Travel: Busan Night City Bus Tour

Anyong!

During my first day at Busan, the day passed quite fast as we reached around 4pm. Obviously, travelling the town on foot now isn't convenient as it takes nearly a 25 minutes taxi ride from Haeundae beach to town.

I read up that Busan's night view is a must see! Best way is to take the Busan Night City Bus Tour if you would like to kill of the hassle of walking around from one stop to one stop. Trust me, it's not easy to do that at night where our time is limited.

Our Guesthouse's staff was kind enough to help us book the Busan Night City Bus. It's 10,000 Won (USD 10) per person. We then head off to Busan Station, as the departure point is near Arirang Hotel, which is just right beside Busan Station!

Busan Station is magnificent during the night! No wonder some dramas actually shoot some scenes there, Poseidon is what of them if I'm not mistaken!

As usual Koreans are as punctual as Japanese, the bus took off on time! You will think buses in Korea are just so cool and comfy! That's just for the tour buses. City buses are as normal as any buses, wait til I post about my bus ride at Jeju Island!

The bus that we sat! Dynamic Busan!

They even have a virtual tour for you to see which stop we are heading to

Our route has 5 stops and we got off at Gwangalli Beach & Geumry Eonsan.

Gwanggali Beach is just beside of the city as well! The picture below is the row of shops which are like just 100m away from the beach!

Please bear with my poor camera settings for night shots. The view was actually really beautiful but I can't capture it!! It's best for you to just sit there and marvel at the lights, listen to the waves, and feel the sand below your feet :)

This is how it looks in day time! Look at the stretch of the Gwanggali beach and the clear sea! Now you know why I love Busan, right?

Credits: Tourism Busan

Just realised I do not have a picture of the majestic 광안대교 Gwangan Daegyo (Dae-gyo: Bridge/大桥)! This is how it looks like when you are at Gwanggali beach, the bridge is just right in front of you!

Credits: Estee@Nexruby

Closer view

Credits: Tourism Busan

Our last stop was at one of the highest spot at Busan and this was what came to our eyes, so breath taking! 

The wind was quite chilly up there but we still insisted on taking a few pictures! The normal Asian behaviour, huh? Sadly to say the good quality ones are with my cousins. Will share again once I got it from them!

So if you are looking for a comfortable ride to hot spots in Busan and you have not much time, shoot down the idea of being independent to find the hot spots yourself on foot; and save your time by taking this Night City Bus Tour :)

HKT rates: 9/10

Spending: 10000 Won for City Tour Bus

How to book?

For more information, visit City Tour Busan!

Hope you'll enjoy taking this Night Tour!

If you ever have time, ask the taxi driver to drive you to the nearest CGV cinema to catch a movie, 

blend in with the Busan urbanites!

Travel: Haeundae Beach, Busan

Everyone loves Seoul, Soul of Asia. When I say, "Nope, I prefer Busan"; I got bombarded with all sorts of questions. Erm, what's wrong with Busan? :) 

I love Seoul, but Busan more, freaking more! My Busan journey started when we hopped on to the free bus provided by the Korea Government, it's one of my best bus moments ever! Well, I rarely sit buses back at Malaysia (do you sit lots of buses?). Anyway  if you are travelling from Seoul to Busan, you better do remember to book this luxurious free bus early!

The fact that I love Busan so much is because of:

Haeundae Beach

In my country we don't really have many great beaches around us. The cities are always so faraway from the beach! You don't get to experience K-drama scenes where a couple broke up near a shopping mall and next *poof!*, they're beside the sea pouring their hearts out! Busan is so different, it's the 2nd largest city, with this beautiful Haeundae beach within reach, you typically get the best of both worlds!

After checking in to Hello GuestHouse, my cousins and I took a 3 minutes walk to the long awaited Haeundae beach! Contrary to some beaches where the sands were rough, Haeundae beach during the noon was soft, warm and so smooth! Best part of it was hot dudes + sexy chicks. Worst part of it was ... I can't run with a bikini on. 

Anyway, back to Haeundae:

Chevy sponsored orange umbrellas

They say the best time to go to the beach is during Summer. That's right if you love being squeezed with thousands of people on the beach, even in the sea. How are you going to swim? If you are someone who would love to take cool jump shots with an awesome beach and sea background, accompanied with 1/3 of the city-scape; I recommend you to go during end of August - mid September.  That's when the summer break is over, the weather is still warm and you'll have most of the beach to yourself! Like me!

No bikini T.T

I love taking jump shots. And no, I did not slap my cousin.

September is also a good time for beach because the sea isn't that cold yet.  Somehow I felt Haeundae resembles Bondi beach from Sydney a lot in terms of the landscape :) For those who love to swim, the sea is ALL YOURS if you go after Korea's summer break! You can rent yellow tubes at a rate of 5000 won (USD 5) per tube and use it as long as you would want to.

Be careful if you plan to sit on the tube at the shore...You'll most likely being flipped over by the waves if they're strong enough :) Well, at least I was, a few times.

White sand + blue sea + 5000 won yellow tube each + 2 pretty girls = Perfect Picture

For just an extra 5000 won (USD 5), we rented an umbrella with a mat which was wide enough for 2 persons to lie on for a good rest by the sea! Thanks to my poor memory, I do not remember how much was it to rent the benches, but I do remember it's definitely much more expensive!

Chilling out after a good dip in the sea

We love the beach so much thata during our last day before we left for Jejudo, we went and rented a mat again just to sleep by the sea. Such a peaceful feeling! I miss it so much!

My view 

My cousin brother took another short rest beside the sea before we really really left reluctantly

Beach aside, Busan has awesome night view, will make other posts on other stuffs in Busan! :)

Credits to Google Images

Spendings:

Yellow tube per person - 5000 won

Mat & Umbrella - 5000 won

By the way, after visiting Haeundae, you should really re-watch (or watch if you have yet to!) the movie again:

Visit Rating: 5/5! Must Visit!

Travel: Hello GuestHouse, Busan

A good night's sleep after a worn out day is very important to me! I backpack around Korea, but I do not choose to go way too budget as well. When it comes to a night's sleep, I'm more than willing to pay extra for a cleaner, quieter, safer & more comfortable place.

Busan, being one of the top tourist spot, has loads of guest houses around. If you are looking for something affordable, convenient and youthful, Hello Guesthouse would be the best pick for you.

A sneak peak at Hello Guesthouse:

What I like about Hello Guest House:

1. Friendly staff to give you local tips on where to find the best BBQ eel!
2. Breakfast provided. Kitchen is very well-equipped
3. Internet access provided.
4. Laundry at 3000 won per laundry
5. Super clean and neat
6. Toilet has everything! Shampoo, shower gel, hair dryer, even make ups & sun block!
7. Nice living room area for you to mingle around with other backpackers
8. Lockers provided, not too big though
9. Bed sheets are super cute!
10. Just 3 minutes walk away from Haeundae beach
11. Just 2 minutes walk away from Haeundae Subway
12. Just a minute walk away from the nearest bar & restaurant, and 5 - 10 minutes walk away from other bars & restaurants

Tell me, isn't this guest house great to stay? :)

Hello Guest House earned a rating of 94% at Hostelworld!

Rate:

27,000 Won (USD 25) per night in a 4 bed dorm.

They have cheaper rates for 6 bed dorms and 8 bed dorms!

Directions:

Exit at Haeundae metro station, Exit 5

Walk for 100 metres and you'll see Thursday Party on your right

Turn right at the corner after Thursday Party

 Walk for approximately 300 meters and you'll see Hello GuestHouse

Do stay at Hello GuestHouse if you ever drop by Busan!

Hello Guesthouse Facebook

Travel: Free Bus from Seoul to Busan (Visit Korea Year)

I really like how the Korea government invested great effort into their Visit Korea Year. A bus or a train from Seoul to Busan is not very cheap at all. When I was planning my route, I found out that they actually provide free bus ride from Seoul to Busan, vice versa. I was jumping on my bed when I read this great site around 4am!

This bus is not just any ordinary bus, it's more like a 3-seater-coach!

Comfy and spacious

Valid from 2010 to 2012 only

Cousin bro looked like he enjoyed the seat

Bus driver was very punctual and set off at 8am sharp! The ride took us around 4 hours and we had a peaceful sleep, probably the seat was just too comfortable. Bus made 3 stops for us to go to the loo as well as to grab something to eat. Pretty awesome ride I must say!

How to make a reservation?

Visit this link and pick your date!

Note: You have to reserve online early. 10 days before your departure date you will receive a confirmation email. If you would like to try your luck to visit on the day itself, you can but you will have to wait till all the reserved passengers have their seats first. Some times the website might show that it's fully booked. But do note that this is free, so you will get a few visitors not showing up at the last minute and if you are lucky enough, you'll be able to get a seat right on that day even without reserving! I would still recommend to reserve! ;)