We felt we needed another day in Busan to explore and also to organize details regarding our bike tour on the 4 Rivers Route (Cross Country Route) from Busan to Seoul. We were moved to a nicer updated room on the top floor with a view of the harbour for our extra night. Thanks for that.
Our first job was to book our return ticket for the ferry to Fukuoka….and that is when things got complicated. We discovered that there were no vacancies on any sailings thru December except for one date Nov.26 and there was only one room left. Yikes, that means we can’t do what we had planned. That is, to ride the circle route from Busan to Seoul, followed by visiting the DMZ and then continuing south to Busan on the eastern route. It turns out that one of the reasons the ferries are so heavily booked is that all children in Korea are on Christmas break early in December. We hadn’t pre booked our return as we thought it would be good to have some flexibility. Clearly that was a mistake. Once we got our heads around this problem, we quickly booked the only room and date available to us and we made new plans for the time we have left. Yikes…we dodged a bullet on that one. We could have stayed later in December, but we are happier avoiding the cold weather that starts in December. So here is the revised plan…we will leave Busan tomorrow morning and ride what we can of the 4 Rivers Route… then turn around and retrace the route to Busan in time to take the ferry to Fukuoka. Whew….sorted.
We have been walking around the neighbourhood where we are staying and we took a turn to an area we had missed. It is particularly charming to visit in the evening as the streets are lined with illuminated lanterns casting a warm glow.
Several statues like this lined the streets. It is popular to stroll here at night with crowds of people enjoying the evening. The colourful lanterns identify the area as Chinatown.
We now know that Texas Street is known to be the red light district. We sensed a change in the vibe, but it wasn’t an issue, many people were wandering enjoying the evening
The red light district is in the Dong district of Busan. This started during the Korean War where many soldiers originated from Texas, thus providing a place of drinking and prostitution for American soldiers. In the late 1980’s, fewer American soldiers were stationed nearby and more Russian soldiers arrived. Hundreds of Russians and ethnic Koreans of the former Soviet Union began moving into the area making this an ethnic enclave. The name Texas Street came about due to comparisons of the area with the Wild West where bars would occupy the first floor and prostitutes worked on the second floor. As of 2018, this area became off limits for US Navy and Marines. This area had a sleazy feel to it, so we headed out and continued our walk. We read that the city had tried to take back this area, by cleaning it up and renovating, but the Russians prevailed and control this area.
Texas Town and Chinatown exist side by side. Many Chinese people moved to Busan during the Japanese occupation of Busan. The lanterns are reflective of their Chinese culture.
We crossed the road to check out Busan train station . It was built in 2003 and it is a busy place. Many restaurants and shops are featured here. It links Busan and Seoul in about 2 hours by train.
We walked up the hill to our hotel and liked this impressive view from below showing the decorative details and intricate painting of the Commodore Hotel. Our room tonight is at the very top where the eaves are brightly lit.
Ron SeguinYou may have already thought to try this, but, perhaps there is a vacancy to send the trikes as cargo on the sailing you had originally planned, just like they came to Korea, and you guys could fly to Fukuoka. Reply to this comment 3 days ago
