Haedong Yonggungsa & Dalmaji Hill @ Busan

Haedong Yonggungsa is a Buddhist temple which was originally constructed 700 years ago, and like most tourist attractions, was recently restored. The temple rests on the edge of the ocean north of Busan, nestled within mounds of coastal rock formations. The contrast between the ancient architecture and the natural beauty of the sea shore is clearly the selling point which brings tourists here.

Haedong Yonggungsa

Do to my lack of religious knowledge, I have a hard time appreciating most Pagodas, however the Traffic Safety Prayer Pagoda felt like quite a practical idea which I think anyone could relate to.

Traffic Saftey Prayer Pagoda

Who knows what this stuff is

Buddha!

On my way out from the temple I noticed a sign which outlined a walking path to a place called Dalmaji Hill, this looked pretty unique to me so I snapped a photo of the sign before hopping back on the bus southward. The route the bus took back went right along the edge of Songjeong Beach, which according to the photo I took was the beginning of this path, I decided to exit the bus and try to find the pathway. After reaching the south end of the beach, the road eventually ended and there were only rock-cliffs along the ocean, after following the only path which was left, I passed under a tunnel and eventually ended up on some train tracks.

Songjeong Beach

This is where I started to wonder if I was lost

At this point I was sure I was lost

I was a bit unsure about the idea of walking along train tracks, however this was approximately where the sign had indicated the path would be, and the tracks looked a bit rusted like maybe they hadn't been used in a while. I walked along for quite a while until I reached another area with signs of civilization, I exited the tracks at the first road here and began walking up a large hill. After another half kilometer or so, I finally arrived at the same street in the picture I'd taken earlier at the temple.

Dalmaji Hill

After scouring about for 20 minutes to see if I could find some sort of refined European dining experience, I gave into hunger and walked into a little shop called Burger & Curry. Although I felt I was giving up, I ended up quite happy to have found this place. The burger I ate here was as close to gourmet as you can get for a small shack style place, packed to the brim with jalapenos, tomato, onion, pork and a succulent chunk of meat. I didn't find much else to do at Dalmaji Hill, however this burger alone was worth the 3 kilometer walk.

Burger & Curry from outside

And the humble inside

Jalapeno Burger

To round off my night after getting back to my new hotel at Gwangalli Beach, I found a rooftop bar on top of the Aqua Palace Hotel at the center of the strip. This proved to be a nice place to enjoy a glass of wine while soaking in a 180 degree view of Busan.

Looking north from Aqua Palace

South