Leaving Jeju: From paradise to fireworks

Yesterday, I checked out of the hostel in Jeju. Jeju was called Korea's Hawaii, and paradise, but the weather was cold, rainy and/or windy for the most part and it was tough to get around.

I took a one hour flight across the sea to Busan, the 2nd largest city in South Korea. I really wanted to take the ferry, which takes about 12 hours overnight, but the ferry only runs 3 days per week, so I flew, (it was only about $15 more to fly).

It is nice to be back in the big city. It was about an hour from the airport to the hostel, with a small light rail journey to the metro-the metro made about 20 stops it seems. The instructions from www.hostelworld.com we're to use exit 7 from the metro station. Exit 7 was under construction, so I was thouroughly confused. It did say on the website the nearest landmark is the Haeudae Grand Hotel. I found someone on the street-asked them, and they found the hotel. I then asked someone at another hotel around the corner from that hotel where the hostel was, and they we're able to direct me.

After checking in to the hostel, I talk a walk because i was hungry, out to a pedestrian mall near the hostel. I found a cafeteria style restaurant serving all sorts of fish cakes, fish patties, octopus balls, and other sea food-it was pretty good. Then I walked towards the nearby beach. I found a large festival going on-the Haeudae Sand Festival. The festival included many giant sand sculptures, including a woman and child, pyramids of Egypt, and a sand Indiana Jones.

A little past the 10 or so sand sculptures was a large crowd watching something. When I walked over, I saw they we're watching a juggler, juggling 2, 3, or 4 balls to instruments of songs like Stevie Wonder's Sir Duke and some Italian sounding songs. I noticed people of all ages tended to watch.

Then a bit off in the distance, as it was getting dark, was a large stage with about a few hundred folding chairs. I decided to sit down to rest my feet and read some of the maps and travel literature I had. After about 1/2 an hour-the surrounding seats began to fill up, and a quartet of jugglers got on stage, who juggled to a dance beat-it was mildly entertaining.

Then a set of drummers got on state, and drummed to a real fast beat-it was wild and the crowd went wild.

A singer sang a few songs, and a Kenny G like saxophonist got up and did a few songs, in Korean I guess because I couldn't understand the words and never heard the songs.

After Kenny G, which the crowd loved, and was really entertaining-we we're directed to look towards the ocean. A Laser light show went off from some barge parked off sea, which was cool, and then a fabulous fireworks show.

It was a good day, then I went back to the hostel and went to sleep.