해동 용궁사 Haedong Yonggungsa Temple 海東龍宮寺 @Busan, South Korea

We left our hotel early to visit the beautiful 해동 용궁사 Haedong Yonggungsa Temple 海東龍宮寺 located by the gorgeous coastline (see the feature image above).

It was a 30-minute subway ride to 해운대 Haeundae Station 海雲臺站, followed by a 10-minute cab ride. It was already quite crowded when we arrived at 9am (the temple opens at 5am till sunset and there’s no admission charges).

We made our way through the stalls selling snacks, souvenirs, and even vegetables, before reaching the entrance. We were greeted by the stone statues of the 12 zodiac signs, plus many other stone figurines (some were seats!). There were also some beautiful cherry blossoms, and it was really pleasant 🙂

Despite the crowd, things were quite orderly. There were many statues and small figurines within the temple, and we found the visit quite interesting. The ocean view was really gorgeous, and we spent a fair bit of time enjoying the scenery. We’ll let the pictures do the talking 🙂

Gorgeous view

Statues of the 12 Zodiac Signs

Smiling Buddha

Temple on a cliff

Cave of mountain water

Pagoda

LIttle figurines

When we were done with the temple (and it was even more crowded now), we returned to the stalls, where we could not resist getting the super fragrant 오징어 (ojingeo) Squid 魷魚 for ₩6,000 (prices vary according to size, and we got the mid-sized one).

Fresh off the grill, the lovely flavours filled the entire mouth as we chewed on the squid, loved it!

Did a bit of window shopping, but we decided not to get anything as we did not want to lug stuff around for the rest of the day.

We left around 11:15am and took a 25-minute cab ride to 해운대시장 Haeundae Market 海雲臺市場 (₩9,800).

Directions:

• Walk straight out after Exit 7 of 해운대역 Haeundae Station 海雲臺站 (Subway Line 2, Station Number 203).
• Take Bus 181 (there was a signage at the bus stop indicating “Yonggungsa Temple”) and get off at Yonggungsa Temple Stop about 20 to 30 minutes later (there should be announcement in the bus). I think the bus fare is ₩1,200 for adults.
• You should be able to follow the signage, or you can probably just follow the crowd for the 10-minute up-slope walk.
• However, we felt that it was more economical, faster and more comfortable for the 4 of us to share a cab. There were a couple of cabs waiting near Exit 7. We showed the cab driver the guide book with pictures, and hopped into the cab after he nodded his head. The meter started at ₩2,800. The 10-minute cab ride was ₩7,900.