Day 13, October 7, 2026 Seeing Busan’s Sights and Heritage
We both slept well last night! It’s amazing how much simple travel can wear you out. We took our time getting dressed this morning. We were not meeting Ms. Moon until 10 am. About 9am we went to the breakfast suite. (Our room is on the 11th floor; the breakfast room is on the 34th floor. We ride up one elevator, then have to transfer to another elevator.)
We ate breakfast, did Wordle, then headed to the lobby to meet Mia. She was already waiting on the first floor. (An unusual aspect of this hotel is that the concierge lobby is on the 30th floor, not the first floor.) We walked out of the hotel, crossed the street, then got into Mr. Omb’s car. As Mia outlined, first we would go to the Skytrain located in Haeundae Blue Sky Park. The sky train is in a location that used to be active, commercial railroad tracks. The line went dormant for a decade, then was revived as a tourist attraction, the Skytrain. It was not a long nor a fast ride, but it was a great way to see part of Busan’s skyline. Here are some of the many pictures I took of the ride and along the ride.
Row 1: Skytrain entrance, Skytrain wall mural, Skytrain cars approaching station
Row 2: Country flags in station, Skytrain car, Skytrain car
Row 3: Abandoned house on hillside with active garden, Skytrain, garden below Skytrain
Row 4: Boat seen from Skytrain, Busan skyline, selfie on Skytrain
After the Skytrain, we walked to the nearby Busan X the Sky 100 building. This is the tallest observation deck in Korea, 100 stories soaring 412 meters (almost 1360 feet) high; and it is among the tallest buildings in the world. We learned that there is actually a World Federation of Great Towers, of which this building is one of them.
We went to the top of the tower to get a 360° view of Busan. Here are several of the many photos I took while there.
After the visit to Busan X the Sky 100, we returned to the van, then headed across town to a national park and a sacred temple, the Beomeosa Temple, founded in the 600’s, during the period of the Silla Kingdom, a kingdom that lasted almost 1000 years. It was burned when Japan invaded Korea around 1592-1598, but it was rebuilt in 1613 by another Buddhist monk.
This temple is a magnificent structure with many accompanying buildings: buildings for (a) praying for the spirits of the dead; (b) dedicated to the many disciples of Buddha; (c) a medical building for praying for the healing of ill relatives or friends, (d) for the spirits of earth, sky, forests, etc. as practiced by indigenous shamanism; (e) housing quarters for the temple’s monks, and more. It took many pictures. Here are samples.
After the hour-long tour of the temple, we headed to lunch. The restaurant we went to Apgujeong Galbi is considered one of the best in Busan for Korean barbecue. Patrise and I thought we had ordered simple barbecue meals, but what came with the barbecue was overwhelming. Take a look…
After the meal, I felt totally stuffed, and I decided to forego the trip to the tombs and museum. I needed to return to the hotel and get rested before the evening’s yacht ride and dinner.
Thank goodness for rest. We both needed it. Just three hours after returning to the hotel, we met Mia and our driver to head to the evening yacht ride. Even though the marina is a short distance, as the crow flies, because of construction, we had to take a detour. It took more than thirty minutes to get there. When we arrived, we got our wristbands identifying which boat we would be on, then waited for boarding time. After about 20-25 minutes, we boarded the yacht, along with a large number of young people, mostly women. The night was cool, and we were grateful for the wind being very low. The 45-minute harbor tour provided spectacular, up close views of the many waterfront buildings and the Diamond Bridge, with their many different color light displays. Near the end of the ride, the crew of our boat and an accompanying boat came together, to put on a joint fireworks display. Here are many photos from the yacht tour...
After the yacht tour, we went to dinner at a nearby restaurant and had the traditional Korean green onion pancake. Then, Patrise had been wanting some ice cream, so we went to a nearby gelato shop that she found on Google. The gelato was packed in mini coolers, so we took it back to the hotel. once we returned, we dressed for bed, ate our gelato and continued watching a documentary series about the Romanovs and the fall of the Russian monarchy. Tomorrow, we go to the train station to catch a train to Seoul, the final leg of our journey.
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