south of the border, east of seoul

When I lived in Vietnam I remember that as a kid my parents would pack us up and we would take train trips to the beaches of Nha Trang. Then, moving to San Francisco for college I don't think I really understood how wonderful of a place the sea is (mainly because San Francsico beaches are cold and dirty and not exactly what I'm talking about when I talk about the sea). And I'm not talking about the beaches of Southern California either, littered with people on the sand sunbathing, building their castles. I'm talking about the sea.

Busan is Korea's own Nha Trang. At night, you can legally launch fireworks at Gwangali or illegally launch them at Haeundae (and then run away from the beach patrol). You can stuff your face with the best freaking hotteok ever at BIFF Square, climb the rocks at Taejongdae and watch the waves come in, and you can pick a roof to climb at the Gamcheon Cultural Village--Busan's own Santorini. You can also momentarily forget that there exists places beyond where the water and rocks meet and hide from all your problems (momentarily) for one weekend.