Busan
This year I was really unlucky with planning what to do with my vacation. I had originally planned to spend a few days in and around Beijing, but unforeseen events meant that I could not go. Instead I went to Busan with my boyfriend, famed for its beaches and night-life. SLP scheduled the summer vacation at the begining of August; I cannot believe it has taken me almost 3 months to get round to post these photographs. Time really does fly when you are teaching, plus children always seem to suck the energy out of me.
Anyway the map on the left indicates where Busan is - on the south-east coast of South Korea, and a 3 hour express train-ride away from Seoul. During the summer the city and beaches are littered with tourists (mostly Korean), and we found it quite a challenge to find somewhere to sleep.
On the first day we were on the beach by 11am, but there was no comfortable spot to sit. All the parasols had already been rented, and the full length of the beach was heaving with sunbathers. Moreover I had never felt weather so hot and humid, not even in Gusan, Grand Canaria, Thailand or the Philippines. Despite multiple applications of Factor 30 sunblock, after only 2 hours on the beach I was more sunburned than I have ever been in my life. However those two hours were spent reading, floating around in a Songsu-pulled rubber ring like a princess (there was no room to swim), and people-watching. It was really funny to watch Daddy and Daughter teams building suncastles, and teenagers/university students burying each other from neck to toe in the sand. Unfortunately my two hours of fun meant that I had to hide indoors and wait for sun-down like a vampire, as my sunburn made it too painful to go outside. Despite this I was able to have some enjoyment at night, including drinking and a boat cruise of the coast.
On the second day following frying myself we made it to a park that gave a reasonable view of Busan, once we made it the top. Typical of hilly parks in Korea, the entire view was obscured by trees until we reached the peak, and even then it was only a small improvement in the size of the window though the trees. Theoretically it was not a difficult climb, but the heat even at 5pm made it so; we both sweated buckets on the way to the top.
Because of my sunburn this was all we managed to get done, but from what I saw of Busan there was little to do anyway except sunbathe and drink.
posted by Louise @ 8:24 pm
