Day 76 - Saturday, March 30, 2024, Busan, South Korea

Arrival 11:30 All Aboard: 19:30 Departure: 20:00

As we make our way into Busan Insignia sails under the Yeongdodaegyo Bridge which connects Busan's mainland to the to the Yeongdo district on Yeongdo Island.

The late arrival time does not give us much time to explore but Janice has booked a ½ day Viator of Busan. Our guide Ellie greets us at the cruise terminal.

Busan is the second most populated city in South Korean with roughly 3.5 million residents. The country itself has a total population of 51 million. As Insignia makes its way into Busan you can see all different types of architectural buildings. From Insignia's decks you see a thriving bustily city. The port is the largest port in South Korea and is listed as the sixth busiest port worldwide for container traffic.

The cherry blossoms are more advanced here than they are in Japan, so a 20-minute stop was necessary and a pleasant surprise.

We are still travelling towards Haedong Yonggung Temple by the sea when Songjeong Beach become noticeable by Janice who is co-piloting in the front seat. Another quick stop here as Ellie advises this is the place she learned to surf but does not do it anymore. Many surf shops and restaurants can be found here. Rental surf boards are dug into the sand. The water is not too deep, and abundance of waves make this beach ideal if a Korean wishes to learn how to surf.

We are now at the parking lot for the Haedong Yonggung Temple. It is crowded with buses and lots of people. Several ship tours offer a stop at this Buddhist Temple. Many shops are set up on either side of the road as we make our way towards the temple. It is an up and down climb with many steps, so we needed to be aware while walking.

We make our way back from the Temple at 15:00. Since we have not eaten since breakfast, and someone is getting hungry (not me) we suggest to our guide that we need to find a restaurant. If you know Janice well, you know how grumpy she gets when she is hungry. We find a very good Korean place which serves rice, vegetables, and excellent Korean beef. We choose to sit in a tent and cook our food on a hot stone. The rice and vegetables are cooked in the kitchen while we cook the meat over a propane frying pan. The camping style restaurant was a wonderful choice.

It is time to make our way back towards city centre and the roads are very busy even for a Saturday. The busy traffic from this morning is now returning to the city.

Janice wanted to do some shopping but without Ellie we could easily have gotten lost in the market. We walked around but nothing was purchased except our door magnet. As our trip is coming to the halfway point, I will post a mid-cruise picture of our door.

We are now back on the ship to sail towards Nagasaki, 155 nautical miles away. I am not sure what awaits us; as Nagasaki was the second city where an atomic bomb was denotated in August 1945.

Interesting fact is Busan is closer to Japan than to the capital Seoul which is 204 miles away.

Janice and her inquiring mind asked our guide some questions about North Korea, but she didn't want to say anything for safety reasons but said she really knew nothing of what was happening in this closed country.