Trip to Busan

Before school started, we spent 3 days in Busan. We got there on the KTX train (the same type of train shown in the movie Train to Busan), which took around 2.5 hours. I booked my ticket using a Korail Pass, which is for foreigners and allowed me to book tickets for a certain period. Since I bought the pass (around $75), I didn't have to pay for the actual train tickets. Using the KTX was around the same price as flying to Busan, and even though flying is faster (around 1 hour), it takes about the same time factoring in traveling to the airport and going through security. The KTX station in Seoul was about half an hour away from Yonsei and took us to Busan Station (only a couple subway stations away from our hotel).

We spent the first day walking around Seomyeon (where the hotel was, an area with plenty of restaurants and shops), and also visited the Trick Eye Museum and BIFF Square. The Trick Eye Museum was located in the same building as the Busan Museum of Movies and had a lot of 3D-looking wall paintings. BIFF Square is a lively street filled with shops and street food. That day I tried some Busan specialities, like dwaeji gukbap (pork soup) and ssiat hotteok (sweet pancake with seeds).

It was raining the first day, but the second day was nice. We went to Museum DAH, which had a lot of interesting digital arts exhibits. Afterwards we rode on the Songdo Cable Cars, which gave us a great view of the city and the sea. We chose the Crystal Cruise option and could see the ocean under us through the clear floor. Then we took the bus to Gamcheon Culture Village to take pictures. The Village had a lot of colorful buildings and was interesting to look at! To end the day, we had Korean BBQ (for the first time in Korea) back in Seomyeon. The restaurant specialized in pork cuts and the pork belly was great. On the last day we went to the Sea Life Busan Aquarium, which is located right next to Haeundae Beach. Overall, it was a very fun trip to take right before the semester began!