After yesterday’s rain-soaked hike and the forecast unlikely to change for at least a day or two, we decided to head down to Busan today. We caught the 10:30 bus for the seven-hour journey. Although longish, the ride was really cool. Although it was raining and the visibility was poor for the first part of the ride, the rain eventually let up. Under the grey skies, we were able to see Korea’s beautiful mountain landscape. While not very tall, the green mountain ranges were steep and many had sharp ridges. Small villages and rice paddies vied for space on the valley bottoms. The road also wound curvily along the coast, which reminded me a lot of the Northern Californian coastline- steep mountains/cliffs, rocky, and rough. The coastal drive here had nicer colors though, as the water was shallower and had a light blue hue and the mountains were noticeably more verdant than anywhere in California. All in all, it was great seven hour drive with scenic rest stops and everything.

As for Busan, we had three reasons to visit. One reason was utilitarian, as ferries to Japan leave from Busan. Secondly, it is Koreaç—´ second largest city and we figured it has a good amount of things to see. And thirdly, but most importantly, we were going to see our friends the Muths. Longtime readers of this blog may recall the story of our long jeep journey from Manali to Leh, Ladakh. Well, its such a trying experience that it really bonds people together. Maybe not, but we did hang out with the Muths a couple more times in Leh and have corresponded a bit by e-mail since. At the time of our meeting, they had been traveling for a year already. A few months after we met, they headed to Busan to teach English for a while. Stories of their travel and teaching adventures can be found at their very cool blog at www.themuths.blogspot.com. Enough background for now. After the bus ride, a subway ride, and a taxi ride, we found Liz waiting for us outside a McDonalds close to their apartment.
They each had to work a couple more hours, so Joylani and showered off and rested at their apartment before they came home and we all went out to eat and catch up. They took us to a nice place with excellent food, I think we got something called pork spine in English, although none of us knows the Korean name. It was really good and they also ordered a bottle of Soju, a Korean sweet-potato liquor. While Joylani is pretty good about having us try new things and everything, nothing’s better than going out with locals who already know the good dishes and places. But better than the food, of course, was seeing the Muths again and catching up with them. I’m glad we enjoy their company and have fun with them, because we’re gonna be staying with them for a few days. It should be good.