June 29, 2023
Today we left Gyeongju and are headed to Busan via bus. Busan is a port city located in Southeastern Korea and is Korea's second most populated city.
The terrain between Gyeongju and Busan is tree covered mountains/hills. It is a stark contrast from the metropolitan area of Seoul. On our way to Busan we stopped at a few sights. The first one was Seokguram Grotto which as our tour guide Mr. Kim says contains "the most beautiful Buddha statue in the world". The second stop was at Bugluksa Temple. Both sites required some much needed walking, but it was well worth the workout as the sites are just amazing. Hopefully, the pictures do the places justice. Unfortunately, we they don't allow pictures of the Buddha statues at these locations.
The next stop before reaching the hotel is the Jagalchi Market. This is one of Korea's largest fish markets. The market was as we expected with lots of unique fish and sea creatures that can be bought. At the market our tour guide arranged for us to try some fresh uncooked octopus. The octopus was so fresh that the tentacles were still moving. Max and the other boys dared each other to trying some. They did, not wanting to be outdone or miss out on a new experience I gave it a try too. It was covered in sesame oil so it tasted fine, but was very chewy. Some of the others in the group mentioned the octopus has suctioned on to the inner parts of their mouths. Luckily Max and I didn't have this problem. As you probably guessed, Dede passed on this experience.
The last stop was a quick stop at Gamcheon Village for some shopping and refreshments. Gamcheon is a small little tourist village located on the side of a hillside. The village was quickly developed during the Korean war by people fleeing to this area of Korea since it saw little fighting during the war. The city leaders have since supplied paint to each little house to give this village a colorful appearance.
The food has been amazing. We had a late lunch at a buffet that specializes in sushi. At night we just walked down to the area of small street vendors. This part of Korea specializes in Hagfish (looks like an eel). None of us had the guts to try Hagfish after watching the vendor skin and de-head the live Hagfish right in front of everyone. Seeing the skinless eel like fish squirm around on the cutting table didn't appeal to us, but it must show Koreans how fresh the eels are before cooking them.
All for now. We stay in Busan for another night. The weather has been HOT and HUMID, but now we are running into a few rain showers. We're hoping our baseball scheduled for tomorrow night doesn't get cancelled due to rain.
Kurt
Not sure if this link will work. Dede had a technical malfunction while videoing Max trying the Octopus, so we had to borrow this from someone else on the tour. https://www.facebook.com/reel/605209828085623/?s=fb_shorts_tab&stack_idx=0
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