Summer in Pusan for me has been all about embracing the beach culture of my sea side city. I have logged many hours on Gwangali Beach aka my beach and ventured over to Haeundae Beach a couple times. To switch it up even more I ventured all the way out to Songjong beach in the furthest reaches of the city beyond the end of the subway line. Generally speaking Gwangali is a very good low key beach -by Korean standards. On a Saturday I still know there's an ocean there. Haeundae is quite another story. It is a famous beach in Korea and is a cultural experience in and of itself. I heard rumors that one weekend they had 1 million people on the beach basking under their umbrellas. I visited on a Thursday a couple weeks ago and even then the ocean was completely obscured from all the umbrellas.
That's the funny thing about Korean beach culture, Korean culture in general is so sun-fearing that beach behavior revolves first and foremost around how to avoid the sun. Quite the opposite of what I am used to in North America. But then to further entrench the Korean-ness of it all every family hidden under their umbrellas and visors are also sitting on large reflective blankets.... go figure. All I can say is: that's Korea for you.
Maybe in anticipation of getting bored of the Pusan beaches I booked a trip to Jeju in June for the August long weekend. Jeju is commonly referred to as the Hawaii of Korea. Yes, well, I'm not so sure about that but maybe my experience is skewed by the fact I visited during rainy season and it acted accordingly. Though I have yet to hear of a dry trip to the island between March and August...
My facebook album of the trip sums up everything pretty well. We spent a total of 3 days there. We rented scooters for 2 days and motored around the island to the best of our ability given the regular 2 pm downpour and giant highways. I have a feeling there is more to Jeju than what I saw and would give it another go... in a car. Mostly the trip was interesting and exciting due to the interesting and exciting scooters and travel companions. The most successful day was the day we climb, the long way, up Hallasan Korea's highest peak. We had originally intended only to climb the short 2 hour trail but took the wrong bus and ended up at the start of the long trail (7 hour round trip). We decided to go for it and the only slight problems were not enough water or food. Problems we remedied with a stop at a mountain stream and an excellent Mexican restaurant in Jeju-si that night.
The heat has finally broken back in Pusan. I'd say it had been unpleasantly hot and sticky for just over a month. Yesterday on my way to work at 8:30 am I noticed, for the first time in a month, that I did not have sweat trickling down my back. I slept without the AC on last night and didn't wake up in a pool of sweat. I count these as signs that summer is almost over and fall is definitely on its way.
