We headed to downtown Busan on Thursday, December 29. From our hotel at Haeundae Beach, in the eastern part of Busan, we had about an hour subway ride to downtown with one transfer from Line 2 to Line 1. Once off the subway and back into the sunlight, we followed signs to Yongdusan Park and took three consecutive escalators, and a final set of stairs to the top of the mountain. (We were definitely thankful for the escalators. On the way down we took the stairs and counted: 297 stairs in total.) There we saw the Citizens' Bell, the Flower Clock, a statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin, and a statue of a dragon. We also walked through the Exhibition Hall of World Model Boats (check Jonathan's
Facebook album for more pictures), went up the Busan Tower to view the city from 120 meters above the park, and tried out instruments in the Museum of World Folk Musical Instruments.
 |
| Busan Tower in Yongdusan Park |
 |
| Citizens' Bell |
 |
| Men playing Chinese chess |
 |
Statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin
He was victorious over enemy soldiers during the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592 |
 |
| Yongtap (the Dragon Tower) that symbolizes Busan's citizens' energetic power |
 |
| Exhibition Hall of World Model Boats near Busan Tower |
 |
| Armored ship with inside details |
 |
| Interior of the ship |
 |
| Captains quarters |
 |
| One view of Busan from the top of the tower |
 |
| Monument for the War Dead |
 |
| Soccer players |
 |
| Korean-style hotel |
 |
The view of Yongdusan Park from above. Yongdu means the head of a dragon. San means mountain.
This mountain is apparently shaped like the head of a dragon coming out from the sea. - Ali |
 |
| Busan harbor |
 |
| The building on the far right about halfway up the picture is Jagalchi Market, a huge seafood market shaped like a seagull - Ali |
 |
| Busan Port International Passenger Terminal |
 |
| New bridge being constructed |
 |
| Secret message on a restaurant roof in Yongdusan Park - Ali |
 |
| Sunset from the Busan Tower |
 |
| Busan Tower and the Museum of World Folk Musical Instruments - Ali |
 |
| Zither |
 |
| Bandura |
 |
| Jonathan tries out the singing bowls - Ali |
 |
| Ali playing a bamboo xylophone |
 |
| Buddhist drum - Ali |
 |
| Us in front of the tower before we left Yongdusan Park |
 |
| 'Welcome to Busan' sign in front of Busan Station - Ali |
 |
| Carmel sauce-covered ice cream and hot chocolate at A Twosome Place before our trip back to Haeundae Beach - Ali |
 |
| Studying our guidebook and the Busan city map for places to visit during the next few days |
 |
| Long-shutter of Busan traffic |
For pictures and commentary about our other days in Busan, click the links below.
What lovely pictures. and so many. Enjoy every moment of it.
ReplyDeleteWow! What intricacy on those models! :) Great pictures.
ReplyDeleteGreat story and great photos, but I have to say the ones of the bell and the men playing chess are super good.
ReplyDeleteHi Ali ~ I loved this post and all of the info. I am so intrigued by Asian culture of any kind. It looks like a wonderful place and I am (I hate to admit it!) slightly envious of you guys being over there discovering new places and trying new things. There really is nothing like being in another country far away from home ~ such an awesome experience! ~Stacy~ xo
ReplyDeleteStacy, thanks for the comments! They are always great to get! Yes, Asian culture is very interesting and I'm really enjoying learning more about it. We collected a lot of brochures about the places we visited in Busan and they came in pretty handy when writing the blog posts about each place we went. I would never have remembered everything without their help and a little Google searching to supplement. We are so lucky to be here and see new things. You're right, traveling is just amazing! But coming home is also nice, just in a different way.
Delete