November
3rd, Sunday
We got picked up at 9AM by Sunny (
Yuan Son Mi) and our driver and began the drive to Busan. We passed a lot of city-like places (apartment
buildings, factories and the like) on the way out of town. Gyeongiu isn’t as small as it seems. We drove on a newly made highway that makes
the trip to Busan quite efficient. About
a 1/3 of it are tunnels through the mountains.
Our first stop in town was the
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple – the dragon temple.
It faces the ocean and is wildly popular with tourists. Most of them were Korean, but it was a bit of
a mad house. Lots of dragon sculptures
and paintings about. We got another shot
of a dog statue. Lots of chapels all
over the grounds, big and small. People
were also attempting to pray in the main temple, which was a bit odd as a houli
visitor. Sunny told us that the most
popular Buddha is the Quan Yin – The Buddha form for mercy. More people were praying in her chapel than
in any other. The other thing Sunny told
us that was fascinating was that the Korean Buddha was often depicted with one
hand wrapped about the pointer finger of the other. The gesture implies knowledge. It is a well known Korean Buddha gesture.
The temple sits on a steep hillside
View to the sea from the temple
The temple is named for a dragon. Lots of dragon motifs around. The red ball is usually held by dragons around here. This one is in the dragon's hand - sometimes it's in their mouth
Statue of Quanyen
Our next stop was Haeundae
Beach. One of the most famous beaches in
Korea. We took a lot of photos. Too bad it was a bit foggy. We took a tour of the hill area above the
beach and then eventually drove to the beach itself. Three towers for condos were along the beach,
one 100 stories high. Truly ugly, given
the surroundings. Sunny told us the guy
who sold the property is in jail.
Deservedly so. We eventually took
a walk along the seashore. Several
sculptures made of plastic debris – my favorite was a jolly fish. Further out into the surf were two other
sculptures. Apparently when the beach
began to lose sand, they dug berms into the shoreline. The statures mark the spot where the berms
lie.
The building in the center, about to open soon, is 100 stories high. Not very artistic, and apparently of questionable legality.
Wonderful trash fish
We then stopped for lunch. We had baby chicken stuffed with rice,
chestnuts, and a few other spices, stewed in a stone bowl. It was mild and delicious. It came with an ridiculous number of Korean
pickles and vegetables – all great! I’m
a complete Korean pickle fan!
After lunch we got some shots of the
Nurimaru APEC house. It’s a meeting
center for APEC located on Dongbaekseom Island.
Again, too bad about the fog, but it was quite nice. There is going to be a conference in two
weeks so it was closed to the public so we couldn’t go inside.
Conference center from a nearby hillside
View back to the beach
On the way back we went a pretty
way which was a drive past another beach.
It’s around a bit of a hill from our beach (Haeundae). This one faced a huge bridge and last night
there was a tremendous fireworks display from the bridge. Lots of up market hotels, shops, and cafes
line the street across from this beach which is called Gwangan Beach. The nights of this firework display as many
as 100,000 people line up to see it. I’m
glad we missed the mob.
Our next stop was the UN memorial
cemetery. Just before we went into the
grounds itself we stopped to see a gorgeous display of chrysanthemums for a
chrysanthemum festival.
Then we went onto the memorial
cemetery. Quite moving place, we stopped
first in a memorial hall to watch a 10 minute movie about what the UN did
during the Korean War and why they were there.
We spent quite a bit of time walking along the graves, and looked at a
wall with everyone who had died from all the countries in the UN that had been
a part of the Korean War.
Flags of the UN countries that participated in the Korean conflict
On the way back to our hotel to
check in we stopped at a wonderful overview of the ocean at Haeundae Beach with
great sculptures depicting movie making.
Behind the walkway along the sea was a blue glassed building of
condos. It was curvy and fun to look at
– Haeundae Udong Hyundai l’Park. Apparently condos cost by the sq. Meter and
every condo in this weird place is a different size because of the curved
walls. Problems are that there’s lots of
sun and heat in the summer and everyone who lives there has to chip in for air
conditioning. It can be an expensive
proposition.
More wonderful Korean sculptures
We then drove to our hotel. We are in the Haeundae Grand Hotel. Very posh.
Best thing about the place is that the room is a hotel room. Lovely, nicely arraigned, but no special
massive bathrooms or other bells and whistles.
Comfy and clean, and we have a lovely view of the mountains behind
Busan.
We hung around the room for a bit. Then at 6 we trekked out for something to
eat. We’d eaten so much for lunch, we
decided a Burger King Meal was just the ticket.
$15 worth of fries, whopper (and whopper junior) and a coke. Sometimes fast junk food is just what’s
called for. Back to the room and early
bed.
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