Finally Friday

We checked out of our hotel around 9am and found COFFEE! There's a chain of stores called Holly's Coffee (there's one in downtown Uijeongbu) that's pretty much like a Starbucks only much less expensive. So even though we got there just as they were opening at 9:30, we still enjoyed a real cup of coffee, and used the available PC to check up on our e-mail from the past week.

After a refreshing jolt of caffeine, we got a bus to Busan to try and meet up with some of James' friends that had come back to Korea after a trip to Japan. After arriving in Busan we went in search of a place to stay. We had hoped to stay in the same place that his friends had stayed the night before, but their place was W80,000 a night, which was way more than either of us was willing to spend. Up until now we'd been using the guidebooks to find cheap but decent accommodation. There were a few places listed in both of our books for Busan, but the first place we tried (that had a free washer that we were rather excited to use), was a little hard to find: "Take Line 1 to Beomnaegol station. Exit 3, and cross the street at the light. Turn left and walk towards the bridge. On the bridge, look for a door leading to a staircase. Walk down to the parking lot and go to building 106 with '1-2' over the entrance. Take the elevator to 1802." After making it all the way up to the 18th floor of an apartment building, we come to find out they're booked for the weekend, but if the people they're expecting don't show up by 4 we can have their room.

So we head all the way back to the subway and try the next one on the list: "Take line 1 or 3 to Yeonsan-dong station, Exit 1, walk straight and turn left at the second block, then turn right at the first block" This one we tried to call first, but they didn't speak English, and apparently my Korean is only understandable in person. After getting of the subway at Exit 1 we find out  we're on the wrong side of the street to turn left. We wander around for a bit trying to possible stumble across it, but no such luck. At this point James is getting frustrated, probably since it was so easy for us to find a place to stay in the small towns we were in, but in the second largest city we can't find a place. So we get back on the subway (each time, by the way, was W1,100 for each of us since our T-money cards only work in Seoul) and headed back to Busan station. 

At this point, I suggested that one of us stay with our bags at the station, and the other one go off in search of a room. James was determined to find a place to stay so he took both guide books and headed off. About half an hour later he called me to tell me he'd found a place a few blocks from the station, and came back to get me. 

After depositing our bags and getting a shower from wandering the streets of Busan we decided to try and see something before we met up with James' friends. So we took the subway again to Beomeosa, a temple at the northern part of the city. It was getting late, so they didn't charge us to get in since it was supposed to be closing in about half an hour. 

Beomeosa was founded in 678 AD, and it serves as the northern starting point for trails across Geumjeong Mountain. 

The entrance gate had 6 very large and rather creepy statues in it

We watched and listened for a bit, while the monks were chanting in about 4 different temples around the complex.

We stayed as long as we could before it got too dark, and then headed back into Busan to catch up with Amy and Tom for dinner and a night out for James's birthday (he turned 31 on August 2nd).

We met up with his friends at Mr. Pizza (whose catch phrase is "Love for women"), and then headed out for a night on the town in Busan, getting free drinks at midnight to toast Jame's Birthday. We found a place called Vinyl Underground a little later in the evening (around 2am), and stayed there dancing until the wee hours of the morning.