Since people pestering me that I haven’t posted here in ages I think that Busan makes up for a quite decent trip report. I have been to Korea before, albeit only to Seoul, and together with Japan it’s quite abit different than almost any other country I visited so will share some thoughts and observations. This post will also have alot of pictures to give you a better overall idea of what to expect so it will be quite abit different compared to prior posts on this substack!
Busan is the 2nd largest city in South Korea with around 4 million people and only abit more than 1% foreigners living there. Quite different to Dubai where you have 90%++ foreigners or Germany where you also get alot more immigration.
I also feel like Busan is fairly below the radar of non asian tourists so that in Busan you rarely see any white guys and almost no arabs or blacks. Very asian!
Personally for instance I always wanted to visit Busan but wasn’t aware of the size and the natural beauty it offers. Rarely have I seen such a scenic city with multiple large natural beaches, mountains, forest, foot paths, tunnels, etc. It’s an insanely pretty city and also clean as fuck compared to almost any western city. They also take recycling uber seriously, even compared to Germany, where you have like 10 different garbage bags for all kinds of things and they have prices for who recycles best.
We arrived in Seoul, took a taxi to the KTX train station and then took the train to Busan which takes between 2.5 and 3.5 hours for the 400km dependant on stops. A ticket is around 60bucks one way for 2nd class while 1st class is slightly more expensive even though there is barely any difference. The trainstations are clean and modern with zero shady people and literally every train seems to come exactly on time. In the train it’s quiet, even when people talk to each other they will do it so quietly you won’t even notice.
Upon arriving in Busan we took a taxi to Yeonhwa-Ri which is small fishing village couple of km outside the city center where we stayed the first 2 days before relocating to one of the main beaches Gwangalli and then stayed the final night in the Art Paradiso Boutique Hotel in the Paradise City Resort right next to the airport for logistical reasons. We stayed mostly in airbnbs which were quite cheap for what you got. Absolute prime view units in decent buildings for around 100usd a night. And keep in mind that weather there beginning september is still fantastic with lots of sunshine and 29-33C every day.
Most of our tours were done via Uber. Drivers absolutely never speak english and are all old as fuck. I don’t think we had a single driver below 40, avg age 60 and often guys even well in there 70s. No idea what’s up with that. Also the electrification of cars seems quite far there that around 40% of the taxis you get are EVs. For me not great because I realized that I get motion sickness and after googling also realized that it might be related to EVs. Pricewise taxis were quite affordable. Maybe 10usd per 15minute ride I would say but you are rarely in a taxi for more than 30 minutes going around the city.
I mentioned that this place is quite different to almost everything else so I will elaborate on some things:
Old people: South Korea has the lowest reproduction rates world wide and it definitely shows. Some places we visited you basically feel like you are in an open air retirement home. Most of their seniors seem to be quite active though and you can find openair “senior gyms” packed with seniors almost anywhere you go. That all the taxi drivers are seniors I already mentioned…
Restaurants+food: If you come from Dubai or Bali where almost every restaurant is carefully interiored you are in for quite a surprise in Seoul. Even top notch places have almost zero interior design. They rent a place, put in a kitchen, bar and some tables and they are good to go from the looks of it. You are lucky if they even painted the walls. Also since there aren’t many expats & foreigners there aren’t so many options for that. Most of the food offered seems to be korean and japanese. Obviously you will find italian, thai & indian places but not many. For me for instance it was extremely tough to find good western breakfast places - massive challenge. On top of that it’s like 50 50 that there is an english speaker working and the menue is also in korean 80% of the time. Also they hate to customize orders for you so even ordering something like 2 extra eggs can be tough. In the end I managed to get the food I wanted to get but spent an insane amount of research on doing so. Also there are things you outright cannot get like an acai bowl or a protein shake. They do not really sell you water in restaurants. When you go in you get a pitcher of water and thats that. Sparkling water is non existant in 90% of places and even a still bottle of water you won’t be able to order. Sparkling water you aren’t even getting in the 711s which was a big bummer for me. On the flipside their cafe density is extremely high and you will be able to find high quality coffee places almost anywhere in the city. We argubly ate in the best restaurants and food was very pricey. Especially in regards to meat you get really good stuff but pay more for it even compared to Dubai which is already quite inflated. Another thing which is a letdown for me is that people seem to despise to sit outside in order to eat. Almost no restaurants have outside areas and everything is always happening inside. Even in lovely sidestreets with ample space you won’t find cute spots where you can chill outside - polar opposite to Bali where almost every restaurant is mostly outside.
Google doesn’t work: it’s the first country I encountered which highly restricts the use of google maps. You cannot get directions from google maps because it has been banned by the government. So you basically cannot check how long a drive to restaurant x or a walk to coffee shop y takes. It will only show you public transport options which is useless. Due to that sometimes restaurants aren’t in the correct spot on the map, you get way less reviews and pictures of places compared to other countries etc. Best advice is to start using their native ‘naver maps’ instead of google which I arguably started doing way too late into the trip. It’s a minor annoyance for most but for me since I do and plan alot of stuff via google maps it’s a big turn off.
Beaches: As I mentioned the city has 3 large and wide beaches which I all visited but things are very different from a beach in Europe. Because people don’t want to tan you see very few people actually in swimwear at the beach even at daytime. They might take their shirt off for a short swim but put it back on once they are out again. Basically the only people sunbathing are foreigners of which there aren’t many. Also there is close to zero sunbathing infrastructure. Basically no sunbeds you can rent, no bars at the beach, just sand. Therefore even with the best weather those beaches are mostly empty and consist of people strawling along the beach and some people sitting down for abit but that’s about it. City with this kind of beaches would be popping off like crazy in Europe and elsewhere and I genuinely prefer the european way here.
Fitness+Gyms: I legit saw one gym in the week I was there and when I googled I didn’t come up with much either and some of the ones I came up with were fucking closed on sundays. You basically don’t see any obesity there but you also see almost no really fit people. If I would walk down the beach there without shirt I’m quite sure I would be the fittest person on the entire beach most of the day which would never happen in Bali, Dubai or Ibiza. You see some runners but also very little compared to the infrastructure they offer. I did one run there and was an absolute insane track for infinite amount of km along the water.
Society: Overall compared to the West it feels alot more secure and peaceful. Even at the beachroad where you have many drinking spots people are never loud, never angry, never looking for fights. Almost impossible to get into an argument with anybody. You also don’t really encounter drunks on the street or on the beach. Even if they are, they will be well behaved. Elsewhere a prime spot like this would be pure carnage with lot’s of shady people, dirty streets and picket pockets but nothing of that sort can be found in Busan.
Nanny state: Big turndown for me. Usually things are not heavily enforced but still kill abit of the vibe for me. You know these emergency messages you get pushed on the front of your phone. Like when there is an earthquake or some real emergency? Well in Busan you get multiple of those per day for all kinds of nonsense. They also in korean only but I translated some for fun and they really shouldn’t use a system like this to broadcast those. Also anything where there can be even the slightest danger they put up multiple warning signs around it like people are complete morons. For instance if there are some stairs I don’t need 3 warning labels to be careful that I do not fall - you get the gist. For me personally just too much of this stuff.
Girls: I planned for the last 5 years to go to Busan con mi amigo espanol in order to cause havoc but met my girl this year and ended up going to Busan with her instead in the end :) (sorry, Samuel) On the girl front I might be delusional but my lady was the best girl I have seen all week. Very few people were dressing up and I basically have seen zero stunners the entire week, be it at the beach, at the restaurants or while discovering the city. So if you are going to Korea for the girls you might be better of in Seoul I think because I was genuinely unimpressed with Busan in that regards.
Those were the main points I wanted to touch on. Place is definitely worth a visit alone for the differences compared to where you are coming from and the stunning nature but things can get quite challenging with their lack in english skills and if you are picky about your diet. For my personal taste it’s nothing to stay longer than a week because this indoor no sun lifestyle isn’t for me at all.
As always my writing here is free, will stay free and I am happy if articles get shared. If you want to support me just use any of my links and subscribe to this substack!
over and out
_____________________________________
main link page:
https://snack.bio/timstone (pls let me know when link stops working, snack got rugpulled😅)
💥Exchanges/Lending platforms I am currently using with affi codes if there are:
❗️The best and perceived safest exchange:
(20% rakeback on spot lifetime)
(10% rakeback FOR ONLY 1MONTH; quite retarded. Also I am capped myself here as an affiliate and Binance will cut me out as soon as referal reaches certain VIP or latest after 1 year; quite sketchy tbh)
Binance futures trading (different from normal Binance):
if u create a futures account and they should ask for a code use this but link above should be enough already
code: cryptoplaybook
special promotions, sub affiliate under me, manual cashback for 10k++ in yearly commission generated (until i can automate it - they are working on it)
⚠️2nd tier exchanges:
code: vry09620
20% rakeback on fees
(35% cashback on futures, 10% cashback on spot)
https://www.kucoin.com/r/af/QBSHNJT1
(20% cashback on fees via my link)
https://www.okx.com/join/CRYPTOPLAYBOOK
10% for me 20% for signups
https://bitfinex.com/?refcode=0KbiYwUT
https://www.huobi.com/en-us/topic/invited/?invite_code=tb8i7
https://ascendex.com/en-us/register?inviteCode=VU9JEKCI
https://nexo.io/ref/zlsvctnk7j?src=web-link (for lending)
💰 OTC services:
If you require OTC services in Dubai or the Philippines please do not hesistate to reach out in order for me to do introductions; rates 2-3% usually crypto for cash/bank
😴😴Stonkbrokers:
Interactive Brokers (one of the biggest international brokers which works almost anywhere)
🥸🥸 Auditing and fund tracement onchain in case of hack/drains:
https://twitter.com/bailsecurity
(please mention my name/channel upon onboarding)
🚀Hardware wallets that I use and recommend:
✈️✈️discounted business + first class flights:
🧐 Locations I am invested in:
- Dubai
- Manila
- Bali
In all 3 I will be able to help with knowledge, network, visas, real estate, etc etc - just feel free to reach out
My substack:
also still working part time as an online poker affiliate so if there is interest to play on different sites/apps for Crypto just holla as well
💰for random donations if you like the content:
ETH: 0x6FAB6665C439f0535B6ae91E1ed315AF9bdd9754
peaze and best of luck!
😉