Busan: Taejongdae's Lighthouse & Observatory

"Dynamic Busan"

May 27, 2012.

Taejongdae natural park is one of the places you shouldn't miss when you visit Busan. If you look at the map, it can be very far - around 45minutes via private car on normal days.  How much more if you are taking the public transportation going there.  But, I really suggest to come here and visit here (I don't have any connection with them).  I was just really fulfilled when we hit this place. You will miss the chance of you won't come here.

Breathtaking view from Taejongdae Lighthouse

As my friend told me when we went here, "This is, by far, the best place we visited in Busan." From her statement, it is even better than Haeundae or Gwangalli beach.  But I think because of the scenery and nature. But take note, you cannot swim in this place. It's more on sightseeing than interactive activities like swimming or beach sports type. 

TAEJONGDAE ENTRANCE

I said earlier that the travel time is around 45minutes by private car in ordinary days.  But when we went here, we travelled for 2hrs 30min because it was holiday in Korea and at the same time it was Buddha's Birthday and there are two temples inside the Taejongdae natural park.  But we didn't give up  because we want to see the magnificent cliffs facing the open sea. At first, we were wondering whether it was worth it or not because we didn't have prior information the place aside from the picture we found when we went to the Busan Tower.  In the end, it was all worth it.  From the original 1hr 30min allotted time end up 3hrs 30min going around and just resting in the cliffs with the beautiful ocean.  

The Entrance Stone

Busan: Downtown Beaches & APEC House

"Dynamic Busan"
May 25 - 26, 2012.

When you mention about Busan, the first thing people would think of are the beaches: Haeundae beach overseeing high-rise buildings & 5-star hotels, a very famous beach for foreigners and locals, Gwangalli beach in front of Gwangalli bridge, the longest bridge in Korea (6.5kilometer), Songjeong beach where you could catch the sun rising each day, and Songdo/Dadaepo beach where the sun sets every night. Yes, it's all about beaches! It would all depend on your interests.

For us, due to time constraints, we only walked through the entire shorelines of Haeundae beach and Gwangalli beach but we can safely say that we visited both beaches.

HAEUNDAE BEACH
Our first encounter with the beach was around midnight when we decided to see the beach at night.  Surprisingly, hundreds of people are still on the beach swimming, jamming with music, drinking with ice-cold beer on an 18ºc cool breeze, chatting with friends or simply sitting down looking at the calm ocean with lights coming only from the ships dock miles away. By the way, the other side of the beach, as I mentioned, are 24/7 office buildings, restaurants, establishments and hotels.  Travel Tip: There are a lot of hostels, guest houses, 5-star hotels and even jjimjilbang / sauna within the area so accommodation is not  a problem within the vicinity. Just google it and you will find numerous blogs talking about it.

Haeundae Beach at night

And that's the shoreline!

Korean's jamming by the beach

The 24/7 office buildings and establishments

Busan: Its Busy Streets & Landmarks

"Dynamic Busan"
May 25 - 27, 2012.


My days in Korea are already counted.  I barely have 5weeks left in this technology-driven, industrialized nation that was once the poorest country in the world by the end of the Korean War in 1953.  Because of this, I started planning for another great adventure.  Next Stop: Busan.  I've been to Seoul and its tourist spots for the nth time already and I don't want to spend my 5-day long weekend to that place again.  However, I have one very important transaction in Seoul hence I need to pass by the capital before my great adventure starts.


And so I decided to avail the KR Pass - a KTX train pass for frequent inter-province train users.  I weight on the pros and cons about this decision because the ticket can be expensive if not used properly (I hope to post about KR Pass soon).

KR Pass: 7KTX rides in 5days

Seoul Station: 2nd KTX Train from Seoul-Busan (2hrs 36min)

My KTX Train seat.