Busan (Pusan) is the second largest city in the Republic of Korea and the largest port. It is situated on the southeast coast of the peninsula, with the Korean Strait to the east and Japan across the straight. In the accompanying photo, the view is roughly to the north from near Taejongdae Park at the southern end of the island. Behind me is a memorial to medical personnel from Europe who served in the Korean conflict. The orange cranes in the middle distance are for (un)loading cargo from ships serving South Korea.
We stayed in the Yeongdo administrative area which is an island across a narrow waterway from the central part of the city. From the hillside on which our digs were located, we overlooked the access to the main port of Busan via Busanaman Bay. We were able to see ships such as the freighter shown in the accompanying image come and go from the port. (By the way, I counted the containers on that ship and estimate that there were ~1000 on board it [30x5x6 or -8].)
The prominent hillock at the right edge of the photo is the National Maritime University. It is one of many institutions of higher education in Busan; the Wikipedia entry list 26 colleges and universities in the metropolitan area. I took the photo of the bay (2nd on this page) from very near the gates to Kosin University.
Further south on the Yeongdo Island from the location for the first picture is Taejongdae Park. It’s a relatively undeveloped area that features a ~3-5 Km. paved trail (with a trolley, if desired) and views of the Korean Straight. As the image shows there are some nifty views. To get to the park, one must run the gamut of carnival games and vendors.
Related Posts:
- Jagalchi Market
- Korean Magpies
Related links:
- Our Flickr photoset for Busan.
- Wikipedia entry on Busan
- Map of Busan
- Busan Convention & Visitors Bureau.
- Busan Metropolitan City site.
- There are groups on Flickr with many photos of Busan (or Pusan, the older spelling).
- Lonely Planet’s site for South Korea does not include a specific listing for Busan. (Note: The site is not Safari-friendly, so use Firefox or [gasp] IE.)
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