Bus Ride From Busan to Gwangju, Tea Ceremony, Damyang Bamboo Park

Friday, June 30, 2023

Today we left Busan and are traveling west to the city of Gwangju.  We'll spend two nights in Gwangju before traveling back to Seoul.  It was a long day in the bus.  We left Busan at 8:30 a.m. and arrived at our hotel at 6:15 p.m.

Before leaving Busan Dede, Max and I got up early to walk down to Haeundae Beach which is just a few blocks away from our hotel in Busan.  We were supposed to have an afternoon at the beach yesterday, but had heavy rain which cancelled our beach day and the baseball game.  Darn!

The morning started out rainy, but eventually the rain stopped and it was just cloudy and really humid.  The area between Busan and Gwangju has tree covered hills and is the region where most of the rice is grown in Korea.  We saw many rice fields along the highway in between the hills/mountains.

We made a couple of stops on our way to Gwangju.  The first stop was at the Boseong green tea field.  We were taught how to conduct a traditional tea service.  We were also supposed to pick some green tea, but due to the recent rains the fields were too wet.

The last stop of the day was at the Damyang Bamboo Park which contained a forest of Bamboo trees. I don't have much to say about the park other than it was beautiful, but the walk was super humid.  Have I mentioned that humidity is not my friend?

All for now.  Hope you all are doing well.

-Kurt

Haeundae Beach, Busan

Each business & hotel have a spot to dry your umbrella.  Max is giving it a try.

Our view from the bus.

Our bus doesn't have a bathroom, but it has toilet paper!

Rest area - includes shops, small restaurants.

Rice fields

Rice fields

Photos from tea ceremony

Tea field

Bamboo Garden

Lunch

Lunch - Tteok-galbi.  Grilled minced beef short ribs.

Not our favorite.

Supper - grilled pork, delicious

500ml of beer.  Korean beer is light like Coors.

Soju

Hotel room - small, but very modern.  The toilet flushes automatically.

Small washing machine and kitchen in hotel room.

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, Oryukdo Skywalk, and Baseball Game

Today we visited the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple in Busan. It was a breathtaking view because it was also on the sea/ocean. We went around and explored the many parts of the temple and then went to the Oryukdo Skywalk which unfortunately we couldn't go on because of the amount of wind in the area. 

Unfortunately the baseball game was rained out.  Instead, we went to a mall and then we went to a Korean chicken restaurant.

- Max

P.S.  The staff on our tour has been really good about finding food options for Mom and me.  Plus, they are quick to find alternate solutions when things don't go as planned. 

 

Korea Tidbits

 Some interesting items we've run into during our trip...

Korean hotels don't offer washcloths.

Coffee is very popular in Korea.  Seems like there is a coffee shop every block (sometimes three right next to each other).  However, they open much later than coffee places in the states.  The hotels only have one cup espresso machines which usually have a line of four or five people. It's been tough getting enough coffee in the morning.  Also, instead of having coffee machines in their homes and hotel rooms Koreans have little packets of instant coffee.  Instant coffee packets is one of Korea's largest exports.  They import all of the raw materials and then export the instant packets to countries in this region (at least according to Mr. Kim).

In the hotel room you have to place your card key in a slot to keep the room lights, power and air conditioning running.  I guess this is their way of saving power.  We've resorted to slipping an old JC Penney gift card in the slot to keep the A/C on when we are out and about.  Don't ask me why we have an old JCP gift card with us, but it has come in handy.

Seoul and Busan are very dense.  Seoul has a population of 25 million in a 50Km radius according to our tour guide Mr. Kim.  Busan has little room for highways, so they created a double decker highway over one of the bays.

The streets are very clean and free of garbage which is really surprising since it is nearly impossible to find a public trash can when walking the streets.

Stairs can be tricky in Seoul as many do not have handrails. 

Most Korean restaurants are known for one dish and that is the only or primary thing they serve.

In Seoul we have seen many people with dogs in strollers or in carriers on top of their luggage.  All the dogs have been small and white for some reason.  

Toilets in our rooms are made by American Standard, but have features to warm the seat and bidet features to clean your nether regions.

It has been hot and humid.  I (Kurt) walk out of the hotel and am immediately "glistening".  Koreans seemed unfazed by the heat and humidity.  The majority wear long pants and shirts without seeming to sweat.

Koreans really buy into the notion of hot soup on summer days cools you down.   We've had soup at over half of our lunches.  It has been a little tough getting used to it, but it really does seem to work.

Instant coffee packets

Dressed up dog in carrier on luggage.

Korean Toilet w/Keypad