Russians and Beetles
Trip Start
Mar 27, 2008
1
23
42
Trip End
Jun 30, 2008
Busan,
Busan,
Korea Rep.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
On Saturday I took the ferry from Fukuoka to Busan on the South East coast of Korea. This was a part of the trip that I'd looked forward to for a while, as the crossing is by fast hydrofoil, and there is island scenery to admire. Well the islands were there alright, just visible through the rain - grey smudges in an angry sea, under a leaden sky. My passage across the Korean Straits took place during a storm, in a "Beetle", a mini hydrofoil that takes a couple of hundred passengers at most. Cross-Channel ferry it certainly isn't - on a good day Beetles look like this: http://www.jrbeetle.co.jp/english/welcome/index.html
Before you board, you are asked to wear seat-belts in case of sudden manoeuvres to avoid whales (the Japanese must be improving - I thought they'd have just mown them down, and sold off the road-kill), but I suspect this has more to do with preventing damage to the vessel, rather than any concerns about animal welfare
Shipping lanes, Korean Straits
. In the event, we needed our seat-belts to avoid being thrown out of our seats - the swell was frequently higher than my window, and the only distraction was Saturday morning Korean kids' TV, which isn't very distracting at all. Beetles are small boats, and it felt as though this one was going to fall off its stilts at any moment. Believe me, I've had some rough crossings in my time, but I've never been as glad to get off anything in my life.Still, I'm back on the Eurasian Land Mass for the first time in weeks, and theoretically I could walk home from here. Although I may have a bit of bother with the North Koreans. And the Chinese, and the Russians and the Channel Tunnel Border Guards probably. Maybe I won't bother then......
The taxi ride from the port to my hotel was interesting. The driver talked on his mobile with one hand, while he used the other hand to operate a remote control. This was for the television set on top of the dashboard, which we watched while he steered the cab with his knees. Still, it was 1/10 the price of the equivalent journey in Japan earlier that day, so I wasn't complaining.
Busan is no Bangkok, but Korea feels more like the Far East than Japan, and as soon as you step off the ferry it feels less organised, slightly more chaotic. Suddenly I'm eating street food rather than sitting down in restaurants (50p or £1 will buy you a hot meal from a stall), but the food is completely different to Chinese, Japanese or Thai
View from my room
. It's delicious and I'm surprised it isn't more popular in the West. For the first two days I was never entirely sure what was on my plate, only that it was very tasty and very spicy - occasionally you recognise the odd ingredient, but you'll have absolutely no idea what they've done to it. You do need to be a little bit careful about your food here though. Korean cuisine includes such delicacies as cow's knee caps, live baby octopus (though you'd probably notice that one), and the notorious "bosintang", which is dog soup. Sit-down meals come with lots of little side-dishes called banchan, and they're mandatory. I ordered a bowl of soup for a light meal in one place, and it arrived with seven different banchan dishes....and rice. Also, if you buy food from a street stall here, they"ll give you a free a mug of the water they use to keep the mandu (spiced dumplings) warm - think of it as Korean Bovril.
Busan is Korea's second largest city, and it's a really nice place. A couple of chains of forested mountains run through the middle of town, and provide a nice backdrop to the views of the city. This was the only city in Korea that was never taken by the North Korean Communists during the Korean War, so there's a bit of history here too. It is a large port, and home to the biggest Fish Market in Korea, which was quite close to my hotel, and well worth a look round. Several stalls sold Scabbard Fish, and there's the Madeira connection again - the only two places in the world where Scabbard Fish are found are Madeira and the Sea of Japan
Beach, Busan
.There's a good metro system, so getting around is easy enough (apart from an understandable mix-up on my part between the stations of Jangsan and Yangsan). The metro is a good place to watch life go by. It's full of hawkers who move from car to car selling their wares. The man selling hosepipe connectors did a roaring trade for some reason, but peanuts, chewing gum, torches and tubigrip were less popular.
I had a pleasant few days here just hanging out, and letting my wallet recover from Japan. English visitors are still a bit of a novelty in Busan - the Koreans were very welcoming, and love to practice their English, which makes for an easy life.
And the other notable thing about Busan? For some inexplicable reason, the area between the railway station and City Hall is absolutely full to overflowing with overweight Russian prostitutes - I have absolutely no idea why..........
Comments
Korea
You are certainly experiencing everything on your travels. Keep up the good work in keeping us well informed and amused
Cheap TV's over there ?
Re: Korea
....thanks for the encouragement (and good luck at Wembley).
I haven't looked at the electronics since Tokyo, but I may have a bit of a dabble next week. Not sure how i'm going to fit a TV into my little suitcase though.......