자갈치시장 Jagalchi Fish Market in Busan

My last official stop before leaving Busan was to check out the fish market in Nampo-dong, Jung-gu, Busan. The fish market is known as Jagalchi market and is the biggest fish market in Korea. While there is a large, indoor market area, I found this rather tame in comparison to the outdoor market that lines the street along the harbor. It's exciting to watch the ajummas selling any ocean creature imaginable in any form imaginable right along the sidewalk. 

Restaurants like these were quite popular, especially with the men. I don't think I saw any women eating here. Strangely, though this is mainly a fish market, 감자탕 (pig backbone soup) was one of the most common dishes I saw here. But, that's not to say that there wasn't a plethora of seafood to be eaten here as well.

Shrimp! 

Blowfish! 

I came here around lunch time and I was quite hungry! But, as I'm not a big seafood eater, I wasn't sure what to get. I finally settled on fried fish because a) I knew what it was and b) because nearly anything fried tastes good. 

And I was right. 7,000 won later, I got my meal. I was satisfied and felt that I ate something that represented the market well. 

My fried fish! 

If you're able to catch one of the few openings out onto the docks, you can catch a view of all the fishing boats that line the port. 

Finally, here is a view from inside the indoor Jagalchi market. Mostly quite tame and a rather different feel than the outdoor market. The most exciting moment in here for me was when some rambunctious squid jumped out of their tank and nearly onto my feet.

To get to Jagalchi market, take line 1 to Jagalchi Station. Take exit 10 and take the first right and as you walk you'll start to see the market. You can also take any other exit on the east side of the station and just walk towards the waterfront. Near Jagalchi market, there are various other markets if you wonder around long enough. If you have the time, make sure you check out all the back alleys around the area!

Beomeosa Temple, Busan

During the 18th year of King Munmu reign of the Silla dynasty, a large group of Japanese invaders attempted to attack. The king was very concerned about the invaders’ barbarous acts. One day, in the king’s dream, a mountain guardian spirit told him to go to the top of the mountain and the god would reveal how to defeat the invaders. The king went to the mountain with a priest, Uisangdaesa, and followed the god’s instructions. Then, the invaders were easily defeated. The king was really happy and gave thanks to the god. He also ordered  Uisangdaesa to build a temple, and the temple is Beomeosa.

At the top of the mountain, there is a well with golden colored water which never dries up. Legend has it that a gold-colored fish had lived there. The temple was named from “gold spring (Guemsaem)” and “fish from heaven.” [www.beomeosa.co.kr]

 

On the morning of my second day in Busan, I took the subway to Beomeosa station to check out one of Busan's most famous sights, Beomeosa. Though located rather far into the mountains, I was surprised how easily I reached it. The bus takes you nearly to the entrance of the temple so even if you're not a hiking person, there's no reason why you shouldn't come by and check this place out.

Originally built in 1614, Iljumun, or One Pillar Gate is the first gate into the temple. It's unusual form, makes it seem as though it's supported by only one pillar if looked at from a side view. It's said to symbolize the one true path to enlightenment. It's also considered "Tangible Cultural Asset #2" by the Korean government.

Many buildings look as though they've been well maintained and restored. As with most Korean temples, it's full of color.

 

Other buildings have not been restored recently and you can see the worn paint and faded colors. It's a different sort of charm here.

Daeungjeon- Main hall of Beomeosa

I got a little confused while coming here. When you get out of the subway station, do not look for the bus directly outside of the subway station. Even though there is a bus that says it goes to 범어 사앞 or something to that effect, that doesn't mean to the top of the mountain. When you come out of the subway station from exit 5 or 7, do a 180˚ and go up the side street 100-200 meters. There  you can find a bus station (see photo below) and you can take bus 90 to the temple. It's the first stop the bus makes, and you'll know it when you see it.

For more info about Beomeosa check out the temple's website or the wikipedia page which both have useful information in English.

Haedong Yong Gung Temple, Busan

Think of every temple you've been to in Korea. Where has it been located? With the exception of some city temples like Jogyesa in Seoul, most are located in the mountains, right? It's easy for foreigners to feel some temple fatigue after visiting three or four temples because... well.. they all start to look the same, unless you're some sort of expert on Korean Buddhist art/architecture or something.  So, for those of you suffering from this temple fatigue, I suggest you visit Hae Dong Yong Gung Temple in Busan for a breath of fresh air (literally and figuratively). As the name would suggest, it is located along the ocean as opposed to the mountains giving visitors some new scenery to appreciate.

As I entered the temple, I found statues of all the animals of the Chinese zodiac. So I had to get a picture with the cow, my zodiac sign!

If you rub this buddah's belly, you will be blessed with male children. As I don't want to be blessed with any children at the moment, I figured It'd be best not rub his belly.....

Often at temples I see a few of these little buddhist figurines here and there. At this temple, though, they had the biggest collection I'd ever seen. They are so cute, I couldn't help taking way too many photos of them. I just posted my favorite here to spare my readers from becoming underwhelmed...  

The best part about this temple, though, is the scenery, of course. I've heard it's the only (or at least the first) temple from which you can see the sunrise over the ocean. 

To get to Hae Dong Yong Gung Temple, you can take bus 181 from Haeundae station. It's about a 30 minute bus ride. If you happen to be in Busan, this was one of the highlights of my trip and I highly recommend checking it out! 

UN Cemetery (UNMCK) in Busan

My first stop in Busan was the UN Cemetery in Nam-gu. This cemetery was once a cemetery owned by the Korean government with tombs of soldiers from the UN forces that were killed during the Korean War. In 1974 the land was officially given to the UN and is now the only cemetery in the world to be officially owned by the UN.

More incredible than the tombs, was the Wall of Remembrance which names every soldier killed in action. As you enter, the countries are listed and you will be surprised to see the names of solders from countries you might not have expected to see here like Thailand, Turkey or Ethiopia. Then as you walk around, you'll find the American names listed. And you'll realize that they just go on and on and on forever. The number of American deaths is staggering and it can be quite moving to walk around seeing the endless list of names. It was especially moving for me since my grandfather served in the Korean war. I wish he were still around today so I could ask him more about the war and about the Korea that he saw half a century ago. My mother tells me, though, that he really loved Korea and even picked up a little Korean language while he was here.

If you wander into the memorial service hall, the friendly volunteers will play a movie about the history of the cemetery for you in pretty much any language you can desire. They will probably also give you a tour of the memorabilia hall. The man that guided me around was a soldier during the war and had lots to say. I wanted to speak Korean with him, but I realized that his English was far superior to my Korean and eventually the conversation changed entirely to English, much to my chagrin. I went on a Tuesday morning and had the place to myself. There were a few people out on their daily walk, but I was the only tourist milling around the place.

I highly recommend the UN cemetery to anyone visiting Busan. It's a great way to learn about history, not to mention the beautiful surroundings. One can't help but notice the beautiful, well kept landscaping around the park. I mentioned this point to the gentleman showing me around the memorabilia hall, and he told me that landscapers come from all over to Korea to learn from the landscapers that maintain the UN Cemetery in Busan.


The UNMCK website, being published by the UN, has excellent information in English. Please refer there for more information about how to get there and more information about events and hours.

Seollal and Beyond...

Today I start my new (old) job at Seongdong SLP. People have got me pretty nervous about it since buisness isn't good and it seems to be taking a toll on the administration, but we'll see what happens at 1 today when I go in.... Update on that later...

After work I'm gonna head straight for the KTX station to catch the train for Busan. I'm spending the night in a jjimjilbang tonight, then couchsurfing the next night, then coming back to Seoul on Wednesday. I don't plan on going home, though, but rather going straight to grandmother's house to spend the night there for Seollal. Thursday morning we'll celebrate Seollal, the way we always do, then probably make our way back up to Yongpyong by nightfall. Ski until Sunday or so and come back to start work again for Monday morning.

So, don't expect much posting until after the holidays.... sorry I've been so slack lately. But, come next week, I'll have lots and lots of time for posting, so expect a slew of posts that I have been wanting to post for the past month or so. I still have more to say about Japan, plus I've been busy all through January too.

If you have any suggestions on what to do in Busan, let me know, because I have no idea and I'm leaving in 12 hours!!