Having only to focus on myself (one of the benefits of travelling alone) I can pretty much eat, drink and sleep when I need to, leaving me to be quite reactionary in relation to the feelings of hunger, thirst and tiredness.
I wouldn't say that I was particularly unhappy when I was in Vientiane, but there wasn't the usual enthusiasm that I experienced when arriving in cities like Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. A combination of factors (which I've already discussed at length) obviously impacted my enjoyment of my stay in the Lao capital, but I guess to say that I would feel happy and contented throughout the duration of this journey is unrealistic.
Overall I consider myself to be quite a laid back person, although I would also say that when I do have strong feelings (either positive or negative) they are pretty evident in contrast to my reaction to most other things. It's a bit like when you are at school and you have a teacher who constantly shouts, it's hard to tell when they are in a bad mood or not, what's more jarring is when you have a teacher who never raises their voice, and then you are on the receiving end of their wrath one day and you realise it was totally out of character with the 'regular' behaviour.
Sometimes you just need a reminder of how lucky you are, and I feel like my first day in Busan yesterday as just the tonic.
It might not be 'home' but I think the familiarity of being in Korea has helped ensure that I stay motivated through the last six weeks of my trip.
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Maybe a change of scene was all I needed, or maybe I just needed to return to Korea, but I felt extremely contented when I woke up this morning.
It had been a long day what with returning from the football late last night, but I'd had a comfortable sleep, and felt refreshed in a setting that had already made me feel comfortable.
Whilst we're discussing my hotel in general, I think it's important to pay the Angel Hotel in Busan some compliments for my stay so far. As human beings we're often quick to criticise when things aren't as they should be, but in my two nights so far I can't fault the place.
It is essentially all of the good things I've experienced in previous hotels, but under one roof.
First of all, despite my navigational incompetence it was pretty easy to find. Once you get to the right place and follow the street around there is a sign....
... which helps you on the way. Without that little touch it'd be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
I'd read in the comments on the website I booked through that it was 'old fashioned' but I have to say I disagree. In general Korea is quite a modern place and I think that the room certainly looks on par with anywhere else I've stayed on this trip (excuse the mess):
The room itself is about average size for a place I have stayed, but from the photo you can see that it has an LCD TV, a fridge, air conditioning, a double bed and a table which is separate from the desk (first time I think that's occurred).
Not only does it come across as genuinely a nice place, there are some small little touches which make it a good hotel:
A wifi receiver actually in the room to make sure that my connection is decent and I'm not having to struggle (fingers crossed it continues to work as it has done so far!)
Some rooms I've stayed in, particularly the ones in Vietnam offered you lots of goodies but this one goes over and above with the number of things available for use such as......
....and....
......and..... (definitely necessary for the drop in temperature my body has been experiencing since leaving Laos):
The bathroom is also very nice....
.....and stocked with things which hotels don't always provide such as shampoo, conditioner and moisturiser.
I know it's all nothing fancy, and things you would probably get if you stayed in more expensive establishments, the likes of which I've not frequented on my travels, but I find that it's the small touches that make my stay more more enjoyable - such as people who go out of their way to assist you (for no monetary gain).
I was still feeling a little sluggish from yesterday's long stint of travelling, and although I got up for breakfast I immediately went back to bed and didn't get up until around about an hour or so later. I grabbed some lunch, and studied the map trying to decide what to do with myself today.
The map I was given on the first day, as I don't think I have mentioned, is very detailed and as well as showing the main areas of Busan themselves, it also advises you which subway stop to get off at for each one of them which is very useful. When I checked in yesterday a very helpful receptionist at the hotel who spoke excellent English took about five minutes to explain to me everything that was around the area that I might possibly need, and then also highlighted some areas of interest of the map, and advised me some things I should definitely do during my stay.
Along with the lady who helped me yesterday, the receptionist has reconfirmed everything I thought about Korean people being among the most friendly and helpful in the world, and also went some way to restoring my faith in human kind after the experience at the end of my stay in Laos.
Despite the assistance, deciding where to go and what to do will be a bit of a tricky task as it seems like there are plenty of things to see and explore, but also things are quite spread out so it's not necessarily easy to combine a few things into one day.
I decided to spend today at the southern edge of the city, close to the port, and although I didn't have a real route planned in my mind I figured that things would make themselves clearer as I was going along. I got on the metro and headed towards the Nampo region of the city which required me to get off at Jagalchi which is nine stops away from where I am, and in the same direction as Busan Station.
The metro here doesn't seem to be as busy as it was in Seoul and Suwon although I don't think I have managed to actually get a seat at any point yet. It's very well set out and although it only has five lines together with the buses it covers most of the city relatively well.
Getting off at Jagalchi Station I was faced with something that I became used to from my time here before which is a ridiculous number of exits, all of which go through some kind of underground stopping centre before bringing you back out above ground. I discovered in my time here before that Koreans love shopping, and these places are as well served as the many huge shopping malls and department stores which are spread out around city.
Eventually I was able to get back out above ground and I came upon several small and twisty streets which were filled with people selling all kinds of sea creatures:
Where I used to live in Suwon there was a small fish market which ran through the middle of town, but this one was much bigger and had plenty of stalls which were selling basically any kind of sea food that you might need. It was quite busy with a lot of people just browsing like myself and intrigued to see what kinds of things were for sale.
I don't mind seafood, and I certainly wouldn't say I'm any kind of expert, meaning that I generally had no idea about most of what was for sale. It looked interesting if nothing else though.
When I came to the end of the fish market on the street I had reached Jagalchi Market itself which was inside an oddly-shaped looking building with five or six floors seemingly all of which sold different varieties of sea food:
It was definitely what you'd describe as a live seafood market as things were swimming and crawling around everywhere, and it's in this kind of situation that my eyes don't really know where best to position themselves as there is normally so much going on that it's hard to take it all in. I walked up and down a few isles, and there seemed to be different varieties of fish everywhere, although not many people seemed to be doing much business at this time.
I needed a little break from the smell and sight of seafood so I decided to continue walking along the port area. Out of the back of the market there was a fantastic view in both directions:
It was one of those views that probably doesn't seem like anything exciting in pictures, but looking at it from a distance and being there it was quite an interesting one. I think it's the sheer amount of buildings that can be in one place what I'm always taken a-back by in Korea, and with the hills in the background and water in the foreground it did look quite spectacular (in my opinion anyway).
I walked along a little while and came across one of Busan's many bridges:
Yeongdodaegyo Bridge is a drawbridge which lifts up at 12pm every day to let boats in and out of the harbour and is quite a popular place from what I understand. I walked along it taking in the view back out over the market and where I'd just walked, and then I looped round on the other side of the walk way where there was a huge shopping mall which I nipped into to try and see if I could get myself something to wear over the top of my t-shirt as I was starting to feel the sea breeze.
Unfortunately everything was ridiculously expensive in there so I pressed on hoping that I would find something else later on when I got really desperate for some warmth.
I headed back in the direction of the subway station as it had been so helpful in pointing me in the right direction earlier. There are so many exits in each subway that they put signs up to help people like me who have no idea where they need to be. I have to say that some of the subways here are massive, and I noticed later today that I could actually walk between four different subway stations using the underground shopping centres to get from one to the next one without ever having to go above ground.
I'd seen on the map earlier that there were quite a few different things around this area so I decided to walk through what is known as BIFF (Busan International Film Festival) Square where there were lots of market stalls set up. You'd have though I'd have had enough of markets with the number which I went to in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, but I zig-zagged up and down the streets just intrigued to see what was there more than anything. When the market ended I got to Gwangbok-dong Fashion street which had a bunch of high street stores on it. I tried a couple of them to look for a top as it was starting to get a bit colder now, but still no luck.
Walking towards a set of escalators I was transported halfway up a very steep hill which led to Yongdusan Park, although once you actually got to the park itself you had to walk the rest of the way.
There were a few people headed up in that direction, mainly because you get a great view out over the city, but also because it was a quiet area which was very relaxing.I walked up to the tower and was surprised that it was to cheap (5000 won - £2.50) to get up to the top. As usual I timed my arrival terribly a the same time that I got there a group of Korean ladies arrived there and I had to line up behind all twenty of them as they went to pay. Thankfully they were dawdling around at the entrance so I managed to make it into the elevator before they got there, but it wasn't long before they crowded what had been quite a relaxing space. Thankfully there were two levels to Busan Tower itself and they went up to the top level so I was able to walk around in peace and take some pictures:
I gave it a fair while to make sure the crowd of people were gone before heading up and then managed to get some shots from up there as it was now starting to get a little darker across the city:
Walking down from the tower after about an hour up there I continued back towards the fashion street I'd found earlier and tried a couple more shops further along, but still couldn't find anything that was reasonably priced, and actually fitted me.
I decided to go back to the mall and look in some different places there as I'd only checked the main department store, but first I decided to go up to the very windy sky park on the top floor to see how the view was looking from the summit of the building:
By this point I thought it was about time to get some dinner so decided to prioritise that over my need for some long sleeves. I went into the food court and after walking around for a little bit I settled on a rather large plate of chicken cutlet which was very nice and came with the usual trimmings what most Korean meals do. I had a blast from the past drinking out of little metal cups also - although it is more like having a shot of water than an actual drink!
I decided at this point it was time to head back in the direction of my hotel, but walking along through the underground shopping centre I finally found somewhere which sold the kind of thing I was looking for, so about seven hours later than I went to initially purchase a top, I will now not freeze from tomorrow onwards.
It may not have seemed like the most interesting day I've had whilst on my travels, but it was good to be back in the familiar setting of Korea, and I think the sights and sounds did a good job of reminding me why I liked it here so much first time around. I feel like I took in a good amount of Busan's sights today, and I hope that I will be able to continue doing this throughout the rest of my stay.
How You Remind Me
Nickelback (2001)
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