Onward to our next destination Seoul via KTX

Riding the KTX to Seoul

Today we take things down a notch and had our second travel break day. Much of today is spent on travelling from Busan to Seoul, our final destination of the trip, via the highspeed KTX train. We would spend the day orientating around in Seoul and watching one of the non-verbal comedy that South Korea is so famous for other than kimchi and K-pop. We woke up later than the previous days and checked out of the hotel in Busan at 10am to catch the train departing at 12 noon. We wanted to get to Seoul by 3 pm to catch our 5pm show. We wanted to get to the train station early to prevent the episode of missing our train my friend and I faced with three years ago. As a result of that, we got lost in the middle of nowhere. I did research on Naver Map App the night before and got to know that the train ride from Haeundae Station to Busan Train Station takes around 1 hr. After checking out, we dragged our luggage and headed to Haeundae Station, which is around 5 mins walk from the hotel, at the end of Gunam Street in the Haeundae area. The subway ride includes a change of train at Seomyeon Station. 1 hr later we arrived at Busan Train Station. We still have a bit of time to get some food to be consumed onboard the KTX. Unlike countries like Japan or Taiwan, there aren’t any shops selling bento sets for long-distance train commuters. The only shops that sell food are bakeries near the boarding platforms at Busan Train Station. From our recce two days ago, we have already identified the food we wanted to get which cut short our time in going around and see what is for sale.

We checked out of our hotel at 10 am to make good time to arrive Busan Train Station early

On the subway in Busan heading towards Busan Train Station

We arrived at Busan Train Station

Taking a wefie at Busan Train Station before we leave for Seoul

Busan Train Station concourse

Checking the platform our train departs

The train that would bring us across South Korea from Busan to Seoul

After getting our takeaways, we headed to the platform where our KTX train is waiting for passengers to board. We had trouble looking for a spot to stow our luggage for the journey. There are very limited luggage storage space in between train carriages and all of them were occupied at the time we boarded the train. We had to place one of our luggage in the seat with us, while the other in the space behind the last seat in the carriage. We got settled into our seats and the train commenced the 3 hr journey from Busan to Seoul with a few stops in between. We wanted to pamper ourselves a little and gotten First Class seat tickets on the KTX. Instead of four seats across in the Economy Class, First Class seats only have three seats across each row. The seats are very comfortable and resemble a large armchair. The seats are so comfortable that we got a good rest onboard. About 30 mins after the train leave the station, a train attendant comes around and distributes a snack pack to passengers in the First Class section of the train. First Class passengers can also obtain an unlimited number of bottles of spring water from the vending machine between carriages for free. We watched South Korea zoom pass the large windows from our seats, the view from the train was amazing. Mountains after mountains, cities after cities and rivers after rivers. This is the joy of riding a train instead of flying. Halfway through the train ride, we settled on the food we bought before we board the train. The 3 hrs train ride just whiz pass like the scenery of South Korea before our eyes as the highspeed train made its way from south to north of South Korea. The train soon pulls into Seoul Station before we know it.

Taking a wefie with the KTX train that would bring us to Seoul

My other friend is sitting behind us

Onboard in the First Class seat

The very comfortable First Class seat on the KTX

Train attendants doing her round distributing snacks for First Class passengers

Snacks provided to First Class passengers

Watching South Korea zooming past our eyes

We whiz past mountains

The train takes us past some farmlands

South Korea whizzed past us in the train

More farmlands

There is free wifi onboard the KTX

Return to Seoul – A Sense of Familiarity

As we exited the station, the streets suddenly became familiar. My friend and I were here three years ago. Nothing much as change. As we were standing in front of Seoul Station, we begin to relate to our other friend where we stayed the last time we came to South Korea and the supermarket where they were giving out new year rice cakes to customers who walked into the supermarket. We had no troubles finding the entrance to the subway station in Seoul Station and managed to find the subway line that would take us to the hotel we would call home for the remaining days we have in South Korea. The hotel we stayed is a mere four stops away from Seoul Station. We arrived at the hotel and checked into our rooms. My friends and I settled in for a while and headed out to watch the Korean Non-verbal performance – Fantastick. We made our booking through KLOOK, however, when we arrived at the address that KLOOK gave us through the vouchers, we were surprised there weren’t any theatre buildings around. We begin asking some locals on the Fantastick theatre, although there was some communication difficulty, the Seoulites we met were very helpful. Using a translation app and their limited knowledge of English, we were told that the address given was the wrong address. One of the Seoulites that we met even googled the address on his mobile phone and showed us the correct place of the theatre. As we were already late for the show (the show would have started even if we head over to the theatre), we gave up the idea of watching the show and headed to Gangnam.

The train that took use from Busan to Seoul

Inside Seoul Train Station

Taking a wefie in front of Seoul Station

Seoul as I remembered it

Taking a wefie in the subway station in Seoul

My friend struggling with her luggage through the gantry

Wefie on the streets of Seoul

We came here to look for the theatre

We missed our show as KLOOK gave us the wrong address

Gangnam Garosugil

My friend and I visited Gangnam Garosugil three years ago when we came here. Back then we were here to explore the area, however, this time around, we were here to get some mobile protectors (Spigen shop is here). As we exited the subway station, the sense of familiarity kicked in. We did not even have to rely on the map to tell us where to go. Gangnam Garosugil got its name as trees are planted on both sides of the road, almost like soldiers in a parade. Gangnam Garosugil is a relatively short street with shops, restaurants and cafes lining on both sides of the street. There are not many tourists here, mainly Seoulites visit this place. The place is as we remembered it three years ago. All sorts of luxury branded shops as well as local designer shops lined on both sides of the streets in Gangnam Garosugil. Some shops we saw three years ago are still there, others have been replaced. There is even an Apple Shop in Gangnam Garosugil. The Seoulites coming to Gangnam Garosugil are all dressed up as if they are trying to match the upmarket Gangnam Garosugil. After getting our mobile phone protectors, we took the subway to Gyeongbokgung Station for the Ginseng Chicken we had three years ago when we came. My friend still can’t forget the Ginseng Chicken we had from the restaurant three years ago. The restaurant, Tosokchon Samgyetang, is very popular with tourists and locals alike. We had to time our visit to the restaurant to avoid the long queue, which is very common in this restaurant. We reached Tosokchon Samgyetang at around 7.30pm, where the crowd had died down and we did not even have to wait in a queue.

There are a number of restaurants in Gangnam Garosugil

Street scene at Gangnam Garosugil

I find more locals in Gangnam Garosugil then tourists

Taking a wefie as we were walking on Gangnam Garosugil

The quieter part in Gangnam Garosugil

Gangnam Garosugil is a favourite hang out place for Seoulites

Tosokchon Samgyetang is a restaurant in a traditional hanok

We got a Ginseng Chicken soup each

We also ordered kinchi pancake

Taking a wefie while waiting for our food

Myeongdong – Shopping Mecca of Tourists

After having the delicious and flavourful Ginseng Chicken Soup, we headed to the shopping mecca for tourists in Seoul – Myeongdong. Myeongdong is a shopping area, nearby to Seoul Station, with a lot of shops. It is highly popular with tourists as most of the shops here offer on the spot VAT refund for tourists. Exiting the subway station, we were faced with hordes of tourists coming here to shop at Myeongdong. Nothing much has changed here since our visit three years ago. The same shops are still there. One thing nice about Myeongdong is that not only it is packed with Korean brand shops, there are also street food stalls lined up in the middle of the walking street. What I like about Myeongdong is that most of the staffs in the shops can speak fluent mandarin or good amount of English. Some of the shops here even offer good discounts for tourists and are very generous in their gifts to tourists. Myeongdong is a one-stop area for tourists as it has everything that tourists usually come to Seoul to shop for. After getting the things we were here to buy, my friends and I went back to the hotel to rest for the night.

Myeongdong is always crowded with tourists

Taking a wefie in Myeongdong

Myeongdong is very crowded especially on a weekend

Myeongdong is full of tourists

Our road trip to Tongyeong and Geoje in Gyeongsangnam-do

Journey to the Naples of Asia – Tongyeong and Geoje

We started our day early today again. We set off from Busan at 7.30 am partly due to the long drive from Busan to Tongyeong and partly to avoid the morning rush hour in Busan. The plan is to visit Tongyeong first as it is further away from Busan, followed by Geoje before returning to Busan. The drive to Tongyeong from Busan takes around 3½ hrs. My biggest worry about driving on this trip is Busan. I read that Busan has narrow roads and traffic jams are very common. Having little experience in left-hand drive, I figured we should leave early. The traffic condition was light at the time we set off, however as we drove westwards towards Tongyeong, traffic starts to build up. It is still manageable. About 1 hr into the journey, we are already out of the city of Busan. Our GPS app led us to drive on the bridge and tunnels that pass through several islands, with amazing scenery. About 1½ hrs into the journey, after passing the first bridge over the sea, we spotted a sign that points to Gadeok Ocean Park rest area. This is a good time for me to take a break and for us to grab some snacks. We found a statue of Le Petit Prince at the back of the building facing the surrounding sea and the best thing is there is no one queuing up to take pictures with it. I told my friends I thought Gamcheon Culture Village is the only place that has this statue. We also discovered a small park behind the rest area building that overlooks the sea dotted with small islands afar. It feels very peaceful looking out while the sea breeze gently brushes against our faces. There is a pavilion here for visitors to rest or even picnic while looking out into the sea. After getting our food and coffee we continued driving to Tongyeong. We drove on Geogadaegyo Bridge that links the several islands in this region together.

Traffic was light in Busan at the time of our departure

Traffic starting to buildup

Gadeok Ocean Park rest area

The blue sky and the calm sea makes this scenery feels peaceful

We spotted a pavilion at the rest area

Looking out into the sea dotted with islands

How can we not take a picture with Le Petit Prince

Our snack

Taking a wefie with the beautiful sea

We drove across the Geogadaegyo Bridge that links several islands together in this region

Geogadaegyo Bridge

Tongyeong – The Port City of Islands

Mireuksan and the Longest Cable Car in South Korea

We drove for another 2 hrs to finally reach our first destination in Tongyeong, Mireuksan. Mireuksan is one of South Korea’s top 100 mountains which boasts a view of the numerous islands in the surrounding. To get to the summit of Mireuksan, we did not have to trek like we did in Hallasan. Here we embarked onto our third experience on this trip, riding on South Korea’s longest cable car system. The cable car ride costs KRW10,000 per person for a return ride. Tongyeong Hallyeosudo Cable Car is 1,975m long and 10 mins ride whisks us to the summit station of Mireuksan. As the cable car hovers above the thick forest of Mireuksan beneath us, I can’t help but wonder the hike up Mireuksan would be tedious if not for this cable car system. The higher the cable car climbs up Mireuksan, the more we get to see the magnificent view of the surroundings. We got a good glimpse of the entire Port City of Tongyeong and islands beyond Tongyeong from the cable car ride. This got us excited about the view of Hallyeosudo islands from the summit of Mireuksan.

Tongyeong Cable car station

Getting ready to board the cable car up to Mireuksan

My friends in the cable car

Riding the cable car allows us to see the surroundings

View of the Port City of Tongyeong from the cable car

View from the cable car

The cable car calls into the summit station, exiting the station, we already got a good view of the surroundings. We could see the numerous islands dotting all over the bay. The clear blue cloudless sky seems to merge with the sea, if not for the islands we would not be able to differentiate the sky from the sea. The walk up to the summit of Mireuksan is very easy. The path is well built and consists of a series of well-paved steps with up and down ways well segregated to prevent congestion. At one point up to the summit, the pave splits into two. The path up to the summit is a loop, it does not matter which way we go as we will end up on the summit anyways. We chose the path on the route, where it took us to the viewpoint of the Great Battle of Hansan. The viewpoint of the Great Battle of Hansan is a short way down from the main pathway. Standing at the top of the pathway, the view here is liberating, the islands in the surroundings looked like jewels spreading all over the bay. My friend and I headed down to the viewpoint, other than the surroundings, we could also see the summit cable car station we were at a few minutes ago.

There are signs at the cable station pointing visitors to the route to summit of Mireuksan

Taking a wefie with the fake waterfall at the cable station

Me with a view of the bay

View of Hallyeosudo from the cable station

Walking up the stairs to summit of Mireuksan

There are benches around for visitors to rest

View of Hallyeosudo from Great Battle of Hansan Viewpoint

The view here is stunning

Stairs to Great Battle of Hansan Viewpoint

We got a great view of Hallyeosudo from Great Battle of Hansan Viewpoint

View of Hallyeosudo

My friend at the Great Battle of Hansan Viewpoint

Views from Sinseondae Viewpoint

This is one of the great views at Sinseondae Viewpoint

We continued our way to the summit of Mireuksan and reached Sinseondae Viewpoint. The view from Sinseondae viewpoint is the best on Mireuksan. This is where we got the full view of the entire Hallyeosudo area. The view here is simply breathtaking! It is a very short walk from Sinseondae to the summit of Mireuksan. Mireuksan is 461m above sea level and at the summit, there is a tablet marking the summit of the mountain. The summit offers a 360° view of the entire area, including a view of the Port City of Tongyeong and beyond. It was a tad crowded at the summit, looking around, I realised we were the only foreigners here at the summit of Mireuksan.

Sign posts on Mireuksan

Sinseondae Viewpoint

View from the summit of Mireuksan

At the summit of Mireuksan

View of Hallyeosudo from the summit of Mireuksan

The view at the summit of Mireuksan is stunning

We are at the summit of Mireuksan

My friend with the tablet at the summit of Mireuksan

We are at the summit of Mireuksan

One last wefie at the summit of Mireuksan before heading down

After taking more pictures at the summit and at the Sinseondae viewpoint, we headed back to the cable car via the other route. Coming down from the summit of Mireuksan, the only other viewpoint on this route is the Sea Battle of Dangpo Viewpoint. From this viewpoint, we see more of the mountain ranges below Mireuksan and a small glimpse of the sea. Despite not as impressive as the view from the summit of Mireuksan, the view here is still breathtaking with some islands spreading across the sea below. It is another 5 mins to walk back to the cable car station, where we took the cable car back to the base station and head on to our next destination.

Sea Battle of Dangpo Viewpoint

View at Sea Battle of Dangpo Viewpoint

One last wefie on Mireuksan before heading down

Dara Park

Our next destination in Tongyeong is Dara Park, which is located south of Mireuksan. The drive to Dara Park took us about 20 mins. Along the way, we spotted a car stopping by the side of the road. Curious we also stopped behind the car and spotted an unmarked lookout that offers a great view of the bay below. From here we were able to see some of the islands off the coast of Tongyeong. There seems to be some sort of farm in the sea near the coast. We were glad to have stopped here (thanks to the car we spotted when driving) as this unmarked lookout is totally Instagram worthy. After taking some pictures, we continued our drive to Dara Park. We parked our car at the nearby paid car park and walked to the entrance of Dara Park. There is a restaurant at the entrance, however, it looks deserted. It is here that we found out there are some parking lots that in front of the restaurant that we could have parked for free. Entrance to Dara Park is free. The walk from the entrance to Dara Park takes around 3 mins and at the end of the walk, there is a single bench that looks out into the bay. We were a tad disappointed with the view of Dara Park. We could only see a small portion of the bay and some islands in the sea, mainly due to Dara Park is not situated in an elevation high enough to offer an unobstructed view of the bay and partly due to the view being blocked by the vegetation between the park and the sea. People usually come to Dara Park for sunset and I have no doubt we would be able to see some beautiful sunset today due to the cloudless sky. I did not plan to come here during sunset as the drive back to Busan from Dara Park would take us around 3 hrs. We left soon after taking some obligatory photos.

View of the bay at some random lookout on our way to Dara Park

Wefie at the unmarked lookout along the way

The view here is amazing

Partial view of the bay at Dara Park

My friends checking their mobile phones on the bench at Dara Park

Geoje – The Blue City and South Korea’s Second Largest Island

After spending the morning on the island of Tongyeong, we headed over to South Korea’s second-largest island, Geoje where we stopped by three sites on this island.

Mundong Waterfall

When I was planning for this trip, I chanced upon a waterfall on the island of Geoje between our previous stop Dara Park and our next stop Sinseondae Platform. According to my planning on Naver Map app (South Korea’s Google Map equivalent), we would have some time for this waterfall. The drive from Dara Park to the entrance of Mundong Waterfall took us 1 hr pass the city of Tongyeong. Driving to the entrance of Mundong Waterfall requires some caution as part of the road became a one-laned road cater for traffic going in and coming out. Fortunately, no cars were plying along this road when we were there. Entrance and car parking at Mundong Waterfall is free. After parking our car, we followed the signs (in Korean, and we roughly knew it is the way to the waterfall) and made our 7 mins walk to the waterfall. My friends and I were shocked when we reached the waterfall. There was hardly any water falling from the waterfall. We only saw a small stream of water flowing down from the cliff on top, as if someone had forgotten to turn off the tap. The among of water is so little that we could walk on the almost dried up stream beneath the waterfall. On the plus side, we could get really close to the waterfall. I guess we were not in season to see the waterfall, no wonder there was hardly anyone when we walked in from the car park. Rather than feeling disappointed, we took this opportunity to lighten ourselves by taking some silly photos. We left Mundong Waterfall for our next stop after spending 3 mins here.

Taking a wefie at the car park at Mundong Waterfall

Walking to Mundong Waterfall

The walk to Mundong Waterfall is easy

Instead of a waterfall, we only saw a small stream of water flowing down at Mundong Waterfall

My friend reaching out to the small stream of water from Mundong Waterfall

It is so dried up that we can walk on the river bed

Sinseondae Platform

The drive to Sinseondae Platform on Geoje takes us around 45 mins. Along the way, we passed by Gucheon Reservoir. The scenery of the reservoir is so nice that we stopped on the side of the road and took some pictures with it. Gucheon Reservoir is surrounded by mountains that make this reservoir looks more like a picturesque lake instead of a reservoir.

Gucheon Reservoir looks more like a lake than a reservoir

Me at Gucheon Reservoir

My friend at Gucheon Reservoir

We continued our drive to Sinseondae Cliff Observatory car park and was disappointed to learn that the area was closed for some works when we arrive. We tried to make good of the situation by getting close enough to the side of the cliff without encroaching into the work area. My friends and I decided to take some pictures and then bunk off to our next destination. Just when we were about to leave, we spotted afar there seem to be a route that we can walk down to Sinseondae Platform and there are some people at the platform. Not giving up, we turned off our GPS app and drove along the road towards where we spotted people going down to the beach. Not wanting to miss the beach, we spotted a small parking lot in front of Angel in Us Cafe and parked our car there. We then walked across the road to the entrance of Haegeumgang Theme Museum that looked abandoned where we spotted a pathway that leads to the beach. Following the pathway, we reached Sinseondae Platform which is essentially huge rocks that extends into the sea. The view from Sinseondae Platform is amazing as we were literally standing on the sea looking out into a scene with islands and mountains popping out from the sea. It is around sunset at the time of our visit, making this place looks picturesque. The walk onto the rocks is a small adventure itself as we were exploring which rock we can walk onto to get as close to the sea and yet gives us a vantage view of the surroundings. Although these rocks, eroded by the forces of nature, seems uneven they are very safe to walk on as most of the top of the rocks are flat.

This is the closest we can get at Sinseondae Cliff Observatory

Taking a wefie at Sinseondae Cliff Observatory

Entrance to Sinseondae Platform

This is the way that led us to Sinseondae Platform

Taking a wefie on the way to Sinseondae Platform

My friend at the path to Sinseondae Platform

View from the path to Sinseondae Platform

Sinseondae Platform

My friend negotiating a path at Sinseondae Platform

Finally she made it and we took a wefie

My friend at Sinseondae Platform

Me at Sinseondae Platform looking out into the sunset

My friend at Sinseondae Platform

Taking a wefie at Sinseondae Platform before we leave

View of the town from Sinseondae Platform

Windy Hills

After spending some time on Sinseondae Platform, we headed to our last destination of the day in Gyeongsangnam-do, Windy Hills. The drive to Windy Hills from Sinseondae Platform takes less than 5 mins. For this short drive, we rely on the street signs instead of our GPS (as it points us to take a longer route). Entrance and parking at Windy Hills are free. After parking our car, we took a short walk up to the windmill. Looking out into the sea from Windy Hills, this place looks more like some lake in a European country rather than South Korea. There is a windmill on top of Windy Hill that was used as a set in a Korean drama. Sitting on the bench in front of the windmill looking out at the sea is very therapeutic. This is a good end to the long day we had today. We enjoyed the sea breeze and the tranquillity this place brings and would love to stay here longer. However, as the sun is about to set and considering that we had to drive over some windy roads on our way back, we left Windy Hills and embarked on our drive back to Busan. Along the way back to Busan, we stopped by Gadeok Ocean Park rest area for a break.

This does not seem like we are in South Korea

View of the sea at Windy Hill

The sun is setting over Windy Hill

My friend at Windy Hill

Taking a wefie at Windy Hill

My friend resting

Taking a wefie at Windy Hill

The windmill on Windy Hill

Dusk at Windy Hill

Night view of Geoje at Ocean Park Rest Area

Back to Busan Gunam Street

The drive from Geoje to Busan took around 3 hrs. We headed back to the hotel and parked our car there. Instead of going back to our rooms, we headed out to the nearby Gunam Street for dinner. We did not want to have too full a dinner as we wanted to buy some street food back to the hotel to eat. We settled our dinner at a Korea BBQ restaurant, after which we headed to Haeundae Market nearby to get some Korean fish cake, tteokbokki and Korean fried chicken back to the hotel to eat. It is a long day and tomorrow we will be having another long day in Gyeongju. We rested for the night soon after eating the food we bought from Haeundae Market.

My friends buying street food at Haeundae Market

Our itinerary is deliberately kept very light today, we catered time to travel from Jeju to Busan and also to take a break from the hectic schedule in the past two days in Jeju to prevent travel fatigue. After all, this is our 4th day in South Korea and we still have another eight days to go.

Flying from Jeju to Busan

Bye Bye Jeju

Today we bid our farewells to Jeju and embarked on the second leg of our trip. We woke up early to ensure that we have sufficient time to return our rental car and make it to the airport. I was a little worried that we might be cutting the time a little fine as the car rental company only opens at 8am and our flight is at 8.50am. Nonetheless, we tried our luck and left our accommodation early to see if the car rental company opens early. We reached the rental car return at 7.45am and was pleasantly surprised that the car rental company had already opened. The process of car return is very swift. The staff took our car and did a quick inspection, before long we were given the green light that everything was fine with the car. The staff even pointed us to the shuttle bus stop to Jeju Airport and informed us that the bus will be leaving soon. We made it to the 7.50am bus leaving for Jeju Airport. A short  10 mins ride whipped us to the airport in no time. We arrived at Jeju Airport at 8am, giving us ample time to check-in (luckily there were a lot of Korean Air counters and the queue was very thin). Check-in was done in under 5 mins, however, we were struck with a long immigration queue. Foreign visitors travelling out of Jeju Airport, even on domestic flights, are subjected to immigration check. Despite the long queue, the queue moved very fast and we were at airside in under 15 mins. By the time we reached our boarding gate, our flight had just commenced boarding.

We were relieved to be able to return our car ahead of time

Arrival at Jeju Airport

My friends and I managed to get some rest onboard the 1 hr flight from Jeju to Busan. After touching down and collected our luggage, we headed to the airport limousine bus stop, which is on the right from the exit of the airport terminal. We managed to catch the 10.20am bus which was just about to depart from the terminal. We arrived at Haeundae each to and the plan was to check into our hotel, freshen up and head out to Busan Gamcheon Village. We had a rude shock at the hotel as we have previously communicated with a hotel staff who ensured that we can check-in early at 11am when we arrive. The check-in staff did not even bother to check and declined our early check-in. At this time, we saw no point in arguing with her (a waste of our time anyway). We did a quick change in plan, left our luggage at the hotel concierge and headed out to Busan Gamcheon Village.

This bird is going to take us from Jeju to Busan

Getting ready for the next leg of our trip

And we are in Busan after 1 hr flight

Alighted from the airport bus in Haeundae

Gamcheon Culture Village –  Colourful Village on the Hills

We headed to the nearby subway station, which is about 5 mins walk from the hotel to get to Gamcheon Culture Village. We took the subway from Haeundae Station to Toseong Station, which takes us 1 hr to reach. Exiting the station, the next 20 mins walk is rather daunting. It felt like forever as the walk to Gamcheon Culture Village is literally an uphill walk, nonetheless, it is a good workout for the three of us. We knew we arrived at the Gamcheon Culture Village when we spotted an overhead bridge with very small signage that states the name of the place. Instead of crossing the bridge, we walked a little further where the entrance to the village is. The entrance is already crowded with tourists at the time of our arrival. Gamcheon Culture Village is a residential village that is built on the side of the slopes, most of the buildings here are decked in bright cheerful colours that gave this village its own character. This character also draws tourists to visit. In fact, Gamcheon Culture Village feels very touristy and seems like its sole existence is for tourism at the time of our visit. There are more shops along the main streets then residential buildings. These shops exist for the purpose of tourism selling all sorts of souvenirs, street food and cafes rather than catering to the needs of the residences in Gamcheon Culture Village. There is even a shop that rents Habok for tourists. As we were walking along the street, we noticed the residential units are tucked away either high up away from the main walking street or further down the valley.

Walking up the slope to Gamcheon Culture Village

We knew we arrived at Gamcheon Culture Village when we saw this bridge

Wefie on the main street of Gamcheon Culture Village

Map of Gamcheon Culture Village

A typical shop in Gamcheon Culture Village

It did not take us too long to walk to an open platform where we got a full view of Gamcheon Culture Village. The houses in Gamcheon Culture Village seems to be stacked on top of each other, spreading across the entire valley. From the platform, it seems there is only one small opening that peeps into the sea. The bright colour brings a cheerful character to the village. Standing here looking out into the entire village, the feeling is exhilarating. No wonder tourists flock to this village. Coupled with the clear blue sky and the mountains sitting afar into the sea in Busan, Gamcheon Culture Village is an instagramble place. As we were walking along, we spotted a statue looking out into Gamcheon Culture Village. I read that tourists usually come here to take a picture with this statue of Le Petit Prince and queues for taking a picture with Le Petit Prince can be as long as 30 mins. We originally did not want to take pictures with it, but seeing the queue was relatively short (only 4 people in front of us), we joined the queue. As my friend was taking pictures of me with Le Petit Prince, I spotted a platform below which seem to be able to take great pictures of Gamcheon Culture Village and the best thing is there are no people there. We headed down to this platform through the building next to Le Petit Prince and got our cameras snapping away. After walking for a while more, I spotted a cafe that faces the village. We settled into the cafe for some coffee and desserts before continuing on. The scenery here feels a tad repetitive after a while (well we spent some 3 hrs here) and we decided we had enough of Gamcheon Culture Village. As we were walking back to the entrance of Gamcheon Culture Village, we spotted a bus stop and took a bus down to the subway station. At this point, my friends were relieved there is a bus service up. Their eyes literally rolled when I told them I knew of the bus service and purposely make them walk all the way up.

Full view of Gamcheon Culture Village

My friend with Le Petit Prince

Picture with Le Petit Prince

The houses at Gamcheon Culture Village gives off a bright and cheerful vibe

Wefie at Gamcheon Culture Village

Another view of Gamcheon Culture Village

Walking on the main street in Gamcheon Culture Village

Feels like we are at the top of the world

Looking out at Gamcheon Culture Village

Posing on some random staircase in Gamcheon Culture Village

The interior of this building is painted to give people an illusion of spaciousness

Wefie at a cafe in Gamcheon Culture Village

Munching away on street food in Gamcheon Culture Village

Sunset over Gamcheon Culture Village

Busan Station

Before we head back to the hotel to check into our rooms, we stopped by Busan Station to collect the car we rented for the next two days for the excursion out of Busan. Before we collect our car, we headed inside Busan Station to get our express train ticket to Seoul, fearing we might not be able to get tickets if we buy it on our departure date. We took the chance to familiarise ourselves with the station, saving us the trouble to hunt for the platform should we get delayed on our day of departure. We also checked out what food is sold at the train station for our train ride three days later. We headed to collect our car and drove back to the hotel to park for the night. I was concerned about driving in Busan, mainly due to the traffic, thus planned to drive as little as possible in Busan City.

At Busan Station to get our tickets to Seoul

Wefie at Busan Station

Our recce of Busan Station

Eating Street in Haeundae

We headed back to our hotel at Haeundae beach after we picked up the car. It is already 8.30pm when we reached the hotel. After checking in and settled into our rooms a bit, we headed out to the nearby Gunam Street where numerous restaurants are located for dinner. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to rest for the night, after all, we have to wake up early the next day for our road trip to Tongyeong and Geoje in Gyeongsangnamdo.

Gunam Street in Haeundae has numerous restaurants

Dinner time