Busan is the second largest city in South Korea. This major port city located on the southeast coast of the Korean Peninsula is also sometimes called the Miami of Korea. With a population of more than 3.5 million, it is a vibrant and cosmopolitan metropolis offering many attractions, whether it be long sandy beaches, modern shopping malls or fishermen's markets and a gastro-industry with Korean specialties.
Gamcheon, Jagalchi to centrum Busanu
.I leave for Busan early in the morning from Jeju Island, see the previous part of the miniseries. Jeju and Busan are not far apart, so the flight will only take an hour at all, including airport check-in.
The Gimhae military/civilian airport in Busan is not quite as friendly as, say, Narita in Japan, there was no drinking fountain where I could draw water, nor a proper socket where I could charge my phone. Within half an hour I had selected and booked accommodation and thought about the route I would take through the city today. Then we're off to explore Busan.
I walked to the downtown train stop and took the Purple, Green and Red lines an hour away near Gamcheon. On the subway I was amused by the word of the day, for every time the doors closed a voice repeated the phrase churimuri hachinda. Who knows what it means, but it could be something like look here, don't look there, don't cuss and haggle.
Gamcheon is a picturesque neighborhood nestled among the hills, often compared to Greece's Santorini or Peru's Machu Picchu due to its narrow streets, colorful houses and spectacular views of Busan's surroundings. The houses here are built close together and each house is differently coloured, giving the neighbourhood a unique look. Gamcheon also features many artworks and installations that have been created by artists from all over the world. The walk up from the metro is quite challenging, but the views of Gamcheon and the surrounding area make it really worth it.
Urban development near Gamcheon
I endured the crowds there and headed back down the steep hill to the sea, to Seongdo beach. Again, I realised how bad the waste management must be here, with a few exceptions, they don't have rubbish bins on the regular streets, and everywhere outside the tourist spots is pretty much a solid mess, papers, leaflets, plastic bottles, all sorts of things flying about.
Anyway, walking along Seongdo Beach in the normally. So the main thing you can do here is enjoy the nice views of the bay, the beach, the city, the cable car or the bridge.
The next interesting places were in the centre of the city, at Jagalchi around the harbour. Jagalchi is the largest fish market in South Korea. The market is one of the most attractive spectacles in Busan. At the front of a large building of about eight stories are colorful stalls selling fresh fish and seafood. In addition to the market's fishery management, the building also houses many restaurants, as well as the surrounding fish market. The market offers virtually everything the sea has to offer - from fish and creatures of all kinds, which are nicely sorted into individual fish tanks, to clams, mussels, clams, squid and large octopus or lobsters.
In the local seafood markets around the fish market in the surrounding alleys until the afternoon hours, even small vendors sell their catches, which may not make it to Jagalchi's main building. Sitting on stools, in fishing gear, with coats, gloves and sharp knives, they cut and prepare fresh fish and seafood right on the street. At times I got the feeling that hygiene didn't mean much to them. Fish fresh, dried, roasted, smoked, as one wishes. Among the specialties, I also discovered a strange organism Urechis unicinctus, the so-called sea penis, which is also popularly eaten here.
Nearby were the Korean soup kitchens, where they cook in big cauldrons, people buy something and can eat it right there at their table. What got me was a lady there grilling some meat that was still wiggling and moving, struggling to keep it from running off the grill. Now that was pretty rough for this part of Asia. The essence of Asia.
I walked to Yongdusan Park to the district of the city centre. Nampo is quite a lively neighborhood, with a large underground shopping mall under the multi-lane road around the park. It's also very well thought out. It's as if the whole of Wenceslas Square had been undermined and inside it was all shops and even metro stops.
Underground shopping centre
Escalators to the top of Yongdusan
I moved to my accommodation after an hour's subway ride to the Haeundae district in eastern Busan. By the time I got off the subway, it was already dark and the whole street was quite lively with entertainment venues, restaurants, bars and shops. I had just stumbled upon a performance, a water light show, probably the biggest fountain show I have ever seen.
Frontage on the main street of Gunam-ro
Hostel accommodation via booking.com.
Roundtrip is getting short. The last day will be rather relaxing in the vicinity of Haeundae Beach in Busan and in the evening I will move to another city Daegu, from where I will fly back to Japan.
At Haeundae beach I spent much of the day paddling around the edge of the beach in the sand. This affluent neighborhood is full of craftships being built, old geezers fishing on the rocks, and kids goofing around on the beach. It's also known as the Korean Miami beach for a reason.
I got a bit confused on the way to the train station at Seomyeon, it's a bit less well signposted there. At the main station, I bought a ticket for KTX, Korea's fastest trains, at the machine to try it out too and compare it to the Japanese shinkansen. Comfortable seats, similar. Charging sockets, unlike the KTX shinkansen has. Ticket price, cheaper. Speed, smaller. Overall, again, a very good travel experience. I was in Daegu in less than an hour, didn't even have time to rest properly and was getting off at sunset at the main station in Daegu. The station doesn't have turnstiles and checks like in Japan, so ad absurdum you could probably go without a ticket. The Korean system is similar to the Czech system in this respect.
Daegu, the fourth largest city in South Korea with a population of over 2 million, is more or less primarily an industrial hub. Since I'm just passing through, I only had time to explore a bit of the city around the station and the Sincheon River. I tried to find the downtown area, but it seemed rather vague, with no one main square with landmarks around it anywhere. So it's mainly made up of busy streets with shops and businesses.
Compared to Seoul and Busan, I didn't actually meet any foreigners or tourists while walking around the city, so here on the subway everyone was obviously looking at me wondering what I was doing here and why I was going to some backwater on the outskirts of the city. Daegu is about as big as Prague, has three metro lines like Prague, and will be similarly sized, rather slightly bigger, but at first glance it seems to be a fairly provincial city without any major tourist traffic.
Interesting fact: There are red crosses lit up on churches all over the place. The red, of course, symbolizes the blood of Christ, and the neon-lit design replaces the bell ringing summoning the faithful to church for mass during opening hours.
I arrived at Duryu Park, where I was to have accommodation. On the edge of the park is the photogenic Lake Seongdang with traditional Korean buildings on islands, and in the distance was also lit up the Tower Daegu 83 in the European-style E-world leisure complex.
There was no accommodation at the place I booked. Well, the motel was there, but different. Well, where am I going to look for my hotel at night now that the location in booking.com doesn't match.... Luckily, the receptionist from this other motel gave me some advice, so I found my booked hotel a little differently. The receptionist at the hotel was probably asleep, she must have been woken up by the cleaning lady who was rummaging through the passageway for rubbish. She didn't speak English, so the discussion was a bit lengthy, but eventually we somehow got along through the voice translator, I spent my last won and the receptionist showed me to my room, which didn't look as bad as the accommodation in the corridors and outside. But that's just part of traveling.
Tomorrow morning, all I have to do is drive to Daegu airport and fly back to Japan. The roundtrip through South Korea via Seoul, Jeju and Busan is behind me, but more travelogues from Japan are already on martin.konhefr.com.
Busan is the second largest city in South Korea. This major port city located on the southeast coast of the Korean Peninsula is also sometimes called the Miami of Korea. With a population of more than 3.5 million, it is a vibrant and cosmopolitan metropolis offering many attractions, whether it be long sandy beaches, modern shopping malls or fishermen's markets and a gastro-industry with Korean specialties.
Gamcheon, Jagalchi to centrum Busanu
.I leave for Busan early in the morning from Jeju Island, see the previous part of the miniseries. Jeju and Busan are not far apart, so the flight will only take an hour at all, including airport check-in.
The Gimhae military/civilian airport in Busan is not quite as friendly as, say, Narita in Japan, there was no drinking fountain where I could draw water, nor a proper socket where I could charge my phone. Within half an hour I had selected and booked accommodation and thought about the route I would take through the city today. Then we're off to explore Busan.
I walked to the downtown train stop and took the Purple, Green and Red lines an hour away near Gamcheon. On the subway I was amused by the word of the day, for every time the doors closed a voice repeated the phrase churimuri hachinda. Who knows what it means, but it could be something like look here, don't look there, don't cuss and haggle.
Gamcheon is a picturesque neighborhood nestled among the hills, often compared to Greece's Santorini or Peru's Machu Picchu due to its narrow streets, colorful houses and spectacular views of Busan's surroundings. The houses here are built close together and each house is differently coloured, giving the neighbourhood a unique look. Gamcheon also features many artworks and installations that have been created by artists from all over the world. The walk up from the metro is quite challenging, but the views of Gamcheon and the surrounding area make it really worth it.
Urban development near Gamcheon
I endured the crowds there and headed back down the steep hill to the sea, to Seongdo beach. Again, I realised how bad the waste management must be here, with a few exceptions, they don't have rubbish bins on the regular streets, and everywhere outside the tourist spots is pretty much a solid mess, papers, leaflets, plastic bottles, all sorts of things flying about.
Anyway, walking along Seongdo Beach in the normally. So the main thing you can do here is enjoy the nice views of the bay, the beach, the city, the cable car or the bridge.
The next interesting places were in the centre of the city, at Jagalchi around the harbour. Jagalchi is the largest fish market in South Korea. The market is one of the most attractive spectacles in Busan. At the front of a large building of about eight stories are colorful stalls selling fresh fish and seafood. In addition to the market's fishery management, the building also houses many restaurants, as well as the surrounding fish market. The market offers virtually everything the sea has to offer - from fish and creatures of all kinds, which are nicely sorted into individual fish tanks, to clams, mussels, clams, squid and large octopus or lobsters.
In the local seafood markets around the fish market in the surrounding alleys until the afternoon hours, even small vendors sell their catches, which may not make it to Jagalchi's main building. Sitting on stools, in fishing gear, with coats, gloves and sharp knives, they cut and prepare fresh fish and seafood right on the street. At times I got the feeling that hygiene didn't mean much to them. Fish fresh, dried, roasted, smoked, as one wishes. Among the specialties, I also discovered a strange organism Urechis unicinctus, the so-called sea penis, which is also popularly eaten here.
Nearby were the Korean soup kitchens, where they cook in big cauldrons, people buy something and can eat it right there at their table. What got me was a lady there grilling some meat that was still wiggling and moving, struggling to keep it from running off the grill. Now that was pretty rough for this part of Asia. The essence of Asia.
I walked to Yongdusan Park to the district of the city centre. Nampo is quite a lively neighborhood, with a large underground shopping mall under the multi-lane road around the park. It's also very well thought out. It's as if the whole of Wenceslas Square had been undermined and inside it was all shops and even metro stops.
Underground shopping centre
Escalators to the top of Yongdusan
I moved to my accommodation after an hour's subway ride to the Haeundae district in eastern Busan. By the time I got off the subway, it was already dark and the whole street was quite lively with entertainment venues, restaurants, bars and shops. I had just stumbled upon a performance, a water light show, probably the biggest fountain show I have ever seen.
Frontage on the main street of Gunam-ro
Hostel accommodation via booking.com.
Roundtrip is getting short. The last day will be rather relaxing in the vicinity of Haeundae Beach in Busan and in the evening I will move to another city Daegu, from where I will fly back to Japan.
At Haeundae beach I spent much of the day paddling around the edge of the beach in the sand. This affluent neighborhood is full of craftships being built, old geezers fishing on the rocks, and kids goofing around on the beach. It's also known as the Korean Miami beach for a reason.
I got a bit confused on the way to the train station at Seomyeon, it's a bit less well signposted there. At the main station, I bought a ticket for KTX, Korea's fastest trains, at the machine to try it out too and compare it to the Japanese shinkansen. Comfortable seats, similar. Charging sockets, unlike the KTX shinkansen has. Ticket price, cheaper. Speed, smaller. Overall, again, a very good travel experience. I was in Daegu in less than an hour, didn't even have time to rest properly and was getting off at sunset at the main station in Daegu. The station doesn't have turnstiles and checks like in Japan, so ad absurdum you could probably go without a ticket. The Korean system is similar to the Czech system in this respect.
Daegu, the fourth largest city in South Korea with a population of over 2 million, is more or less primarily an industrial hub. Since I'm just passing through, I only had time to explore a bit of the city around the station and the Sincheon River. I tried to find the downtown area, but it seemed rather vague, with no one main square with landmarks around it anywhere. So it's mainly made up of busy streets with shops and businesses.
Compared to Seoul and Busan, I didn't actually meet any foreigners or tourists while walking around the city, so here on the subway everyone was obviously looking at me wondering what I was doing here and why I was going to some backwater on the outskirts of the city. Daegu is about as big as Prague, has three metro lines like Prague, and will be similarly sized, rather slightly bigger, but at first glance it seems to be a fairly provincial city without any major tourist traffic.
Interesting fact: There are red crosses lit up on churches all over the place. The red, of course, symbolizes the blood of Christ, and the neon-lit design replaces the bell ringing summoning the faithful to church for mass during opening hours.
I arrived at Duryu Park, where I was to have accommodation. On the edge of the park is the photogenic Lake Seongdang with traditional Korean buildings on islands, and in the distance was also lit up the Tower Daegu 83 in the European-style E-world leisure complex.
There was no accommodation at the place I booked. Well, the motel was there, but different. Well, where am I going to look for my hotel at night now that the location in booking.com doesn't match.... Luckily, the receptionist from this other motel gave me some advice, so I found my booked hotel a little differently. The receptionist at the hotel was probably asleep, she must have been woken up by the cleaning lady who was rummaging through the passageway for rubbish. She didn't speak English, so the discussion was a bit lengthy, but eventually we somehow got along through the voice translator, I spent my last won and the receptionist showed me to my room, which didn't look as bad as the accommodation in the corridors and outside. But that's just part of traveling.
Tomorrow morning, all I have to do is drive to Daegu airport and fly back to Japan. The roundtrip through South Korea via Seoul, Jeju and Busan is behind me, but more travelogues from Japan are already on martin.konhefr.com.
itinerary by Martin Konhefr
Busan is the second largest city in South Korea. This major port city located on the southeast coast of the Korean Peninsula is also sometimes called the Miami of Korea. With a population of more than 3.5 million, it is a vibrant and cosmopolitan metropolis offering many attractions, whether it be long sandy beaches, modern shopping malls or fishermen's markets and a gastro-industry with Korean specialties.
Gamcheon, Jagalchi to centrum Busanu
.I leave for Busan early in the morning from Jeju Island, see the previous part of the miniseries. Jeju and Busan are not far apart, so the flight will only take an hour at all, including airport check-in.
The Gimhae military/civilian airport in Busan is not quite as friendly as, say, Narita in Japan, there was no drinking fountain where I could draw water, nor a proper socket where I could charge my phone. Within half an hour I had selected and booked accommodation and thought about the route I would take through the city today. Then we're off to explore Busan.
I walked to the downtown train stop and took the Purple, Green and Red lines an hour away near Gamcheon. On the subway I was amused by the word of the day, for every time the doors closed a voice repeated the phrase churimuri hachinda. Who knows what it means, but it could be something like look here, don't look there, don't cuss and haggle.
Gamcheon is a picturesque neighborhood nestled among the hills, often compared to Greece's Santorini or Peru's Machu Picchu due to its narrow streets, colorful houses and spectacular views of Busan's surroundings. The houses here are built close together and each house is differently coloured, giving the neighbourhood a unique look. Gamcheon also features many artworks and installations that have been created by artists from all over the world. The walk up from the metro is quite challenging, but the views of Gamcheon and the surrounding area make it really worth it.
Urban development near Gamcheon
I endured the crowds there and headed back down the steep hill to the sea, to Seongdo beach. Again, I realised how bad the waste management must be here, with a few exceptions, they don't have rubbish bins on the regular streets, and everywhere outside the tourist spots is pretty much a solid mess, papers, leaflets, plastic bottles, all sorts of things flying about.
Anyway, walking along Seongdo Beach in the normally. So the main thing you can do here is enjoy the nice views of the bay, the beach, the city, the cable car or the bridge.
The next interesting places were in the centre of the city, at Jagalchi around the harbour. Jagalchi is the largest fish market in South Korea. The market is one of the most attractive spectacles in Busan. At the front of a large building of about eight stories are colorful stalls selling fresh fish and seafood. In addition to the market's fishery management, the building also houses many restaurants, as well as the surrounding fish market. The market offers virtually everything the sea has to offer - from fish and creatures of all kinds, which are nicely sorted into individual fish tanks, to clams, mussels, clams, squid and large octopus or lobsters.
In the local seafood markets around the fish market in the surrounding alleys until the afternoon hours, even small vendors sell their catches, which may not make it to Jagalchi's main building. Sitting on stools, in fishing gear, with coats, gloves and sharp knives, they cut and prepare fresh fish and seafood right on the street. At times I got the feeling that hygiene didn't mean much to them. Fish fresh, dried, roasted, smoked, as one wishes. Among the specialties, I also discovered a strange organism Urechis unicinctus, the so-called sea penis, which is also popularly eaten here.
Nearby were the Korean soup kitchens, where they cook in big cauldrons, people buy something and can eat it right there at their table. What got me was a lady there grilling some meat that was still wiggling and moving, struggling to keep it from running off the grill. Now that was pretty rough for this part of Asia. The essence of Asia.
I walked to Yongdusan Park to the district of the city centre. Nampo is quite a lively neighborhood, with a large underground shopping mall under the multi-lane road around the park. It's also very well thought out. It's as if the whole of Wenceslas Square had been undermined and inside it was all shops and even metro stops.
Underground shopping centre
Escalators to the top of Yongdusan
I moved to my accommodation after an hour's subway ride to the Haeundae district in eastern Busan. By the time I got off the subway, it was already dark and the whole street was quite lively with entertainment venues, restaurants, bars and shops. I had just stumbled upon a performance, a water light show, probably the biggest fountain show I have ever seen.
Frontage on the main street of Gunam-ro
Hostel accommodation via booking.com.
Roundtrip is getting short. The last day will be rather relaxing in the vicinity of Haeundae Beach in Busan and in the evening I will move to another city Daegu, from where I will fly back to Japan.
At Haeundae beach I spent much of the day paddling around the edge of the beach in the sand. This affluent neighborhood is full of craftships being built, old geezers fishing on the rocks, and kids goofing around on the beach. It's also known as the Korean Miami beach for a reason.
I got a bit confused on the way to the train station at Seomyeon, it's a bit less well signposted there. At the main station, I bought a ticket for KTX, Korea's fastest trains, at the machine to try it out too and compare it to the Japanese shinkansen. Comfortable seats, similar. Charging sockets, unlike the KTX shinkansen has. Ticket price, cheaper. Speed, smaller. Overall, again, a very good travel experience. I was in Daegu in less than an hour, didn't even have time to rest properly and was getting off at sunset at the main station in Daegu. The station doesn't have turnstiles and checks like in Japan, so ad absurdum you could probably go without a ticket. The Korean system is similar to the Czech system in this respect.
Daegu, the fourth largest city in South Korea with a population of over 2 million, is more or less primarily an industrial hub. Since I'm just passing through, I only had time to explore a bit of the city around the station and the Sincheon River. I tried to find the downtown area, but it seemed rather vague, with no one main square with landmarks around it anywhere. So it's mainly made up of busy streets with shops and businesses.
Compared to Seoul and Busan, I didn't actually meet any foreigners or tourists while walking around the city, so here on the subway everyone was obviously looking at me wondering what I was doing here and why I was going to some backwater on the outskirts of the city. Daegu is about as big as Prague, has three metro lines like Prague, and will be similarly sized, rather slightly bigger, but at first glance it seems to be a fairly provincial city without any major tourist traffic.
Interesting fact: There are red crosses lit up on churches all over the place. The red, of course, symbolizes the blood of Christ, and the neon-lit design replaces the bell ringing summoning the faithful to church for mass during opening hours.
I arrived at Duryu Park, where I was to have accommodation. On the edge of the park is the photogenic Lake Seongdang with traditional Korean buildings on islands, and in the distance was also lit up the Tower Daegu 83 in the European-style E-world leisure complex.
There was no accommodation at the place I booked. Well, the motel was there, but different. Well, where am I going to look for my hotel at night now that the location in booking.com doesn't match.... Luckily, the receptionist from this other motel gave me some advice, so I found my booked hotel a little differently. The receptionist at the hotel was probably asleep, she must have been woken up by the cleaning lady who was rummaging through the passageway for rubbish. She didn't speak English, so the discussion was a bit lengthy, but eventually we somehow got along through the voice translator, I spent my last won and the receptionist showed me to my room, which didn't look as bad as the accommodation in the corridors and outside. But that's just part of traveling.
Tomorrow morning, all I have to do is drive to Daegu airport and fly back to Japan. The roundtrip through South Korea via Seoul, Jeju and Busan is behind me, but more travelogues from Japan are already on martin.konhefr.com.
Busan is the second largest city in South Korea. This major port city located on the southeast coast of the Korean Peninsula is also sometimes called the Miami of Korea. With a population of more than 3.5 million, it is a vibrant and cosmopolitan metropolis offering many attractions, whether it be long sandy beaches, modern shopping malls or fishermen's markets and a gastro-industry with Korean specialties.
Gamcheon, Jagalchi to centrum Busanu
.I leave for Busan early in the morning from Jeju Island, see the previous part of the miniseries. Jeju and Busan are not far apart, so the flight will only take an hour at all, including airport check-in.
The Gimhae military/civilian airport in Busan is not quite as friendly as, say, Narita in Japan, there was no drinking fountain where I could draw water, nor a proper socket where I could charge my phone. Within half an hour I had selected and booked accommodation and thought about the route I would take through the city today. Then we're off to explore Busan.
I walked to the downtown train stop and took the Purple, Green and Red lines an hour away near Gamcheon. On the subway I was amused by the word of the day, for every time the doors closed a voice repeated the phrase churimuri hachinda. Who knows what it means, but it could be something like look here, don't look there, don't cuss and haggle.
Gamcheon is a picturesque neighborhood nestled among the hills, often compared to Greece's Santorini or Peru's Machu Picchu due to its narrow streets, colorful houses and spectacular views of Busan's surroundings. The houses here are built close together and each house is differently coloured, giving the neighbourhood a unique look. Gamcheon also features many artworks and installations that have been created by artists from all over the world. The walk up from the metro is quite challenging, but the views of Gamcheon and the surrounding area make it really worth it.
Urban development near Gamcheon
I endured the crowds there and headed back down the steep hill to the sea, to Seongdo beach. Again, I realised how bad the waste management must be here, with a few exceptions, they don't have rubbish bins on the regular streets, and everywhere outside the tourist spots is pretty much a solid mess, papers, leaflets, plastic bottles, all sorts of things flying about.
Anyway, walking along Seongdo Beach in the normally. So the main thing you can do here is enjoy the nice views of the bay, the beach, the city, the cable car or the bridge.
The next interesting places were in the centre of the city, at Jagalchi around the harbour. Jagalchi is the largest fish market in South Korea. The market is one of the most attractive spectacles in Busan. At the front of a large building of about eight stories are colorful stalls selling fresh fish and seafood. In addition to the market's fishery management, the building also houses many restaurants, as well as the surrounding fish market. The market offers virtually everything the sea has to offer - from fish and creatures of all kinds, which are nicely sorted into individual fish tanks, to clams, mussels, clams, squid and large octopus or lobsters.
In the local seafood markets around the fish market in the surrounding alleys until the afternoon hours, even small vendors sell their catches, which may not make it to Jagalchi's main building. Sitting on stools, in fishing gear, with coats, gloves and sharp knives, they cut and prepare fresh fish and seafood right on the street. At times I got the feeling that hygiene didn't mean much to them. Fish fresh, dried, roasted, smoked, as one wishes. Among the specialties, I also discovered a strange organism Urechis unicinctus, the so-called sea penis, which is also popularly eaten here.
Nearby were the Korean soup kitchens, where they cook in big cauldrons, people buy something and can eat it right there at their table. What got me was a lady there grilling some meat that was still wiggling and moving, struggling to keep it from running off the grill. Now that was pretty rough for this part of Asia. The essence of Asia.
I walked to Yongdusan Park to the district of the city centre. Nampo is quite a lively neighborhood, with a large underground shopping mall under the multi-lane road around the park. It's also very well thought out. It's as if the whole of Wenceslas Square had been undermined and inside it was all shops and even metro stops.
Underground shopping centre
Escalators to the top of Yongdusan
I moved to my accommodation after an hour's subway ride to the Haeundae district in eastern Busan. By the time I got off the subway, it was already dark and the whole street was quite lively with entertainment venues, restaurants, bars and shops. I had just stumbled upon a performance, a water light show, probably the biggest fountain show I have ever seen.
Frontage on the main street of Gunam-ro
Hostel accommodation via booking.com.
Roundtrip is getting short. The last day will be rather relaxing in the vicinity of Haeundae Beach in Busan and in the evening I will move to another city Daegu, from where I will fly back to Japan.
At Haeundae beach I spent much of the day paddling around the edge of the beach in the sand. This affluent neighborhood is full of craftships being built, old geezers fishing on the rocks, and kids goofing around on the beach. It's also known as the Korean Miami beach for a reason.
I got a bit confused on the way to the train station at Seomyeon, it's a bit less well signposted there. At the main station, I bought a ticket for KTX, Korea's fastest trains, at the machine to try it out too and compare it to the Japanese shinkansen. Comfortable seats, similar. Charging sockets, unlike the KTX shinkansen has. Ticket price, cheaper. Speed, smaller. Overall, again, a very good travel experience. I was in Daegu in less than an hour, didn't even have time to rest properly and was getting off at sunset at the main station in Daegu. The station doesn't have turnstiles and checks like in Japan, so ad absurdum you could probably go without a ticket. The Korean system is similar to the Czech system in this respect.
Daegu, the fourth largest city in South Korea with a population of over 2 million, is more or less primarily an industrial hub. Since I'm just passing through, I only had time to explore a bit of the city around the station and the Sincheon River. I tried to find the downtown area, but it seemed rather vague, with no one main square with landmarks around it anywhere. So it's mainly made up of busy streets with shops and businesses.
Compared to Seoul and Busan, I didn't actually meet any foreigners or tourists while walking around the city, so here on the subway everyone was obviously looking at me wondering what I was doing here and why I was going to some backwater on the outskirts of the city. Daegu is about as big as Prague, has three metro lines like Prague, and will be similarly sized, rather slightly bigger, but at first glance it seems to be a fairly provincial city without any major tourist traffic.
Interesting fact: There are red crosses lit up on churches all over the place. The red, of course, symbolizes the blood of Christ, and the neon-lit design replaces the bell ringing summoning the faithful to church for mass during opening hours.
I arrived at Duryu Park, where I was to have accommodation. On the edge of the park is the photogenic Lake Seongdang with traditional Korean buildings on islands, and in the distance was also lit up the Tower Daegu 83 in the European-style E-world leisure complex.
There was no accommodation at the place I booked. Well, the motel was there, but different. Well, where am I going to look for my hotel at night now that the location in booking.com doesn't match.... Luckily, the receptionist from this other motel gave me some advice, so I found my booked hotel a little differently. The receptionist at the hotel was probably asleep, she must have been woken up by the cleaning lady who was rummaging through the passageway for rubbish. She didn't speak English, so the discussion was a bit lengthy, but eventually we somehow got along through the voice translator, I spent my last won and the receptionist showed me to my room, which didn't look as bad as the accommodation in the corridors and outside. But that's just part of traveling.
Tomorrow morning, all I have to do is drive to Daegu airport and fly back to Japan. The roundtrip through South Korea via Seoul, Jeju and Busan is behind me, but more travelogues from Japan are already on martin.konhefr.com.
