Actually I have no plan of visiting Busan. The only reason I made a sleep-over in Busan is because I wanted to visit Jinhae cherry blossom. Jinhae is about 1 hour by bus from Busan. However after having visited some of Busan tourist spots the previous day and today, I kinda fall in love with Busan. π
Today is the day we visited Jinhae.
Morning walk in Busan city to Seomyeon subway.
This is Seobu Intercity Bus Terminal. To come here by subway, stop at Sasang metro. Go to exit 5. The bus terminal is on your left. You can also travel to Jinhae by train but I believe this is more convenient because to travel by rail you need to change 2 or 3 trains along the way.
Very clean and spacious bus terminal. Not smelly at all like our Malaysia’s bus terminals.
There is a English speaking counter, so purchasing bus ticket is fairly easy.
Looking at the bus schedule to Jinhae, bus is available to Jinhae from 6am to 10pm daily with frequency between 15-20 minutes. There is no need to made reservation earlier as there are plenty of buses to Jinhae daily.
Bus tickets from Busan to Jinhae (1 way) at 5,100 won per pax.
Bus to Jinhae at platform 17.
The bus that we took to Jinhae made several stops and finally after an hour bus ride, we reached Jinhae. Jinhae is a district in Changwon city. In 2014, the 52nd Jinhae Gunhangje kicked off on 1st April to 10th April. We’re here in Jinhae on the 9th of April. Two of the must visit places in Jinhae for cherry blossom are Yeojwa Stream μ¬μ’μ² and Gyeonghwa Station κ²½νμ. So we’re going to visit this 2 places.
This is the food stalls at Jinhae cherry blossom festival. As it was early, there are no customers yet.
We made a pit-stop at this old Korean post office.
Jinhae post office. Sent a couple of letters home. π
We took a leisurely walk to Yeojwa Stream. The whole town is painted with cherry blossom trees.
Can you see those petal-less cherry blossom? We’re a little late for the cherry blossom hence I didn’t put too much expectation on it.
Map of happenings for the 52nd Jinhae Gunhangje Cherry Blossom Festival.
Half-way to Yeojwa Stream we were kinda lost, so we asked a passerby. Instead of telling us where to go, she brought us there (not all the way… but until the junction where we reach Yeojwa Stream).
Finally arriving at Yeojwa Stream 20 minutes later.
This is Yeojwa Stream. Two rows of cherry blossom trees lining along Yeojwa Stream with golden rapeseed flowers besides the running water.
As we go inner into the stream, some of the cherry blossom trees are still in full bloom but they have passed their peak.
So pretty!
This is Jinhae Train Station. After Yeojwa Stream, we walked to the bus stop opposite Jinhae Train Station. From there we catch a bus to Gyeonghwa Station. Bus ticket cost us 1,200 won per person.
Gyeonghwa is a working small railway station in Jinhae.
How cool is that for a railway station with rows of cherry blossom trees by the track? Too bad no train pass by when we were there or else the whole place will be filled with flying cherry blossom petals due to the train breeze.
Us at Gyeonghwa Station… enjoying the magnificent view.
Wow!
Then we took the bus back to Jinhae Train Station and walked back to Jinhae Gunhangje Festival where we had our lunch at one of the food stalls.
Roast pork anyone?
Sanchae bibimbap (wild vegetables mixed rice) @ 6,000 won (RM18.00). So-so only.
Squid sundae @ 20,000 won (RM60.00). That’s grilled squid with filling though we don’t know what filling they use. I can only guess maybe fish paste? This is my least favorite of all the food I tried in this Korea trip. Expensive and not nice. π
Cherry blossom trees along the road. After lunch we walked back to the bus terminal to return to Busan.
This is Jinhae Intercity Bus Terminal.
We purchased our tickets and then head to the toilet. Little did we know something interesting is going to happen.
Buses from Jinhae to Busan from 6am to 9.30pm daily with bus frequency 15-20 mins.
Bus ticket from Jinhae to Busan (Sasang) @ 5,100 won (RM15.30).
Okay so after heading to the toilet, I saw our bus has arrived so I quickly called my mom and sis to hurry. We managed to get on the bus. BUT less than a minute later, my mom realized she has forgotten our extra bag (bag with our drinks, scarves and sweater). She left it hanging behind the toilet door! So very quickly I walked to the bus driver and told him ‘Gabang’ and point back to the bus terminal. Gabang means bag. He understood and let us off and returned our tickets to us. Thankfully we’re really not far away from the bus terminal. Hurriedly we walked back and managed to retrieve our bag. And then luckily we have another bus waiting right away at the terminal. Lesson learned. We told each other not to do anything in a hurry and do everything slowly instead.
So that’s it for part 1 of day 5. Part 2 will come slower as my laptop is currently being repaired. I’m writing this using my sis’ laptop. And since she has no photoshop, I can’t ‘beautify’ my photos. Hahaha These photos I’m posting were edited right before my laptop went kaput.
My South Korea travelogue so far…
Incheon + Jeju-do Self Drive Day 1: MAS, Car Rental & Jeju Cherry Blossom Festival
Jeju-do Self Drive Day 2: Yeongsil Trail at Hallasan National Park (Part 1)
Jeju-do Self Drive Day 2: Jusangjeolli Cliff, Yongmeori Coast & Cheonjiyeon Falls (Part 2)
Jeju-do Self Drive Day 3: Yilin Pension & Seongsan Ilchulbong (Part 1)
Jeju-do Self Drive Day 3: Seopjikoji & Seongeup Folk Village (Part 2)
Jeju-do + Busan Day 4: Bye Jeju, Dynamic Guesthouse, Cherry Blossom at Dalmaji Road, Haeundae Beach & Gwangalli Beach
Photos from Nikon D80 and Panasonic TZ-7.
27 Comments
It seems to me like your main aim for this Korea trip is to see cherry blossoms! LOL!
Oh yes. That was definitely my main aim. I wrote it in my prologue at the start of this trip that cherry blossom is one of the reason. π
Really clean bus terminal! Don’t mention abut Malaysia – impossible to even compare haha!
Hahahaha
Oh! Your mom left her bag!! Luckily you managed to get it back! Yes, yes, never hurry. Miss one bus is OK can take another provided the bus is frequent and not like buses in Malaysia lah must wait for 2 hours! LOL!
Luckily it’s not our handbag that we left behind.
Gosh!! Didn’t realised I missed so many posts!!! LOL! OK OK take your time to repair your computer. I need a short break before the next part! Haha.
Gorgeous pics of the cherry blossoms, especially those by the stream. Is English used at all in Korea? I don’t see a word of English. Probably like China, Japan all are in its own language.
Yes English is used in Korea but sparsely. I guess like you said somewhat similar to China and Japan.
Hello,
Happy Chap Goh May! Very nice shooting.
Thanks for your sharing and good info for me .
Hi Mee Kuan, Happy Chap Goh Mei to you too.
Thank you. Glad I can share my travel infos. π
Hi,
Where should we wait for the bus back to jinhae train station from Β Gyeonghwa Station? Izzit at the same place we alighted ? Thanks.
Hi, you take the bus back to Jinhae Train at the opposite road you alighted.
Hi are there lockers at Jinhae Bus Terminal?
Hi Angelina, I’m not sure.
How many hours you recomend us to spend in jinhae to enjoy all cherry blossom?
Hi Sista, hmm about 3-5 hours is enough I guess. It also depends whether you stop for lunch and drinks.
Hi, when exactly you visit jinhae? May i know ur visit date.
Thanks.
Hi, I went to Jinhae on the 2nd week of April. It was a little late for peak cherry blossom viewing.
Hi, I’d like to ask how long you walked from Jinhae intercity bus terminal to Jinhae festival area ? Was it around 30 minutes or more ?
Hi Vina, if you don’t stop for scenery, I believe you can reach there in less than 30 minutes. For our case, I think it was around 30-40 minutes.
Hi! do you remember the bus number to gyeonghwa station? and how many stops were there?
Hi Nurin, from Jinhae Train Station (μ§ν΄μ) to Gyeonghwa Station (κ²½νμ), take bus no. 307. Get off at stop no. 9. Since it was 3 years ago, I’m not sure if they change the bus route or not. So to be save, at the Jinhae Train Station bus stop, refer to the bus route signboard. Double confirm my info (jot down the Hangul writing I provided) so you can compare the name. The best thing is since it’s cherry blossom season, there will be many people going there. So sometimes, you can just follow the crowds. π
Your tips were very helpful! Thank you so much! We could easily find our way to Jinhae after reading your post!
Hi Maria, you’re most welcome! Hope you had a great time there. π
Hi Che-Cheh
How many days do you think is enough to spend at Hanok culture village ? I was thinking to book a homestay for 1 night.
Hi, do you mean Bukchon Hanok Village? I recommend at least 2 nights. I stayed 1 night, and wished I had stayed longer.