Saturday 11 January 2020

Tips on traveling in Busan

First, I need to apologize to my blog followers for not even posting a single post in Year 2019! In fact, it's a wonderful year for us as we traveled to Europe and South Korea. I have kept up to date of our travels in my Facebook Page. Do take a visit if you are interested. 

To kickoff Year 2020, I am sharing tips that I learnt during my November 2019 trip to Busan, South Korea. I shared and updated them "on the go" in my Facebook Page on the consideration that I might forget to update later :-P. 

What to prepare, what to buy, what to avoid, what to eat......all are included. If you have more tips on traveling in Busan, please do let me know. I will include them if I find them useful :-)

Gamcheon Culture Village

1. Buy a T-money 💵 card or Cashbee 🐝 card for your public transport. You will get discount.
2. Tap when you get down the bus 🚌 if you are getting a transfer to another bus or metro 🚇 within 30 mins. The transfer will be free.
3. The English standard is still not very high. Chinese language seems to work better here if you can’t speak Korean 🇰🇷.
4. At Gamcheon Culture village, buy a 2000 won map 🗺 from the tourist counter. I strongly recommend the 2 hrs route if you got time.
5. Haggle if you are buying seafood 🦞 🐠 in the Jagalchi market. There are many stalls there and they want your business.
6. Not all restaurants got English menu. Prepare to use your mobile📱 to show pictures for your order.
7. The zebra 🦓 crossings are like non-existence here. Be bold when you use them as the drivers will not stop for you.
8. The public buses 🚌 have only Korean and English (electronic sign at front of bus) announcements of stops. The metro 🚇 has Korean, English and Chinese announcements (only for key stations)
9. Google map 🗺 can’t be used here. I used Nava Map app. Will be helpful if you prepare the Korean address in advance as the app does not recognise some English locations.
10. Be sure to eat seafood 🦞 when you are here. Using King Crab 🦀 as a comparison, you can get almost half the price compare the one you get in Japan 🇯🇵
11. A little spicy 🌶 can still mean very spicy to some people 🥵
12. You need to take bus 🚌 to Taejongdae and Oryukdo Skywalk. Not to worry if you will miss the stop 🛑. Both locations are at the end of the bus route. The bus driver will chase you down if you don’t 😂!
13. Most of the subway 🚇 has only escalator going up. If you have big luggage 🧳 and need to go down to take the trains🚆,look out for the elevators.
14. Not all shops 🏬 offer tax fund return if you buy over 30K won 🇰🇷. Make sure you check before purchasing.
15. Coffee culture is very strong here. You can almost find another coffee ☕️ cafe or outlet within the next 20 steps you take. Apparently, take out is cheaper than eat in for some for the outlets .
16. The Busan people stand to the right side of the escalators.

For your pinning