Busan

30 November 2025

The first thing I noticed upon arriving in Seoul is that everyone is hot. Every single person you see on the street is dressed in smart business casual. It made me feel awful about myself. I realized that my ratty travel clothes were shameful and embarrassing. Halfway through the trip, my self-disgust led me first to a Uniqlo to purchase some passable clothing and then to a medspa to get some work done.

Día 1

BIFF Square
Gukje Market
Daegaksa Temple
Busan Tower
New Camellia Ferry

Indi and Kaitlin had to leave, but the boys weren’t ready. They got up early to take trains to the Seoul airport. Jonny and I got to sleep in a little later. Our train to Busan departed at 10:18 am.

At Seoul station, we bought some snacks, and I got a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich. It was decent.

Jonny had bought the tickets the night before and had a QR code on his phone. We boarded the train without any issues. The train looked pretty similar to what you see in the movie, only there were no zombies. There were two rows of blue seats divided by a central aisle. Each row had 2 seats. The chairs reclined a little and were not uncomfortable. There was decent wifi aboard, and our cabin was really quiet.

We arrived at Busan station, disembarked, and started walking.

BIFF Square

I had BIFF Square saved, but didn’t really know what it was. It was a large shopping area with street food. I had seen a lot of corn dog vendors in Seoul and decided to try one. I got a normal corn dog. The vendor had a tray of sugar that you could use to dip in and a bottle of mayo + ketchup. I think it was the best corn dog I’ve ever had. I can’t believe I didn’t get a photo. We realized we didn’t have much cash left and decided to take out some money from an atm nearby. We each got a chicken skewer from another vendor. I ordered it very spicy – it was very spicy.

Gukje Market

We wandered deeper into a huge market area that I think is called Gukje Market. It kept going and going and going. I can’t think of anything that you can physically carry that they don’t sell there. It’s definitely a local market, not geared towards tourists. We didn’t end up getting anything, but it was cool to see.

We got food at Premium Jangin Dakgalbi. I hadn’t heard of the dish before visiting Korea, and this was my first time trying it. Both Jonny and I loved it.

It came in a giant cast-iron pan. In the center of the pan was a line of cheese that bisects glass noodles mixed with kimchi cabbage and chicken thigh chunks. You can use leafy greens to eat it, and there is unlimited salad included. Our last day in Korea was a good one for food. The Dakgalbi cost 34k won ($24) for both of us.

Daegaksa Temple

We walked towards the Busan tower to get a view of the city. On the way, we stumbled across a Buddhist temple that was built for the Japanese ambassador in the late 1800s – Daegaksa Temple. There were only two other men inside who both left shortly after our arrival. The craftsmanship and attention to detail really made the temple feel holy/awe-inspiring.

Jonny tried to shame me for prostrating myself before Shakyamuni Buddha, but I turned the other cheek as he bullied me like the good Buddha-venerating Christian I am.

Busan Tower

We walked up to the Busan Tower. We were both wearing our backpacks, so I was sweating a little by the time we got there, although it wasn’t far. In Seoul, we caught the tail end of fall. Many of the trees had shed their leaves, but there were some that still had red or yellow leaves. In Busan, it was peak fall color season. There weren’t many trees, but around the tower, there were, so the walk up was nice.

We bought tickets and ascended the tower fairly quickly. The view from the top was one of the best of the trip. The sun was just setting over the mountain, and the tower wasn’t too crowded.

We continued to see a lot of Christmas decorations. I loved it.

New Camellia Ferry

From the tower, we walked to the metro, which we took back to Busan station. From there, we walked to the terminal del ferry.

Instead of flying, we decided to take an overnight ferry from Busan to Fukuoka, Japan. We booked a first-class room on the New Camellia before we left for East Asia. I got an email downgrading our tickets to second class, which was lame and confusing. Upgrading at the ferry terminal would have doubled the ticket price, so we agreed to 2nd class, which is a 5-person room equipped with futons to sleep on the floor.

The New Camellia looks more like a cruise ship than a ferry. It’s easily the biggest ferry I’ve traveled on. The loading bay is so large that you could probably drive two semi trucks into it at the same time. We waited until everyone else had boarded, thinking we would dodge waiting in line, but past the ticket check, there ended up being a long line that formed around the boat entrance. I wish everyone could be as fast at boarding vessels as I am.

We finally boarded and found our room – #441. Online, it said that these rooms are 5-man rooms, which is a little intimidating based on the fact that your roommates could be anyone. We entered to find that they are actually 10-man rooms. It wasn’t a welcome surprise. We got the spots closest to the door, which wasn’t ideal.

We decided to explore the ship. There’s not a lot besides an outdoor deck, some vending machines, and a cafeteria. The ship interior looked like a slightly worn-down ferry, but some aspects reminded me of a cruise ship. Possibly, it was just the scale of the vessel.

We found the cafeteria and paid 1000¥ each for curry and rice. It was the worst Japanese curry I’ve ever had, sure, but it was still alright. The other option was kimchi soup. I didn’t like to think about the prospect of what each of these digesting menu options would do inside the men in our room.

I bought a Coke Zero and continued the tour of the ship. We decided to take a look at the public bath. Jonny opened the door, and we took a couple of steps in. A guy was standing naked in front of the mirror, blow-drying his hair. We had planned to walk through the changing room to see what the public bath looked like, but at this sight, Jonny froze. He stared at something; his back was to me, so I can’t say for sure what it was. He slowly backed up to exit the room. I’ve never seen him freeze like that. We walked down the hall in silence, not talking or looking at eachother.

We chilled in our room for a while until a little past 10:00 pm, when I decided to go for a public bath. The water was gross. There was a film on the surface of the water comprised of hair and other less recognizable floating particles. I had enough after a few minutes. I washed myself even more thoroughly when I got out of the water than before I got in. It was packed in the changing room. I’ve never had to squeeze between naked men so much before.

It was incredibly hot in our room when I got back, so I dropped off my backpack and went outside to the top deck. It wasn’t as cold as I expected, still I stayed up there until I felt very cold so that I’d be able to bear the hot close quarters waiting for me.

Each of the 10 spots was full with men around our age. Each spot had a small recessed area where you can lie your head so that you’re not face-to-face with a stranger. Everyone is supplied with a sheet, blanket, and the thinnest futon ever produced. The blanket was very unnecessary, given it was swelteringly hot in the room. I layered each of the three items one on top of the other and layed on them.

If you want to know what my bed for the night felt like, find a concrete floor, lay a thin blanket down, crank the heater to 90°, recruit 10 men to lie down very close to you after feeding them either curry or kimchi soup, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of how my night went. I used my buff to cover my eyes and put in headphones in an attempt at retreating mentally inside myself.

Surprisingly, I slept most of the night through. I woke up at 5:30 am because someone near me (Jonny swore it wasn’t him) released a fart so potent it transcended the single sense of smell alone and included taste and possibly touch; it was so strong, nearly tangible. When the smell subsided 10-15 min later, I dozed for a bit and maybe slept a little before getting up and ready for the day.

I’ll never forget that ferry ride.

Next time

On our next adventure, Jonny and I get off the tourist track by exploring the lesser-visited city of Fukuoka.