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 πŸ’΅ card or Cashbee πŸ card for your public transport. You will get discount.
2. Tap when you get down the bus πŸšŒ if you are getting a transfer to another bus or metro πŸš‡ 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 πŸ‡°πŸ‡·.
4. At Gamcheon Culture village, buy a 2000 won map πŸ—Ί from the tourist counter. I strongly recommend the 2 hrs route if you got time.
5. Haggle if you are buying seafood πŸ¦ž πŸ  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 mobileπŸ“± to show pictures for your order.
7. The zebra πŸ¦“ crossings are like non-existence here. Be bold when you use them as the drivers will not stop for you.
8. The public buses πŸšŒ have only Korean and English (electronic sign at front of bus) announcements of stops. The metro πŸš‡ has Korean, English and Chinese announcements (only for key stations)
9. Google map πŸ—Ί 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 πŸ¦ž when you are here. Using King Crab πŸ¦€ as a comparison, you can get almost half the price compare the one you get in Japan πŸ‡―πŸ‡΅
11. A little spicy πŸŒΆ can still mean very spicy to some people πŸ₯΅
12. You need to take bus πŸšŒ to Taejongdae and Oryukdo Skywalk. Not to worry if you will miss the stop πŸ›‘. Both locations are at the end of the bus route. The bus driver will chase you down if you don’t πŸ˜‚!
13. Most of the subway πŸš‡ has only escalator going up. If you have big luggage πŸ§³ and need to go down to take the trainsπŸš†,look out for the elevators.
14. Not all shops πŸ¬ offer tax fund return if you buy over 30K won πŸ‡°πŸ‡·. Make sure you check before purchasing.
15. Coffee culture is very strong here. You can almost find another coffee β˜•οΈ 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.

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