Wednesday I tried to go out for samgyetang with a few friends in Sang-mu. Unfortunately, since it was a holiday all the restaurants were closed. We made our way to Lotte Mart where I found kettle cooked bbq chips and Heinz ketchup. Thursday I borrowed Megan's laptop since she went on vacation to Jeju, so I could e-mail some friends/family. I then decided to head to Busan to spend a few days with friends. The 3 1/2 hour bus ride ended up being a 5 hour bus ride. We took back roads through tiny villages and sat in traffic for way too long. I thought I would never get to Busan and was beginning to think I made a bad choice by going. I assumed that all the holiday traffic would be done by Thursday afternoon, but alas, I was very wrong. My friends Josh and Emma left from Suncheon and were having the same traffic problem. We ended up arriving in Busan at the same time, they weren't so happy since Suncheon is a bit closer. We found a love motel called Click to stay in for the night. It was a large room for a reasonable price. We also had a delicious dinner at one of the only restaurants still open on Thursday evening.
In true vacation fashion, we slept in late and took our time getting around for the morning. There was no rush to see anything special or go anywhere, it was all about relaxation and a stress free time! We stumbled upon a little restaurant overlooking the beach that served an amazing meal. I had gorgonzola pasta that came with homemade gelato for dessert. Delicious! The weather was fantastic (51 degrees F) so we spent the day wandering around outside. We found a little temple that we spent some time checking out.
After wards, we headed to SpaLand. If you have never been to SpaLand, I highly suggesting going to Busan just for that. It's wonderful. Spaland is huge and kids can't come in, which makes it a perfect relaxing getaway. There is a joint area for men and women. They give you clothes to wear and you can go into several different sauna rooms. There's an outdoor foot bath, tv relaxation rooms, massage chairs. It's all just wonderful. After sitting in saunas, you go back inside, shower off and then can get in different heated baths. There is also an outdoor heated bath. Again, it's very relaxing and perfect for the winter time, since all we get here are sink showers. I left feeling refreshed and rejuvenated!
Saturday the three of us took our time getting around in the morning. We had a day planned out of visiting a Temple, hiking a mountain and another spa. It was wonderful to wake up to the sun shining in the room with a cool breeze coming through the open window. Ah vacation, you make things so much better. The temple was beautiful, the hike felt great, the sun was shining, it was warm. Everything was just perfect. The next spa we went to was quite different from SpaLand. Dognae hot springs was more known for the baths and Spaland is more for the saunas. After sitting in the few saunas they did have, we headed up to check out the baths. It was massive inside. So many different baths to choose from, a waterfall, a swimming pool, another outdoor heated pool. Ah bliss. Again, I highly recommend checking this out. You just have to be comfortable sitting in pools naked with lots of other naked women. This one allowed children too, so you have to put up with some loud kids!
Really, it was the perfect vacation getaway. Pure relaxation and stress free!
On another note, in Gwangju there is a Trick Art Museum at the Kim Daejung Convention Center. I went on 2 different occasions with friends. It is so much fun and again, worth visiting for 12,000 won! Here are some pictures from the museum!
Reminds us of home!
Quite the reflection in the mirror
When did I become a man?
Getting in trouble
The boys are scared.
Glad you enjoyed my corner of Korea. You saw more in a few days here than I have in the three weeks I've lived here. Shame on me :-p
ReplyDeleteI'm so bummed I missed trick art when it was here. Might be worth a trek over to Gwangju.