Day Seven – Beomeosa Temple and Geumjeongsanseong Fortress

Busan is Korea’s second biggest city and doesn’t get much attention in the West. I think that is a shame as it is a remarkable place.

We have four days here and I am fairly sure we will not have time to do everything we planned.

Breakfasted at Busan City railroad station (the intercity terminal), largely because all the local coffee outlets were still shut, and we could get decent coffee and pastries and bread. Then took the metro and bus to see Beomeosa Temple, which sits on the side of a mountain in a huge area of urban woodland. The pictures won’t do it justice. It is a working Buddhist temple, about seven hundred years old. The carvings alone were worth the trip. Some elderly tour guides took an interest in us and gave us a run down of Buddhist life.

The bald fellow in the photo is an evil spirit being crushed by a protective spirit.

Then made our way by metro and cable car to the fortress of Geumjeongsanseong which is a gated wall on top of a mountain overlooking the city. It is in the same park as the temple, but several kilometres closer to the city. Spectacular views from the cable car. The wall was also an impressive construction given how high up it sits. There was also a Buddhist shrine nearby with some images of Buddha carved into the rock. Late lunch of seafood pancake and a salad with acorn jelly (lots of squirrels in the park).

Had a look at a dried fish (and lizard) market.

Then spent some hours at the Lotte department store. Bronte and Sylvia had their nails done. Ben went off on his own – needed some time to himself. The Lotte store is the Korean equivalent of Harrods. Except it is enormous. Nine floors, and three buildings. The food hall was spectacular. These are the biggest prawns I have ever seen. They were about thirty cm long. Mind you, this box cost over $200.

Has a somewhat disappointing dinner in Chinatown, then looked around the markets; the giant ice creams seemed to make up for the dinner.