Japan in the Spring - Busan (Korea)

It's strange to put this under Japan in the Spring when Busan is actually in Korea..  I kept the heading just to keep everything together.  There seems to be some legality that requires a cruise ship to visit at least one international port during a cruise, in this case, it's Busan.  We joined the ship's shore excursion as it was an early port departure and we didn't want to miss the boat.

Busan looked like a busy international port with loads of cranes, bridges and containers visible on the waterfront.  Our first stop was the temple by the sea - the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple.  It is in a beautiful seaside setting north of Busan.  Our Korean guide spent a lot of time talking about Korean social issues but didn't talk much about this Buddhist temple.  Some of the rooms are quite spectacular as is the seaside it faces.

The Haedong Yonggungsa Temple

The lineup of animals representing the zodiac along the entrance

One of several dazzling chambers

Golden buddha 

Many steps lead to the upper levels 

The essential bamboo grove

The seaside in front of the temple

Our next stop is the Nurimaru APEC House on Dongbaekseom Island, an island of camellia trees.  The round building was the site of the 2005 APEC summit and continues to be used as a memorial hall and conference centre.  It was a nice walk by the sea with a great view of the nearby islands and the Busan skyline in the distance. 

The Nurimaru APEC House

The conference room

This waterfront trail leads to the mermaid statue on the rocks, reminiscent of that other famous mermai in Europe

Eurasian Magpie (another lifer for me!) and camellia flowers on the island

The bus took us back to the city where we were taken to the gigantic fish market - a real eye-opener.  We were rained out for the subsequent tour of the shopping street but it was interesting to see some of the shopping alleys - very Asian in character. 

An incredible variety of shellfish!  These are smaller stalls outside the actual fish market

Inside the actual fish market

The impressive building housing the fish market

Roadside stalls just outside the fish market

The shopping streets - this could be anywhere in Asia!

There is even a star walk

Containers galore

Bridges and cranes dot the waterfront skyline near the port

These look like oyster farms in the harbour

The fireboat gave us a cool farewell display

Port of Busan panorama

This short stop in Busan gave me a first glimpse of Korea - the brief insight into Korean society provided by our chatty guide (identifying social and academic pressures) helped me understand a little better where movies like Parasite and Minari originated from.  

Next post: Hiroshima