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Wednesday, May 6, 2009

A Stop In Pusan Korea

We had another interesting stop in Busan or Pusan as we call it in English. The customs and Immigration health screening consisted of a thermal check as we all went ashore. The port itself is the 5Th busiest in the world and after seeing it we can appreciate that fact. One thing that they do there is to build ships and there were some very large ones under construction.
   Our tour consisted of a 4 hours trip to as Buddhist Temple quite far out of the city. There are so many bays and hills around that the trip takes a long time. The temple itself was very interesting as we learned about the 4 levels required to reach Nirvana. It was Children's day in Korea (another country another holiday) and the place was decorated with lanterns of many bright colours. The guide was very knowledgeable and did an excellent job explaining the various buildings and symbols of the place. After that we headed back to the city and made a stop at The United Nations Cemetery which has the sites for the fallen of the 16 nations that fought in the Korean War. Canada had a large plot with many from the Princess Pat and Canadian Regiments interned there. It was a very interesting place. After that it was back to the city and the ship. We wanted to take the shuttle downtown but the amount of time was limited. The day ended with a traditional Korean Drum Ceremony. It was a much smaller scale than the one in Japan. Speaking of Japan they have started immigration procedures for our visit although it is days away.
    Today is a sea day - finally a sleep in. We enjoyed the line dancing this morning. Veronica did an excellent job teaching 3 new dances. We were happy not to spend the whole time doing the electric slide. The ballroom Swing class was very difficult. I can't move my feet that fast. Now it is just relax waiting to eat again, which we just finished. Vladivostok Russia tomorrow. I am looking forward to see the train station of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. It is at the end of the line. Cheers

1 comment:

Remo and Sylvia said...

Hi All:

Nice yo hear that you are actually getting through customs after hearing that several Cdn groups have been put in quaranteen.

Sounds like you are on a pretty hectic schedule but managing to cope. Remember the weight needs to be taken off when you get back

By the way, that trip map you posted is so small I will need to get my glasses changed in order to read it.

Take care & have fun. Remo