Coming from an island that can experience rain on any one of the year's 365 days, I wouldn't say it took a major adjustment, but it does mean that I can't just think that because the sun is out that it is automatically 'shorts weather' every morning.
The selection of clothes I brought with me attempted to cover all weather eventualities and so far I feel like I have done pretty well without having to add anything extra to my collection. That was until a couple of days ago when I had to add another long sleeved top to my bag realising that it might be necessary for the next couple of countries I visit.
Winding down towards the end of my journey I'm starting to feel like all of those shorts might not be seeing much use in the next six weeks.
Packing was one of the hardest things to organise before I left, and I feel like leaving it to the last minute in some strange way was actually beneficial because it gave me less time to ponder over whether I'd made the right decision by including or excluding certain items of clothing. I'm pretty useless when it comes to going a way for one night or the weekend so trying to pick up everything I'd need for the next four months was an extremely difficult to task.
In fairness, although I have done pretty well, I always felt like the clothing situation was fairly flexible and if needs be then I could always add or subtract things along the way as required. Aside from the absence of swimming shorts I don't feel like there's anything I forgot to bring with me, but that's perhaps because I have been experiencing fairly similar weather conditions all throughout my stay.
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Thankfully I haven't experienced more than a couple of days worth of rain on my travels though as when I clarified last night it said that there was a 100% chance of rain all day - something which I wasn't looking forward to. Rain would be annoying in any situation, but particularly when you're away travelling because it essentially means that I need to bide my time in the hotel room for the day (something nor particularly exciting) or find indoor activities to do (not always the easiest thing on the closest thing to a 'seaside town' that they have in Korea).
I decided to see what the weather was going to be like when I woke up rather than making too many plans last night, and when I got up this morning the prediction had come to fruition as it was indeed throwing it down outside with no sign of relenting even when I checked again a couple of hours later. My room doesn't exactly give me a great view of the outside world so I had to keep going to the window at the front of the hotel on my floor to see, and from high up I could see lots of people carrying umbrellas and generally a pretty miserable scene outside.
Weighing up whether or not to go out and do something today I decided that I would make an assessment by going out to get some lunch. It meant digging out my coat for a second time this week and then attempting not to get absolutely drenched as I headed the short walk from my hotel towards one of the many bakeries there are in Korea.
One of the things I'd been considering for the last couple of weeks is buying a new pair of trainers as the ones I brought with me are pretty old, have no grip on the bottom and have recently developed a hole in the mesh at the front of both of my feet. I decided to venture into what looked like a discount sports shop quickly as I'd noticed there were a lot of signs saying that there was some sort of sale event going on, and thought this might be an opportunity to grab myself something relatively cheaply.
Korean sizes aren't like the ones those I've experienced anywhere around the world, and although I brought a pair of trainers when I lived here I could remember what size I was although I knew it was somewhere between 260 and 280 (the sizes are actually measured in mms so it makes sense a little bit more than our random numbering).
I tried on a couple of pairs and eventually found that 275s fit me the best so I found what looked to be a decent pair, paid 10,000 won (around £5) and then headed on my way. On the the way out I saw someone on the street who was selling umbrellas for 2,000 won (£1) and having decided that getting some fresh air might be a good idea I brought one and then went back to my room to get ready.
I related Busan to a bit of a 'seaside town' and decided to stick with the outdoors theme even though it would probably be an extremely miserable experience considering the weather conditions. On my first full day here I'd headed towards a part of the city called Taejongdae which was across Yeongdo Bridge where I got this fantastic view from the other day:
I'd seen some picture of the coastline there and it looked very beautiful, and with the faint hope that the weather might improve at some point I headed onto the metro.
Taejongdae's closest stop on the Busan metro is actually not that close at all so I had to get off at Jagalchi (The Fish Market) and then then walk across the bridge onto Yeongdo Island itself. I'd considered walking down the coastal path to Tajongdae, but seeing a sign which suggest it was over 5kms to get there I decided it'd probably be best to get the bus because I was starting to feel like spending as much time in the dry as possible would be extremely beneficial.
There were a multitude of buses which listed themselves as going to my destination so I hopped on the first one that I could see and then tried to look through the steamy windows to make sure I was in the right place.
The bus was very confusing as we looped around in several different directions, and it wasn't like the previous days when there were apparently lots of people going to the same place as me, so I was a little worried when the only other two passengers got off the bus at the same stop. I cleaned my window to look out and it seemed like we were are Busan Martime University and I quickly tried to look at the map to see where that was in relation to where I needed to be.
As I was the only passenger left on the bus I decided to try and get a better view out of the window by moving to the front of the vehicle and I saw that we were coming up to the bus terminal. I was definitely on the right bus, I knew that for a fact, so all I needed to do once I got off the bus was figure out where exactly I needed to go.
It all turned out to actually be pretty obvious in fairness as after a couple of seconds to get my bearings I realised that I was at the entrance to Tajongdae Park. I realised that having paid more attention this morning to what I was reading I would have realised that the area itself is part of an eco-park and buses don't run in the park itself, just up to the entrance.
There was an incredibly misty fog coming off the hills in the area all around, and despite being pretty damp at this point I managed to grab my camera out of my equally wet bag and take some pictures:
I wasn't sure which was the best path to follow, and there weren't a lot of other people around so I decided to walk into the park and hope for the best - if it was even open.
There were lots of people walking in the opposite direction to the way I was going so I figured that I was probably heading the right way as the path wound up and down before eventually I found a map to confirm I was going the right way.
It was interesting to look along the way as there were some viewpoints as I circled around the western coast of the park. This is what you were supposed to see......
.....and this is what you could actually see.....
I imagine on a really sunny day that it would have been really beautiful as there was a little beach area also which unsurprisingly there was nobody on today.
I kept walking even though I could feel that I was now disgustingly wet - I figured, I'd got this far and might as well keep doing because I couldn't get any wetter.
Continuing to walk around I came to an observatory which again would have had spectacular views, but instead makes it look as though I've taken a picture of the clouds.
Much of the area itself was actually closed up, I'm not sure if this is due to the weather or the fact that it isn't really the peak season for visiting Busan. There were a couple of cafes and a souvenir shop, but they can hardly be turning a profit when there were about a total of twenty people in the whole park during the time that I was there.
Eventually I got to the main attraction which was Tajongdae Lighthouse. I had to walk down a very slippery looking wooden path first....
.....and then I got to another little observation area where I could see the lighthouse itself:
I considered ending my visit there, but figured that I'd come all this way so I might as well keep going. You could walk down a path towards the lighthouse and from there you are supposed to be able to see as far as the southern islands of Japan, today I could barely see a ship which was about twenty five metres in the distance:
I'd bet the cliffs look very beautiful in the sunshine, and the area itself reminded me of what I'd seen when I visited the building near Haundae the other day:
By this point I had reached pretty much the limit of how drenched I felt like getting and so started to head back in the opposite direction which sadly turned out to be in the direction of the rain. I didn't have to wait too long to get a bus, and figuring that pretty much every single bus bypassed some kind of subway stop so I just hopped on the first one and made my way home whilst feeling very soggy.
Once I got in I had to peel everything I was wearing off and try to make the most of the portable radiator in my room which I have been using to keep me warm in the last couple of days. I hope everything will be dry by the morning when I have to leave to go to the airport.
Busan has been a really fun experience - in some ways I'm gutted I didn't make it here when I lived in Korea, but in other ways I'm pleased that I saved this experience some the first time I have returned here since 2010. I feel like it was a good choice to stay here for so long as there was a lot to do, and although I'd thought about going out and seeing different cities whilst I was here in the south, using Busan as a base, I've not really needed to as there has been plenty to keep me occupied.
The feeling of returning to Korea itself has been a good one, and it has been a surreal experience to be in a country that I've visited before but am still slightly uncomfortable in because of the language and all of the other issues that come with being a foreigner in a foreign land. I hope that the rest of my stay in Korea is equally enjoyable, and I definitely feel like this has inspired me to come back for a third time hopefully in the near future.
Wet
Nicole Scherzinger (2011)
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