3-Day Busan, Gyeongju Tour by KTX & Temple Stay

Seoul - Busan Pick up at your Hotel → Take a KTX train to Busan → Choi Min-Shik Gallery → Gamcheon Culture Village / Tombstone Village → Jagalchi fish market → UN Memorial Park → Drop off at your Hotel

Seoul station A pickup at your hotel starts your trip with a transfer to Seoul Station, where the train is ready to carry you to Busan. After the ride across the South Korean countryside, You will get to Busan station and meet your guide, set out to visit some of the most storied sights around.

Choi Min-Shik Gallery Choi Min-Shik is the first-generation documentary photographer who photographed ordinary people with tough lives emanating from war and poverty. He aroused sympathy from the world by photographing ordinary people's tough lives and underprivileged people during the modernization of Busan with the theme 'Human'. His black/white photos capture the moments of people in a very vivid way. Every single one of his photographs is portraits that are Koreans in Busan streets. His gallery overlooks the Amidong Tombstone village from the top of the hill.

Amidong Tombstone Village The stairs and the walls in this village are different from what you normally see. They are all tombstones. That's why the village is called Tombstone culture village. People began living here in tents since 1951 during the Korean War. When it became more settled, the tents became too small, so people began building on top of Japanese graves. This Village is right next to Gamchon culture village. From this village, the entire city of Busan can be seen.

Gamcheon Culture village Gamcheon was a refuge for many people fleeing to Busan during the Korean War. The creative urban regeneration project started in 2010 and the success of the project attracts 1,400,000 Korean and foreign tourists to the village annually. It's earning this village the nickname of "Machu Picchu of Busan."

Jagalchi fish market Jagalchi fish market mainly deals with live and freshly caught seafood. Fish and shellfish are caught daily and sold fresh to consumers, almost right off the boat. The area is lined with tanks containing all sorts of fish, eels, squid, shellfish, and mollusks. Some areas have workers preparing seafood for long term storage. You can watch as the fish get scaled, beheaded, chopped up, and dumped in a box of ice, all in record time.

UN Memorial Park The UN Memorial Cemetery is a well administered, beautifully maintained final resting place for many allied soldiers who died during the Korean War. If you have time during your visit to Busan, drop in for a couple of hours and walk around this solemn but magnificent place.

Busan Pick up at your Hotel → Haeundae Beach → Dongbaek Island → Haedong Yonggungsa Temple → Templestay at Beomeasa Temple

Haeundae Beach Haeundae Beach is the most popular beach in South Korea, with 1 million visitors a day during the summer season. Offering various water sports activities, festivals, concerts, and parties, Haeundae Beach is a destination worth visiting for an exciting getaway!

Dongbaek Island There is Dongbaek Island at the western end of Haeundae beach. Dongbaek is translated into Camellia which is growing in islands of southern provinces and southern coastal areas of Korea blossoming around March., of which the leaves are thick and glossy maintaining dark green color through 4 seasons. There is Nurimaru APEC house, around a three-story building exclusively built for the final summit meeting for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in the island.

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple Haedong Yonggungsa Temple is situated on the coast of the north-eastern portion of Busan. This superb attraction offers visitors the rare find of a temple along the shore line; most temples in Korea are located in the mountains.

Temple stay at Beomeosa Temple in Busan (Day 1) Templestay is a cultural experience program for a better understanding of Korean traditional culture and Korean Buddhism. This short templestay including chanting, meditation, conversation over tea, Buddhist meals will give you a new perspective on your life. Do nothing but relax. The temple will become a shelter for your fatigued mind and body and will give you renewed energy. With the rest-oriented templestay program, stress-free vacation for your mind, you can have a chance to center yourself. Away from your busy daily routine, breathe in nature and restore your life force through meditation and Buddhist ceremonies. 15:00-15:50 Arrival & Check-in 16:00-17:00 Orientation(Temple Etiquette & Self-introduction) 17:00-17:50 Dinner Offering(casual buffet-style veggie meal) 18:30-19:10 4 Buddhist Instruments Performance & Evening Chanting Ceremony 19:30-20:30 108 Prostrations 21:00-06:00 Bed Time * This program is available on weekends.

Busan - Gyeongju - Seoul Templestay at Beomeasa Temple → Pick up at Beomeasa Temple → Move to Gyeongju → Tumuli park → Gyeongju National Museum → Bulguksa Temple → Seokguram Grotto → Take a KTX train to Seoul → Drop off at your hotel in Seoul(around 9PM)

Temple stay at Beomeosa Temple in Busan (Day 2) Since Beomeosa is built on a mountain slope, the temple buildings are arranged on three elevations of the mountain, low, middle and high. As a result of this kind of geometric placement of the buildings, the temple has a certain coziness about it.

- The first thing that you’ll notice as you step into Beomeosa is the substantial Iljoomoon (One Pillar Gate). The gate is built upon four gigantic foundation stones, and with a majestic roof crowning the top, from any perspective it looks just like a practicing monk, standing with an unmoving mind regardless of what appears. Once you set foot in the Daeoongjeon (Main Buddha Hall), you can really sense the devotion of many people over the years. It’s certainly true of the people you see ardently chanting and praying in the Buddha Hall, and it’s also true of the meticulously depicted wall paintings that cover every corner of the building’s interior. If you haven’t sat in the Buddha Hall and carefully examined the incredible details of the interior, you can’t really say you’ve been to Beomeosa

In accordance with the temple’s status as the main Seon temple in the region, Beomeosa’s Templestay program has practiced as its central focus. The standard program features chanting services, 108 prostrations, Dado (tea ceremony), and has a strong emphasis on meditation. Aside from these programs, there are hiking and other special Temple programs. 06:00-06:25 Wake up, Wash up & Dress-up 06:30-07:00 Breakfast Offering(casual buffet-style veggie meal) 07:00-08:20 Walking to a hermitage(small temple) 08:20-09:00 Handcraft(Decorating an Eco-bag) 09:00-10:00 Chatting with Monk and drinking tea 10:00-11:00 Closing * This program is available on weekends.

Tumuli park After completing the temple stay program at Bangeosa Temple in Busan, it moves to Gyeongju, the capital of the ancient kingdom for a thousand years. Visit the Tumuli park. It has more than 20 large and small tombs from the Shilla period. The tombs are presumed to be those of kings and court officials. Most of them are earthen and mound-shaped. Some double gourd-shaped ones are for the joint burial of a husband and wife. As those excavated were all found to be stone-pilled wood-lined chamber type, most of the tombs here are presumed to be of the same type. During the excavations of chenmachong and Hwangnamchong , numerous artifacts (including a gold crown, gold girdles, gold and silver personal ornaments, horse fittings, and weapons) were uncovered.

Gyeongju National Museum Arguably the best history museum in Korea, the Gyeongju National Museum is where you can appreciate the significance of this ancient city in one fell swoop. The main archaeological hall has dazzling displays of jewelry, weaponry and other ceremonial items from the Shilla dynasty, including a 5th-century gold crown

Bulguksa Temple Declared a World Cultural Asset by UNESCO, the temple holds many national treasures that it accumulated throughout its long history. Bulguksa Temple, or the Temple of Buddha’s Kingdom, has so many meanings in every structure and every arrangement. According to the Buddhist point of view, each section of the temple represents the world of enlightenment; Daewoongjeon represents the World of Enlightenment where the Sakyamuni Buddha dwells, the Geukrakjeon area represents the Land of Happiness, and the Birojeon area the World of Lotus Sanctuary where the Vairocana Buddha dwells.

Seokguram Grotto Seokguram Grotto is a hermitage that is part of the Bulguksa temple complex. The grotto overlooks the East Sea and rests 750 meters above sea level. It holds some of the best Buddhist sculptures in the world, including the main Buddha. Construction lasted from 742 to 774. Inside the round-shaped main hall are the Bonjon Statue, Bodhi-sattva, and his disciples. The Bonjon figure wearing a generous smile is seated on the stage engraved with a lotus flower design. As the sunrise from this spot is quite beautiful, many people climb the mountain at daybreak