We had an early morning today so I guess it is okay that I woke up at 4:30 a.m. I booked a trip on Viator to explore Busan for a day. We could have explored on our own but having a guide gives us a private car/driver, a photographer, and someone to give us insight into seeing the best of Busan in the short time we had. Having a private car/driver/guide also means that we don’t have to worry about figuring out a route to see as much as possible in the time we had while figuring out the quickest and most convenient modes of transportation to get to each spot. Also, it allows us to buy things at each stop without having to worry about how to carry our purchases throughout the day. We will be able to leave our bags in the car safely with our driver/guide.

We were picked up at the hotel and taken to Seoul Station. This was a nice service, but we could have found our own way to Seoul Station without that service. At Seoul Station, we boarded our KTX and are on the 2.5 hour TRAIN TO BUSAN! (We didn’t see any zombies, thank goodness.)

At the station in Busan, we were met by Dylan (on IG @busanmemories) who took us on our one-day whirlwind tour of Busan. We started at Haedong Yonggungsa, a beautiful temple along the shoreline. It was such a humid day and the temp was in the 80s but according to my weather app, the humidity made it feel like 95 degrees! I cooled off with a blended ginseng and Yakult drink. Very interesting. Hope it gave me health and vitality. My husband enjoyed a hot dog with I think fish cake wrapped around it. Of course, I had to take a bite of his food. It was pretty yummy!

Next, we went to Jagalchi Market, Korea’s largest seafood market and selected a live flounder and king crab to enjoy upstairs for lunch. We also enjoyed beer and banchan with views of the ocean. We stopped at Busan Tower after lunch to see views of the city and then headed to Busan International Film Festival (BIIF) area to explore and enjoy some bingsu. I had pat-bingsu which is the shaved ice with red bean paste on it. So cool and refreshing on this hot day.

Next we went to Busan Gamcheon Culture Village which is a neighborhood totally made for people who want to take pics to post on Instagram. So fun! We also made a quick stop at a little neighborhood where the stairs and walls were made from tombstones that the people found and used. There must be some good ghost stories to tell there! While waiting at the station for the subway train back to our stop, I saw a pine bud drink in a vending machine and tried it. Not bad! It is like a sweet tea with pine flavor. We got back to Seoul at around 9:40 p.m. and as expected, my traveling partner wanted to eat at the same restaurant as the day before so KBBQ it was. No complaints from me! I love KBBQ. Plus, by now, we were friends with the restaurant owner. This was the shortest day of walking on this trip. We only walked around 8 miles on this day. Living Hilo Style in Busan.