Enjoying Busan

I spent a day at Busan's important temple last time I was here, and I'be had plenty of seasides recently, so Busan's main attractions haven't been too attractive. Instead I've just walked around in the unreasonably hot sun and looked at things. I like this place a lot.

Busan has a lot of the rough and ready feeling that you often get with port towns, but it's also the second largest city in South Korea. Four million people live here. "Dynamic Busan", all the municipal posters say, and that's exactly how it is: this city is going places and is taking the direct route there. Go with it or you'll be barged into, backed over, or knocked flat by a commuter or a shopper or a motorbike speeding along on the pavement. Everything's moving.

It's vibrant. Shops, signs, ads, buildings, street art, ipod-wielding students... anything that can be vivid is. In the evenings love hotels shine out in neon stars and flowers. Sculpture parks and shopping streets display more public art than I've seen anywhere before, very modern, often interactive: a metal man on a bench posing for a photo with you, a woman with arms outstretched for a hug, reed-like structures that sway in the wind, seagulls and flowers near the beach, a cheerful hippo for no obvious reason, lots of lights and fun and things to touch. It's happy,  unselfconscious art.

There are cafes everywhere. If you thought East Asia was all about tea, ten minutes in Busan would prove otherwise. This is a coffee city. Pop music and jazz pours out of thousands of cafes and bars. There's Americana everywhere too: shirts with college sports teams, distressed leather with wild west slogans, hamburger chains with American-themed names, tons of American references everywhere you look.

I found myself in a department store that was indistinguishable from any department store in the US. Same brands, same prices. I considered picking up some hiking gear but could only find the same high end shops you'd find in any Western city, stuff that's well outside my backpacker budget. Busan's cheaper than Japan, particularly in street markets and the like, but there's still plenty of money sloshing around.

I'm heading up to Jirisan Mountain tomorrow for a few days hiking. I initially thought the peaks were only a little more strenuous than the hills we climb in upstate New York, but then I remembered that New York measures in feet. Ah. It does explain the hundred year old Korean women who regularly sprint past us on hikes in NY though. This place gives you plenty of practice.