Day 16. Korean National Maritime Museum, Busan

On By Little Miss TravellerIn Asia, South Korea, South Korea 2018

We woke to the sound of heavy rain beating on the bedroom windows so it was fortunate that we still had one museum we wished to visit during our stay in Busan.  After a breakfast of dumplings, eggs, fruit and yogurt we set off for the nearby Seomyeon metro station with our umbrellas at the ready.

Korean National Maritime Museum, Busan
Korean National Maritime Museum, Busan

Getting to the Maritime Museum necessitated a train along Line 1 to Nampo followed by a No.66 bus from outside exit 6.  Numerous buses go the museum from bus stops near Yeongdodaegyo Bridge (buses 30, 66, 88, 101, 113 and 115) but only bus 66 (every 30 minutes) stops outside.

Korean National Maritime Museum, Busan
View out to sea from the Maritime Museum, Busan

The Korean National Maritime Museum opened in 2012 and is the third largest museum in Korea, with admittance being free.  The exhibition halls are spacious which was just as well as everyone else seemed to have had the same idea as us of visiting the museum on a wet Sunday morning.

 

Korean National Maritime Museum, Busan
Marine tunnel, Maritime Museum, Busan

We started our self guided tour in the Underwater Cultural Heritage from Wando gallery which displays approximately 3,000 ceramic relics excavated from the sea.  Moving on to the next gallery, Underwater Culture – 14th century ships, we found glass cabinets containing crockery, jewellery and trinkets relating to the maritime trade in east Asia 700 years ago.

Korean National Maritime Museum, Busan
Walking through the marine tunnel, Maritime Museum, Busan

This section on the life of a Korean fishing village was very interesting as it described the traditional fishing techniques and living conditions of those times.  A further section then compared the fishing methods of today with those of the past.  The final section was my favourite and covered the development of Korean shipping and shipbuilding with several scale models on display, the roles of the navy and a section devoted to Port of Busan.

Korean National Maritime Museum, Busan
Model of container port, Maritime Museum, Busan

Within each gallery we found numerous hands-on activities and simulators making the visit a fun, learning experience.  Surprisingly for a maritime museum there is also a small aquarium where visitors can observe aquatic creatures from a glass tunnel.

Korean National Maritime Museum, Busan
Dinghy simulator, Maritime Museum, Busan

It was still raining heavily as we left the museum so we dashed across the road to catch the No.66 bus back to Nampo station.  Deciding to remain indoors as much as possible, we caught a train to Centum City changing lines at Seomyeon station.

Guiness World Record Certificate at the Shinsegae Centum City Department Store, Busan
Guiness World Record Certificate at the Shinsegae Centum City Department Store, Busan

We had come to visit the Shinsegae Centum City Department Store which is registered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest shopping complex in the world.  In addition to shopping, visitors can also visit numerous cinemas, an ice rink, spa and golf driving range.

Shinsegae Centum City Department Store, Busan
Shinsegae Centum City Department Store, Busan

Over the next couple of hours we wandered through sections of the store pausing for some lunch in one of the food courts.  We enjoyed looking around the homeware department where we found huge Samsung fridges with large drawers at the base for storing kimchi (Korean fermented vegetables) at the correct temperature.  I had thought they were salad drawers until an obliging assistant explained they were meant for kimchi with salad drawers located above them.

Portmeirion Pottery popular in South Korea
Portmeirion Pottery on display in the store

There was also a large display of Portmeirion Botanic Garden tableware which we use at home every day.  This iconic range has now been in production for over 40 years and continues to be popular.  I was surprised but pleased to note that this range is a favourite of the South Korean’s with the third highest sales outside the US and UK.

Deciding to leave Shinsegae, it took absolutely ages to find our way out, making trips to IKEA a breeze.  The metro station is located under the department store but as Shinsegae has numerous basement levels and is so big it was like a maze trying to find it, a few signs in English would have been very helpful!

Seomyeon, Busan
The neon lights of Seomyeon, Busan

Back in Seomyeon we did some more shopping in a branch of Daiso which is a Japanese homeware store whose aim is for shoppers to find surprises and fun.  It stocks almost every useful household item you could possibly want along with lots of things we never knew existed and probably don’t actually need.  Of course, seeing these ‘new items’ we realised we couldn’t possibly manage without some of them and bought all sorts of odds and ends to fit into our suitcases to take back home!

Korean barbecue
Enjoying our final Korean barbecue of the holiday

It was still raining later in the evening when we ventured out for our final evening meal in Busan.  After wandering through the neon lit streets of Seomyeon awhile we settled on going into one of the Korean barbecue restaurants.  It was a perfect way to savour our time in South Korea and possibly the last time in awhile we’d be eating Kimchi, the Korean favourite side dish!

If you have enjoyed reading this post you may also like:

Taejongdae Park, Busan and a visit to Nampo

Haeundae Beach, Busan, South Korea

Suggested accommodation in Busan:

Arban Hotel, Busan, South Korea

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56 thoughts on “Day 16. Korean National Maritime Museum, Busan”

  1. Pingback: Day 17. Korail Busan to Seoul, South Korea – Love Travelling Blog

  2. Pingback: Day 3.  A Day in Tallinn – Love Travelling Blog

  5. The Maritime Museum was in the planning stages, when I was about to leave Korea, in 1992. I will make a point of visiting it, when i return to Korea, possibly as early as next Spring- when son and daughter-in-law have a religious ceremony to cement their marriage vows.

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  15. Loving your posts on Korea, it looks better and better. Maritime museum looks amazing, everything still looks spotless. Not sure about the worlds biggest shopping centre but it would be an experience to see it. Looked like a fabulous holiday.

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  17. Thanks for taking us along. Love wandering Department stores also, did Harrods in London a while back, $$$$$ crazy! The wife bought a shopping bag with the Harrods name sewn into it, $17.00 US. Off to Airport in Philadelphia to P/U the little women in a few hours, returning from Germany. Peace!

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  21. I have enjoyed reading your articles on South Korea. I knew they were streets ahead of us (in Oz) on technology and shipping, but didn’t realise the beauty of the Seoul and Busan. You have certainly opened my eyes; and I’m amazed at how organised and indefatigable you are with each day’s itinerary.

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