BUSAN, South Korea

Today we were in Busan. We had a terrific private excursion from Tours By Locals. We started with a drive to Hae Dong Yong Gung Temple which was built in 1396, mostly destroyed in the 16th century when Japan invaded and then rebuilt in 1930 and 1974. I saw a lot of temples in China on our two trips. And more temples recently in Japan. I think this has to be the most fascinating and amazing one. And it is so scenic and breathtaking being right on the water. 

 Such an amazing entrance with all the animals that represent your birth year. 

 My birth year was represented by the dragon which happens to be the theme of the temple. Angie's birth year is represented by the snake. Such a beautiful place.  

This pagoda was donated by taxi drivers for safety on the road. 

We then visited the Gamcheon Culture District. This was an encampment area for refugees starting in the 1950's and during the Korean War. More recently the Korean government saw an opportunity to improve the area by having local artists come and liven up the spaces. Many amazing finds everywhere you look on the narrow streets!! Watch for motorbikes and trucks!! Plus all kinds of shops and food stands along the way. 

We then headed to our final stop which was the traditioal market and the international market.  We've been to several on this trip. The others I never felt I could have gotten lost. I felt that way here and was so glad to have a guide who knew her way around. We stopped for some lunch. She helped me pick out a few signature items. Several kinda of tempura including squid, shrimp and dumplings. Also gimbap which is like a sushi hand roll. Plus Korean Fish Cake prepared two ways. One was steamed in a broth. The other served with rice cakes in a flavorful and spicy sauce.  

For dessert we had hotteok It's a yeasty dough that is fried on a flat top. Then once cooked, it is opened up and stuffed with chopped peanuts, seeds as well as cinnamon and brown sugar. So tasty! Like the best cinnamon donut.  

We headed back to the port and encountered a huge line at immigration. It appeared that all the ship excursion busses must have arrived back atport at the same time. There had to be at least 500 people in line. It took about twenty minutes to get through and go where the ship was. And then we saw another huge line. They only had one gangway open. Certainly poor management by the ships senior officers to not have another gangway available for all these people they knew were coming back. But we did get back onboard an are now sailing back to Japan. We will be in Otaru on Thursday. We have another sea day tomorrow.  

Tonight will be Holland America Line's Orange Party. This is a party where they celebrate HALs 150 years of operation in addition to their Dutch heritage. We have attended them before on other HAL ships. They'll have special "orange" cocktails (likely the Beefeater Blood Orange Gin) plus several special passed appetizers. That will be at 9:30. And before that we have a Bar Crawl starting at 9PM which will visit several of the bars. They will have a special cocktail at each bar as well as games.