Happy New Year and Busan

I know it is a little late, but Happy New Year. I can't believe it is already 2009. Here is hoping that you and all of your loved ones have a good 2009. I couldn't leave until 6pm, so I got up to Ben's a little after 9pm. We did stay up until 2009, but we didn't do anything exciting. Watched the countdown on Korean tv. They ring a really big bell (a temple bell) at the new year. The celebrations for new year aren't anything close to what happens when the Lunar New Year is celebrated. On the 1st we took a highspeed train down to Busan. It is the 2nd largest city in Korea and lies on the southeast coast of the Korean Peninsula. We checked into our hotel, near the train station and the subway station, so very convenient and then had some lunch. We ate at Lotteria which is the Korean version of McDonald's. We both had the bulgogi burger and neither one of us liked it. So, if you ever see a Lotteria (they are in Vietnam too), don't get that burger. We then took the subway to Yongdusan Park. In the park is Busan tower, which gives you a good view of the city and it's port. We then took the Busan City Tour bus, which drops you off at a lot of different locations. First we went to the United Nations Cemetery.It was really done nicely and was a tribute to those who died during the Korea War. It included the burial sites for a lot of the nations that fought including South Korea. There was a wall of remembrance which included the names of all of those military members who died during the war. For those from the United States, it was even broken down by state. It was very moving and a great tribute to those people. We then tried to go to the Busan museum, but it was closed. We got back on the bus, passed by Gwangalli Beach,and got off at the APEX house on Dongbaek Park. The sun was setting and it was really beautiful looking out into the ocean. We went back to the hotel and asked for a good galbi (rib meat) place and went off to find it. Luckily we did and had a pretty good dinner for less than $20 for both of us. Yum. It is my favorite Korean food.

On the 2nd we took the subway north and went to Beomeosa temple. From there we hiked up the mountain and explored Geumjeon Sanseong, a mountaintop fortress built in the 18th century. We spent the majority of the day hiking around the fortress, which was really a wall with several gates. The views of Busan were amazing and as always I got to take some awesome mountain pictures and pictures out into the sea.We kept hiking up to another temple with some pretty cool carvings.We were pretty tired after all the hiking and took the cable car down, ate some dinner and then went back to the hotel.