Busan mit Local Guide

It is Tuesday, a beautiful, sunny morning in Busan, I am sitting at the table, looking at the harbor, waiting for the washing machine to finish and reflecting on yesterday.

After a leisurely morning, I took the bus to Yeongdo Island, which I can see from my window and which is connected to the mainland by three bridges. There you will find the 흰여울문화마을 (Hin-jo-ul-mun-hoa-ma-üll), a series of small houses and alleys on the edge of a cliff.

The original residential area has been renovated for tourists. Everything is picturesquely decorated in white and bright colors, with one café and little shop next to the other.

I sat in a café overlooking the water, ate cheesecake for breakfast and drank iced chocolate (enough sugar for the rest of the year), watched the waves and let my thoughts wander.

Then I walked the entire way through small villages to the viewing platform at the end, stopping every now and then to browse in a shop or take a break in the shade, as the midday sun is pretty powerful here.

Afterwards I went back by bus, had a short rest and cooled down with the help of the air conditioning, because I had an appointment with a local guide in the afternoon.

Sometimes the internet is good for something: After my first week in Seoul, I tried to make spontaneous contacts via the Interpals platform. Unfortunately, there were only strange people there who gave me a strange gut feeling, so I ended up not meeting anyone in Seoul.

One contact was quite nice, a man from Busan, although he was in Sydney at the time. But when I arrived in Busan on Sunday, he told me that he had also been back in the city for a few days. And since he seemed reasonable, I gladly accepted the offer to get to know Busan through the eyes of a local.

We met in the afternoon at the main train station and took the subway to the beach in 광안리 (Guang-alli). It's a small bay with a narrow beach, spanned by a bridge and surrounded by glass giants. I certainly admire the high-rise buildings here, but right on the beach? I actually liked it better in Sokcho. But of course Busan is South Korea's second largest city and people have to go somewhere.

However, locals are not allowed to live in the apartments that look directly onto the water, as my companion explained to me. They are reserved for tourism purposes. A few years ago, a typhoon destroyed the entire ground floor here, he continued. But you can't see any of that anymore: the promenade is lined with cafes and restaurants with large glass fronts or open terraces.

Fun fact: In Busan they speak Saturi, a regional dialect. 밥 먹었어? (Pab mo-goss-o? — Have you eaten anything? Here is the equivalent of “Everything OK with you?”) becomes 밥 묵읏나? (Pab mu-günna?) in Busan. It's kind of funny that I spend three weeks learning Korean in Seoul, only to end up stuck in Busan. It's like taking a German course in Hanover, only to be surprised in Bavaria afterwards why I can't communicate! 😄

Luckily, my companion spoke very good English, as he had lived abroad for 10 years, and toned down his dialect a bit for my sake, so we were able to have a great conversation. After a walk down the promenade, we went looking for food in the side streets.

Actually, it was supposed to be the Busan specialty 돼지국밥 (soup with rice and pork), which I had already tried in Yongin (but according to my tour guide, the soup in Busan is soooo much better). But then we happened to see the really cute sign of a Japanese shop, and my companion was immediately excited, as he had lived in Japan for a long time and they served his favorite dish — Chicken Nambang.

So we went in and ordered it. It turned out to be chicken with some kind of egg salad dip, with rice, tofu, kimchi, two kinds of pickled radish, a soy paste-based broth, and a tiny pudding with an even tinier spoon for dessert. Everything was delicious, but the best thing was how happy he was with the food 😄 I find that kind of thing nice.

Then we went back to the beach, where he pointed out a kind of time capsule to me. There you could write a letter to yourself, which would then be sent in a year. That's what I did! Afterwards we looked for a café with a sea view and waited for the sunset with a drink (iced rooibos tea, iced cappuccino).

Time

That's when the bridge that spans the bay comes to life in a colorful way, and a small firework display is set off on the boats below. On Saturdays there is also a drone show, but I'm told that it's so crowded that we would never have been able to get a seat right by the window. That's why I'm quite happy that it's a relatively quiet Monday.

We take the subway back to the station district, where my tour guide wants to show me that it is not as ugly as I thought. Behind the station, almost directly in view from my window, there is a large park that is currently being redesigned and is beautifully lit up in the dark. We take a walk here before I am safely escorted to the front door - in true Korean gentlemanly fashion.

Fun fact: Did you know that you can get to Japan from Busan in just 3 hours by fast boat? On good days you can even see the coast of Japan from some spots in Busan! I learned this in the park that is right next to the ferry terminal. As I sit here writing this, a large cruise ship has set sail and a cargo ship is heading towards the bridge to enter the harbor.

OK, Busan. Maybe you're not so bad after all. I'll spend the last three days here exploring what else you have to offer!

It's crazy that I'll be back in Germany on Saturday. Can a month go by so quickly? Can't I maybe extend it for a few more weeks...? 🥲