So what else have we been doing besides being told how handsome we are in school, eating handy drinksnacks, snapping photos of vans, getting lost on buses, ordering chicken’s feet and ignoring sea shells as a food source? Well, when the weekend begins, we usually have a busier schedule than an Essex abortion clinic. So here is a brief look at some of the funtivities that we have gotten up to.
Hiking up Geumjeong mountain in Pbusan was an interesting experience. We got to see a fortress wall (the longest in Korea) that was built to prevent a sea invasion from Japan, which never came. The day started with a large group of us meeting in a nearby station and half of us getting lost on our way from the train station to the bus station across the road – not the best start to a hike! It was a sunny day leading to the inevitable sunburn on my neck, face and arms – don’t worry mum, I now have sun cream (Thanks Shaz!).
We met an old Korean man who hiked the mountain every Saturday and was wearing a Top Gun hat so will henceforth be known as Iceman. Iceman must have been sixty odd but loved the hard exercise to see the mountain views and he showed us a great place to get a beautiful view of Pbusan.
We also saw the lack of wildlife in Korea, distinctly birds – there are none. Dad, I’ve been looking but so far my list is as follows:
Crow – 10
Magpie – 8
Pigeon – 15
Misc – 2 (they were really high up and looked like birds of prey but no idea what kind)
In fact, the official bird of Busan is the seagull and I am yet to see a single one. Maybe it’s a seasonal thing, so I won’t hang my binoculars up just yet, but I’m not hopeful.
I did see a butterfly on the hike, but that was it (aside from the crows). In fact, so far the only “wildlife” I have seen since arriving is one spider, a handful of stray cats (and one dead one outside my apartment building this morning) and a few flies. Tell the BBC to put the breaks on Spring Watch: South Korea for the time being.
After the hike, we got dinner and some rice got stuck to my lip and it got caught on camera to forever be remembered.
Next up is Jagalchi Fish Market - Korea’s largest and smelliest fish market. Words cannot do this place justice; here is a collection of some of the horrors on display here. (I would just like to add here, that I was actually surprised by how unfishy the market smelt, all things considered. Definitely not as offensive to my nose as walking past the fish counter in Sainsbury’s on a summer’s eve)
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| Selection of Sea Creatures |
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| Intensive Fish Farming (battery fish) |
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| Face Huggers |
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| Fish for Sale |
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| Squid |
This massive fishporium was incredible! On the second floor were restaurants so we ordered some food. I wanted chicken but the restaurants only served fish for some reason. So we went for this slippery fellow, Houdini. Like a punch to the stomach, Houdini could do nothing to escape the inevitable gutting and slicing that ensued.
Houdini was barbecued and we enjoyed him a lot – what a great guy! Thanks fish, thish.
We then went up Pbusan tower where we could see for miles despite it being slightly overcast. (I had to take Dave’s word for it when it came to the view – I don’t do heights!)
Even from here, the smell of the fish market was strong. We didn’t realise but it was actually coming from us and our fish stained smelling clothes.
Afterwards we washed the fish smell off our clothes and Houdini’s blood off our hands and continued our adventure. We went to the Pbusan Kite Festival, which was in the arse end of the city, right at the end of one of the subway lines. We watched some kites on a beach but there weren’t many on display. However, it was a good opportunity to drink beer with loads of waygooks (foreigners) on the beach and talk about our strange experiences. Next to the Kite Festival was a fountain billed as the “largest in the World” by Korea’s official tourism website. If this is the World’s largest then the World needs to step up a gear in fountain making and get on it because it was lame. I’m pretty sure I can wee with more ferocity than this fountain can produce. Maybe it is Korea’s largest fountain but I’m pretty sure that the fountains in Las Vegas and Dubai are both bigger and I reckon higher than this one. I say “reckon” higher because despite waiting for over an hour for the fountain to be turned on, it was not actually opening until later that month... and we couldn’t wait that long. The World’s largest disappointment (after the chicken’s feet) would have to wait for another day.
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| Beach and Kite |
So we’ve now seen the longest fortress wall, the largest and smelliest fish market, the kiteist festival, we met Iceman and Houdini, and saw the largest disappointment in Korea. I even had time to see a very informative sign placed over a drain in a ladies restroom.
Good advice. See you next time.
