A panorama shot of Pusan. Pusan is a crowded, noisy, vibrant Asian city of four million people, squashed between granite mountains and the sea. It's Korea's largest port with a very busy, heavily used waterfront and more seafood than you can shake a stick at. The tall tower in the foreground is the Observation Tower in Yongdusan (Dragon's Head) Park. At the foot of Yongdusan Park is the downtown area and Nampodong shopping district. To the right of the red bridge in the foreground is the dockyard area, Chalgalchi Fish Market and Texas Street. My Institute is located in Changjongdong, which is not in the picture.

Chalgalchi Fish Market. Best sushi place in Pusan.

Nampodong Underground Market.....

...and Nampodong aboveground. Nampodong is the main market area and theatre district; the buildings on the left are theatres, always packed, usually showing foreign (american) movies.

Nampodong is an incredible place. In a ten-minute walk you can see literally thousands of faces, and you can buy anything from ginseng to tailored suits to puppies. But the best part is the ever-changing panorama of faces and people from all over the world...Koreans, Chinese, Indians, Russians, Indonesians, Japanese, Canadian...

On the foodstands in the foreground have piles of french fries in the back. The triangular-shaped things with strings hanging off them in the front are dried barbecued squid and cuttlefish. Korea is a lousy place to be if you are any kind of marine life. When I first saw dried barbecued squid - there are squid vendor stands everywhere - they looked like something out of the movie Alien.

But they taste just like chicken. Honest!



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