Right from the start I liked the vibe of Busan over Seoul. It's also a much bigger city than I expected, right on the ocean, but a much more laid back vibe. I stayed in the Seomyeon district- which is downtown. So much to explore! I started in this area. There's a mall and tons of restaurants, bars and nightlife.
Then over to the Nampo district- Gukje Market area and Lotte mall
Gamcheon Culture Village- a quaint neighborhood built into a mountainside. Look how narrow and steep the stairs are! There are tons of shops, food and souvenirs. Plus street art and good photo spots.
UN Memorial Cemetary- we lost over 230,000 American soldiers!
I met some really cool ladies and toured the area with them(Blue Line Park). Rae from Taiwan, and Bev and Jessica from England. This was the Daritdol Observatory. This observatory has a glass bottom- check out the pic(6th from the top on the right is me looking down through the glass).
Haedong Yonggung Temple right on the ocean.
Busan boardwalk below. It was 40 degrees and people were in the water, playing volleyball etc.
Also the largest department store in the world- that was wild. Basically a mall in one store. Each floor dedicated to men, women, luxury, food stalls, wine-even an ice skating rink!
Then back to Seoul. My friend Tanya from CA met me in Busan, then we went back to Seoul together. I stayed in a different area this time. We checked out Gangnam (Remember the song Gangnam style!) We even found a sexually themed Mexican restaurant.
We also hit up the Insadong neighborhood. It was like our Hollywood walk of fame. Tons of shops, food and entertainment.
Look, I found a store named Erica-spelled correctly too!
Overall South Korea was enjoyable. I'm glad I added it to my Asia tour. I would recommend it to anyone, especially if you are still into partying or plastic surgery...it was easy getting around without a car, and people were extremely helpful. I was struggling up the stairs with luggage on more than one occasion and people just helped me. Even women smaller than me-and there was definitely a language barrier, they just grabbed it and took it up the stairs for me. I can't say enough about how generous the people I encountered were. Willing to help even if it was through a translation app and sign language/hand gestures!
