Visas, Octopus and 5* Hostels

So...I'm in South Korea.

You know, it's only dawning on me now that I really didn't believe I'd even leave Australia. It's funny when you get times you think you haven't left, like watching a movie or strangely shopping. I have moments in shops when the layout is just the same as at home with the packaging etc. Then, I lean in to read and it's all foreign, oh yeah...I'm in Korea!

I haven't seen any real worry about North Korea and its current political situation. Actually, I was speaking with someone who told me that there was a survey done on South Korean students asking them to list countries that most threaten South Korea. North Korea was 5th on this list. The relationship has been summed up as this; North Korea is the drug-addicted brother who you hope will someday get clean.

The ferry was quite good and smooth over to Busan, though their choice of movie could have been a bit more thought out. It was Korean, so I had no idea what they were saying but for some reason, there was a lot of vomiting...which, on the sea, you don't want to be watching as a distraction ....to throwing up....here are some pics

Arriving after three hours on the ferry we enter the port of Busan on the southern tip of Korea.

Paul the English lad I'll be travelling with to China and India, and well anywhere we choose to go, had already gone to the hostel recommended to us. He'd informed me that it was good and I should come to meet him. Straight off the ferry, I see a "Tourist Information Desk" GREAT! I like it, right at the door. So I head over and ask for a map.....this is what I get... Ever wonder why there haven't been any more "Where's Wally" books? He's been doing tourist maps for Sth Korea! So this perplexed me for a long time and I would take cheap stabs at whoever in government authorised such foolery! It wasn't until later did understanding come....here is a picture of a map of the same place I saw in the museum... Knowing now that it was actually a "Traditionally Korean" map makes it a cultural experience!

So, with no help from my map, I make it to the subway and on the train to what I think is my station, and then to the hostel. I'm so focused on getting to the hostel, that I'm not noticing the differences from Japan ( to which I have grown fondly accustomed). Finally, I make it to the new hostel.
It's great! The pictures on the website are what you get in person. It is brand new and unsoiled by the casual abandon of the weary traveller. I'm greeted by an excited Korean lady who ushers me in, my shoes are off, and complimentary slippers are on...they have large sizes that fit, and this excites me (Rare in my experience). The hostel is on the 7th floor by the harbor, with a large balcony accessible from the bar/lounge area. At night..

The first day I meet with Paul we decide to roam about as the place is buzzing with activity, much different from Japan I hear horns beeping, and people push past you, while cars nearly run you over. And there is ...rubbish in the streets, something I haven't seen since....umm Australia..haha. Though, to my frustration still no bins! The hostel is right above the Jalmachi Fish Market and I mean literally. It's the first floor and all surrounding. Here are some pics of my roaming...
You could even get some Nike's and fish, so convenient... Over the balcony there's a big haul...
By now you're thinking "Yeah, there is fish, there is Nike's but where's the entertainment?". I'm glad you asked because a fish market is not a fish market without a live Korean Mexican Folk singer... right?!
So a lot of my time in Busan has been spent on working out how to get a visa to China. It turns out that you need to be a Chinese national or have an arc card (card saying you are able to work in Korea) with six months on it still to get a visa from Korea. So Paul and I have ended up sending our passports home to have family members get our visas in our own country (Thanks heaps guys! xo) I'm going to try and get an Indian one done also to save hassle later.
I'm missing the Japanese vending machines and getting food to eat in Korea is harder as it mostly has seafood involved somehow. Though there is a type of restaurant that meets my needs which is the Korean barbecue. There, you get given all this meat that you cook yourself on a stove built into the table, plus some vegetable extras, etc. The other place I have lived on is the Paris Baguette bakery franchise, plus Mcdonald's. One night we decided to go and try a shop that sold Kim Chi, a traditional food for Koreans. I was told it is a pork soup which ticked the box, so off I went. I should mention that Paul and I were convinced by another traveller named, Jerry. A fella originally from Singapore, but living in Perth, Australia. He was an absolute crack-up! Anyhow we went to find Kim Chi and ended up looking through places we thought were it, but ended up being karaoke rooms...again anyhow... we started just walking down a street, well, an alley to find another place convinced by Jerry's enthusiasm (Though we were not that enthused as our pot luck shots at places to eat had not turned out so well in the past). As we headed down the alley looking at people eating looking for any sign of what they serve a woman comes out and ushers us to come and eat at her place. Jerry assures us that we will be able to get chicken/beef here, hungry and tired we agree. After we enter in we try to communicate and order but are not too sure she understands. Well actually, I'm positive she doesn't, but it's too late now and we are seated. Jerry speaks with her and assures us that it's chicken, which makes things better. He doesn't know Korean but is familiar with the cuisine.
We sit down and realise the seats are heated, well they have electric blankets covering them (ingenious!), I should mention that pretty much everywhere in Korea you have heated floors! They are the best thing ever, seriously think this should be adopted in Australia. So we sit and watch the preparation that goes on in front of us. A hot plate is brought out and it looks like it's going to be a Korean-style barbecue. The meat looks like chicken when I glance at it, to assure myself I ask Jerry again, who confirms that it is. Soon Paul starts making faces to me exclaiming his doubt that it is chicken as he can see the preparation. I refuse to look (Ignorance can be bliss) and order beer and soju (Korean rice wine) as I realise I'm going to need something to wash this down. We have an array of dishes laid out before us, as usual .....and I have no idea what to do with any of them, as usual. Though that's not what has my attention, the lady starts putting ...stuff...on the hotplate which now, even through my buffer of ignorance, I cannot believe is chicken. But hey, I'm in Korea and really why come if you're not going to give things a go, so I dig in. It's chewy and mushy, sometimes crispy. Finally, the meal ends and after funny conversations with my limited Korean, we leave for the hostel. We finally get what the meal was out of Jerry, He happily exclaims that we just ate intestine and heart, he seems quite proud of himself.
It seems the more I tell people I don't like seafood the more they order it, and I feel compelled to eat it. So in the end I have eaten snail, squid, sushi with wasabi (quite like wasabi and sushi), heart, octopus, and an assortment of fish....so much for not eating or liking seafood, lol. Though my hat goes off to the American that was staying at the hostel who bit the head off an octopus that was alive from the market straight out of the tub!

The next day we thought that we had not seen much of Busan so we decided to be real touristy and take the sightseeing bus. The first stop was the U.N. Memorial. I don't know why but memorials for war and such things always get me a bit emotional. After last night's meal, we decided that the pizza store we saw on the way would be a good choice, although we couldn't eat it there, so we had to do it in real Vagabond style. Here are some pics..

Finally free of the visa issues, we plan our next stop. It looks to be Gyeongju. The ancient capital of the Sills kingdom, with king tombs and carvings dating back at least to the sixth century. The hostel owners knowing it's our last night give us free drinks and Jerry orders a sushi and squid fish banquet; he really gets a kick out of seeing me eat fish and squid. Here is a pic of us all (That's Jerry on the far right) ...
The hostel owner hears where we are heading and offers us a lift as he is dropping off his son halfway there, we eagerly... I mean, humbly accept. The owner will not take payment and shouts us lunch. Fish hot dogs... great... I can't refuse...
We are nearly at Gyeongju when he tells us of a temple we must see, Tongdosa, as it is the largest in Korea. He offers to take us to have a quick look. Again we eagerly... *cough*, humbly accept. Upon getting to the temple it is the best thing we have seen in Korea yet and whip out the cameras.
As we exit our host yells out to a monk past the no entry area, they seem to know each other! Greetings ensue and the monk invites us into his room for tea and a chat, we couldn't believe our luck! All giddy we sit as the monk prepares tea for us with the expected precision of a honed weapon. We drink a strange tea which we find out is made from a large variety of herbs and a particular special herb gathered in a secret area of the mountain, it takes a week to make the tea...this excites me more. Now we need to go but the monk gives us some presents on our way out, plus a picture opp.
So onwards to Gyeongju! Which will be updated soon with a stay in the ancient Sunmudo temple of Golgulsa, training and living with the monks

S.