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.

Eating eggs in a hostel kitchen in Busan

Apologies to the people on gplus because I've already talked about this at length there, but here's a post about my itinerary.

The spreadsheet I used to plan this trip is complex and detailed, with multiple routes, notes, reminders of visa validity and colour-coded alternatives and contingency plans.  One thing it didn't cover though is what would happen if I didn't get a Russian visa because, honestly, it just didn't seem very likely. I'd pick it up in Tokyo or, absolute worst case, I'd make a visa run to Hong Kong which never says no.

So, anyway, I don't have a Russian visa. The embassy in Tokyo said no and apparently the Russian embassy in Hong Kong has just implemented a policy of no visas for non-residents. The Russians are adopting this policy across all of their Asian embassies. You can only get a visa in your resident country. "It is the rule!", the embassy guy in Tokyo said, so happy he almost smiled. "Is it possible to make an exception?" "It is the rule!" "Come on, it's a new rule and New York is very far away." "It is the rule!" "Do you have any other suggestions?" "It is.." "I get it." (With this sort of inflexibility I don't know how anyone ever gets bribed.)

I was initially despondent. I'm actually pretty ok at this logistical stuff -- give me a train timetable and a map of the world and I'm in my element --  but standing outside the embassy in Tokyo's stifling heat thinking of tickets to be cancelled, new visas to be chased and countries I could get to that might have more relaxed Russian embassy rules, I felt suddenly exhausted, out of my depth. "WHAT WILL I DO!?". A cafe right beside me, perhaps used to dejected rejects from the Russian embassy, had a huge sign. "Coffee First", it said. Good advice. A latte, a pint of water and some air conditioning later, I decided that Russia could get along fine without me. By the end of the second latte, I was excited again about whatever lay ahead. Adaptable like water, my travel brain is, so long as it has easy access to warm milk, espresso and a sit down. :-)

Not going to Russia unfortunately also means no Mongolia, since the most sensible path is to take the crazy night bus directly from China to Kazakhstan. A further complication: my China visa gives me thirty days from whenever I enter the country, but the Kazakh visa has a fixed date: I can't come in until October 16th. This means I have to be sure not to activate my Chinese visa until a few days after September 16th to make sure I don't find myself in a visaless nomansland and get fined and deported.

All this is leading up to saying that yesterday I took the ferry to South Korea to kill a week before moving on to China. A week of spectacular food and hiking wasn't in the original plan, but I think I can get used to it.

Visiting friends in Kochi City

We had a moon viewing party last night at Kochi castle. Yesterday was the day of the year when you view the moon, so we did. Jonathan explained that occasions like this (cherry blossom viewing is more famous example) provide an opportunity for a regulated and rather formal society like Japan to let its hair down. We went to a convenience store to get supplies and I asked J to explain what everything was and when it was appropriate to eat it: this is dried octopus; it`s a snack people have while watching movies; this is a rice ball; it`s good for travelling; this is like porridge; it`s a comfort food for when you`re sick. We bought a little bottle of sake (traditional for moon-viewing) and two bags of crisps (uh, not quite so traditional), ramen flavour and pizza potato flavour.

The top of the castle grounds was deserted, but a canopy had been raised: other moon viewers must have been there earlier. We sipped our sake and ate our crisps and watched the very yellow moon. A cicada attacked us. It`s been four years since Jonathan and I hung out last, also at Kochi City. We talked about old times and new times and getting older and how everyone we knew was doing and how metallic and unsettling cicadas can be and how sitting under the moon sharing sake would be a crime in Ireland and how different societies can be: when there`s effectively no violent crime, alcohol isn`t at all a cause for concern; Jonathan said that nobody would think anything of it if you picked up your kid from daycare while drinking a beer. It`s a whole other world.

The lack of crime is initially unbelievable, then wondrous. Jonathan`s wife, Hisa, had been bewildered in Dublin airport when he picked up all of their belongings -- laptop, wallets, camera -- and took them with him to the counter when they went for more coffee. Why not leave them there? Wait, why would someone take them? It must be horrible for Japanese people on first trips abroad. Compared to here, almost everywhere is violent, crime-riddled and, well, kind of savage. Rude as well. Nobody here is rude. Every interaction is friendly, enthusiastic and full-on engaged. Another data point: Japanese doesn`t have swear words, or at least none that anybody ever uses.

Aw, every society has advantages and disadvantages, but I`m really enjoying this right now. In one way it`ll be a relief to move on -- it is EXPENSIVE here and my newfound cake-for-breakfast habit isn`t helping my bank account -- but I kind of wish I could wander around Japan for a long time more. The lack of chaos, the lack of crime, the helpfulness of every single person... it`s like a massage for the brain. It`s very relaxing. But having my cares soothed away in Japan won`t get me closer to the Atlantic (though I am moving slowly, slowly westwards), so on I go. Busan tomorrow.