it to find somewhere else to eat. We had no idea why because the food was fabulous. We ordered “Swine Punching”. We thought perhaps that was a bad translation, but when we used Google Translate it said “Pig Roll, Swine Punching, Love It”. Our gamble paid off because Swine Punching was delicious!

After lunch, the tour bus took us to Songdo Beach. We walked on the skywalk over the water. 

Jane and Joel rescued a crab that was trapped on the sidewalk. 

The seawalk had zero stores selling beach supplies, souvenirs, or tshirts. Instead, it was lined with what we thought were aquariums but were actually seafood restaurants. 

Our final stop was at Gamcheon Culture Village. Originally a dense slum for North Korean refugees, the Government invested in beautifying it, turning it into a thriving arts and tourism community. We swooned, and we think we will visit again tomorrow. 

Filled with murals and brightly colored houses, the community looks cheerful on the side of the mountain.

In this shop, cotton candy was made into animals. 

Little sculptures could be found on roofs and stairs. 

We had planned to go to the beach again tonight to watch the drone show, but we are just too pooped to navigate a crowd. We instead went back to eat light snacks, shower, and pass out. Tomorrow is another day in Busan.