A Busan Break

For Damo's birthday weekend, we took a short break to Busan. Thanks to the super-fast KTX train we were able to travel the length of the country in about 3 hours. We found Busan to be a nice break from Seoul. Even though it's the country's second biggest city, it only has a population of 4 million, compared with the 20+ million in the greater Seoul area. Being set on a hilly sea port, much of Busan's culture and history is based on the sea and it actually has more of an international feel than we have found in Seoul- particularly the Russian influence.

Given the sea theme, we thought we would start with some shots of Busan's famous Jagalchi Fish Market.

One of the many female fish mongers cleans some squid

A runaway octopus... only about 200m to go until freedom!

Fresh shellfish

And what Korean market would be complete without...

Multiple varieties of kimchi

... and a few pig's heads

We took a casual stroll around Beomeosa, Busan's most famous Buddhist temple, originally founded around 678 AD. Set on the side of a mountain, as many temples are, it was a peaceful site, even given the ride with the lead-foot bus driver to get there!

A couple of Beomeosa's resident monks

We spent Saturday night strolling along Busan's floodlit Gwangalli beach. The adjacent road is lined with restaurants and up market hotels.

Gwangalli Beach

Little Red Riding Hood admiring Busan's suspension bridge

For a bird's eye view of the city, we headed to Daecheong Park, home of a magnificent memorial to Korean's who have died in war.

You can either go straight up the stairs or zigzag... can you spot someone taking a break after the climb?

The view from the top

The memorial statue overlooking Busan