After experiencing monsoon type weather on my first day at South Korea, I was not expecting a good weather the following day. And I also didn't believe the wether forecast on Accuweather website that predict a sunny and no rain Sunday for Busan.
Well, whatdayahknow, they we're absolutely right!
It was a fine and clear day (slightly cloudy in the morning though) but it was a perfect day to tour Busan!
Yehey!!
Abot langit na kaligayahan
As usual, since I don't ahve any reservation for Busan City Tour Bus trip I went to the bus station before 9:00 AM to get the chance passenger seats. And to avoid slipping on tourist spots I listen attentively to the tourist guide and pay attention to the stops.
Funny thing was when I was in the line at bus station a quirky Korean girl (around 40 y /o) ask something to me in Korean, which obviously I didn't understand. After apologizing to her she spoke in fluent English and turns out she was our tourist guide! She's so nice and warm to tourist which makes this trip a very enjoyable one!
Thank God it's not raining!
I took the half day History and Culture tour for 10,000 Won (since I'm a sucker for Museum) which leads me to the following places:
1. Busan Station
2. Gold Theme Street (via)
3. Seomyeon (via)
4. Bokcheon Museum
5. Geumgang Park
6. Beomeosa temple
7. Busan Station
First stop is the Bokcheon Museum....
Bokcheon Museum holds the relics and information about the Bokcheon ancient tombs, which is considered national historical treasure of Korea. It's a wide area which has a museum, exhibition hall, a temple and tomb park.
Entrance to the Museum
Easy or the Hard way
Here's the picture of the ancient tomb in Bokcheon...
Big Jars, Small Jars, included in the tomb
....with knife and some pottery as well
Here's the coffin and the libingan, ang liit lang nya...
One of the main attraction of the museum is the Jar Coffin Tombs of the Three-Han Period. Ang galing lang because nagkasya sa maliit na Jar yung tao! Afraid!
Miniature diorama of the Tomb
Polished potteries and some knick knacks ornaments !
And more Jars...this time it's huge jars!
Diorama on how the ancient Koreans built the tomb. It's a hard task to do, effort kung effort!
Birds eye-view of the whole Bokcheon compound and the discovered tombs.
They have excavated this typical Korean horseman, complete with suit and armor (pati ang horse) Cool!
The museum itself is not that big but certainly the artifacts they have inside shows us the magnificent and colorful history of the ancient people on Busan, South Korea.
Oh, one more thing I like about Busan is that, compare to Seoul, the people here are more laid back. Here you can see their main road with few cars on the street. It's a very easy and not hectic type of city which I like. Kakawala ng stress.
Next on our itinerary is the Geumgang Park, when our friendly tourist guide told us that there is a cable car on the park I was excited!
Geumgang park is popular among residents of Busan for it has a trekking path which leads to the mountain top. Yes, surprisingly trekking is a big hit in Korea. And not just for the young people but for most old people as well. Very impressive! You can see some lolo and lola wearing TNF or Columbia outfit and make their way to the top of Geumgang Park. How I wish I have the time to hike this trail, ang saya siguro nun!
Cable car ride cost 5000 Won (round trip). I think it's a little bit expensive but upon riding the cable car it was all worth it.
Going up...
...up (with the Busan skyline at the background)....
....higher (cherry blossoms!)...
And finally we're on the top! Yehey!
The place is so serene, a very good spot for meditation and prayer
Rock climbing anyone?
Tired Tourist!
AFter spending nearly 30 minutes at the top, over looking at the city and do some rock climbing, we decided to go back at the base and proceed to the bus.
Shempre sa left side naman ako ng cable car since nakita ko na yung view sa right side of the mountain.
Cherry Blossoms padin!
Busan City, lot's of Condominiums building!
The Rockies
Near the entrance is where the Buddhist temple is located. When we arrived at the place the monks are currently in their prayer time so no photos allowed inside. I just help myself in looking around their garden.
Libingan ng mga old monks. Yung may turtle is a high positioned monk daw.
Here's the libingan of the famous warrior who defended Busan during the conquest of foreign invaders. They protect the old castle located on top of the mountain from these invaders. And the wooden gate is a replica of the gate which they guarded and defended and where their bodies (still with arrow attached to them) was found.
Cultural presentations are held every day, sayang we didn't have the time to watch the whole presentation/ demonstration.
Off to the next tourist attraction!
More post to follow!
Abangan!