Where did I end up here?

Hello, greetings from Busan, where I'm lying in bed and looking out the window at the hustle and bustle in the harbor and on the street. I live practically right next to the main train station, and it looks a bit like that. 😬 But one thing at a time.

After a delicious farewell breakfast with a view of the countryside, my host drove me to the bus stop - just because "it's so warm and your suitcase is so heavy". There I got on the bus to the train station - with the bus driver's good-natured expression of sympathy in view of the heavy suitcase - where another friendly man hoisted the suitcase onto the train for me. I'm telling you, the pensioners here and I, it works. 😅

A half-hour train ride and I was already in Busan. Much too early to check into the Airbnb. But I was allowed to leave my luggage there and then, armed only with my wallet and cell phone, I went to the nearest shopping center to kill time until I could check in.

There were not only 5 floors of things to marvel at, but also what is said to be the world's largest fountain light show in a department store, as well as a very large food court, where I treated myself to 칼국수 Kalguksu for lunch.

Kal (칼) means knife and Guksu (국수) means noodles, i.e. noodles whose dough is cut into strips with a knife. In my case, the thick noodles were floating in a broth made of mushrooms and perilla seeds. Unfortunately, the food wasn't really my cup of tea, although I'm now wondering whether that was due to the dish (I ate Kalguksu for the first time) or the shop.

There was still an hour left until check-in, so I made my way to an insider tip not far from my accommodation. There is a place where you can climb 168 steps or use a small monorail to get a great view of the city and the sea from above.

But when I got to the top, not only had the sky completely darkened, but the monorail was also closed - it is apparently going to be replaced by an elevator. To be honest, climbing the rather rickety-looking, steep steps to then look into a thick blanket of clouds hanging over the city didn't sound very appealing to me. So I went back down the hill and to the accommodation, which was now open for check-in.

The apartment has a nice view of the harbor, even though it was pretty overcast, and is otherwise OK. A bit shabby in places, but at least there are no cockroaches like there were in Itaewon!

First I did a load of laundry and sorted myself out a bit, then I went to a street food market to get something for dinner. By now it had started to rain and most of the stalls at the market were already closed. But there was one speciality from Busan that I really wanted to try: Hotteok!

This is a kind of fried pancake. The dough is filled with brown sugar before it is fried, and then it is cut open and filled with salted seeds (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.). It was super delicious! Then I took some vegetable mandu (dumplings) with me and escaped the increasingly heavy rain to eat at home.

Well, that's it for now. I've heard so much rave about Busan, but at first glance it seems like a dirtier, more confusing and somehow scarier version of Seoul. I can't put my finger on it, but something about this city makes me feel uneasy.

Maybe the train station district is just not the right place to start judging a city. So tomorrow I'll go and see somewhere (hopefully) nicer, and then we'll see. If all else fails, I'll just go back to Gyeongju and ask if I can go back to the guesthouse.😄 Or go back to Seoul and do a few days of lessons? 😍😅