Guesthose for nobody!

August 31, 2011. Written in Hueundae, Korea.

Arrived in Pusan, I just starting walking into nowhere. But soon, I started to get worried. I hadn't the slightest idea of where I was going. I looked back at the harbour, and saw a white guy with a backpack like mine walking this way. I had seen him on the boat as well. I waited until he would come by, and asked him if he knew a cheap place for backpackers to stay. It was a German guy from Munich. While showing me his Lonely Planet, he gave me a too long and complicated explanation, so when he left I hadn't remembered anything of it at all. Ah well, I would go to an internet cafe and look something up. First though, I needed to search a bank, because I had no Korean money yet. I walked the streets randomly, and suddenly found a wide street full of banks. I tried two or three, but I couldn't use my card in any of them. I started to get a bit scared, but at the forth bank I was finally able to withdraw some money. I had no idea about the currency of the Korean Wong though, and just withdrew randomly. With no idea of how much it was worth, I took my money, and went outside again. I walked inside a convienence store called Mini Stop. The same store exists in Japan too. Like I noticed when I was in Seoul 5 years ago, the Korean convienence stores have Onigiri (rice-balls) like in Japan. I bought one, and gave the female clerk one of the bills I had just received at the bank. I walked outside again, and now headed towards the subway station I had passed before. In the front of the station, there was a man selling something that looked like Baby Castella (mini cakes). I wanted to buy some but couldn't see how much they cost. Ah heck, I just give the man one bill of thousand, that would be about the same price as the rice-ball I just had. The man took the money, and gave me a pack with 10 cakes in it. They were still hot. Inside was something that tasted like white bean paste, and it was remarkably good!
Allright, now I had to take the subway somewhere. But where would I go? The center of the city maybe, but were would that be? I looked at the subway map, and chose a random station, that had many transfers. I bought a train ticket, and got at the train. I noticed the fact that they sell Pocari Sweat (a Japanese sports drink) here, and saw two women have some. At the station I had chosen, many people left the train. Maybe, I had picked a good place to go out. I followed my fellow passengers to the exit, and when I got outside, I couldn't help but smile. I had done it! I had made it right into the center of the city.

Many people were on the streets. I passed a lot of restaurants, bars and stands were people were selling all kinds of food. I found an internet cafe quite soon, and headed in. I searched for a guesthouse to stay this night, and remembered the site of a Japanese man that had travelled around the world a few years ago (http://www.kakura.jp/hw/）. On his site, he has a page of the guesthouses he has stayed in, and it also says wether he recommends them or not. In Pusan, it said, there was a guesthouse called "Guesthouse for you". It was supposed to be a very pleasant place run by a Korean family that would serve you bread in bed in the morning. It was cheap, and located at the beautiful Gwangalli coast. I looked up the subway station I had to go to, and headed there immediately. When I arrived there, I had no problems with finding the coast. A beautiful coast with many bright neon-signs advertising hotels, motels, bars and restaurants, and a huge bridge crossed over the sea. Along my way, I saw many restaurants that served raw fish and other fish dishes, which are famous in the neighborhood, for as far as I have seen on the internet. But "Guesthouse for you" I could not find. It had to be here somewhere. My bag started to feel heavier and heavier. I strolled until the end of the coast, and then went back again where I had started. I went into an internet cafe again to see if I could find a telephone number or some directions. I found both. First, I looked for a telephone cell and called the guesthouse.
"Yeh?" I heard a woman speak.
I asked her if I was calling the "Guesthouse for you".
She talked back in Korean.
I asked the same question again.
She hung up.
I started to get a bit worried about all of this. Did that "Guesthouse for you" still exist? That Japanese guy had visited the place in 2002. A lot changes in 9 years. Big chance that they had stopped running the place years ago. I tried to follow the directions I had found on the internet. But there was nothing there. Well, I guess I have to stay in one of those motels then, I thought, and tried to wander back to the beach. But somehow, I had lost my way. I looked for one of those big resort Hotels. I thought I had found one, but when I came there, I found out that it was just some building that had nothing to do with the Gwangalli coast at all.
When I finally made it back, I first went into one of the restaurants there. The menu was only in Korean, and the clerk didn't speak any English either. I just pointed some dish, but the clerk somehow explained me that they could not serve me that.
"You choose for me" I said. And I think that he had understood me.
The food was very good. All sorts of Korean dishes such as Kimuchi and flavored beansprouts were served at first. Some of the dishes I knew from Korean restaurants in Japan, but others I had never seen before. There was, for example, a dish with crushed ice and flavored nori(seawead) on top of it. It sounds crazy, but tasted very good. The main dish appeared to be fried oysters. Also very good, but maybe a bit too much of them. When I left the restaurant, all I had left to do was search for a place to stay, which had been a problem for the whole day. I stepped in a very old, cheap looking motel. It had a typically Asian, dark and creepy atmosphere. The female clerk spitted something black out of her mouth, and wrote the price of one night on a paper. I almost had enough, but came a bit short. I showed her all my money, and she nodded. She gave me the key, and pointed me were I had to go. It was now around 12 or 1 midnight time, I finally had a place to sleep.