Photo Blog - Masan

Here is the last batch of photos from my week off. I traveled out to Masan (near by city) to take in the sights there and to try to get a feel for that city.

Masan is about 16 Km (10 miles) from Changwon, center to center. Masan is about 1/3rd the size of Changwon (pop. 200,000) and is a significantly older city than Changwon. It does have the feel of older Korea and that is also represented well in the architecture and structure of the buildings. Most are 3-5 stories tall and there aren't many of the apartment complexes that you see in Changwon (though they are building a lot). The town has a more "country" feel compared to Changwon's "urban" sort of feel. I can only imagine what Seoul (pop 20 million) and Busan (pop 7 million) are like, however I feel one word would be "cramped" ...

http://s621.photobucket.com/albums/tt294/brown-pitt/Photo%20Blog%20-%20Masan/

I traveled to Masan mostly by public transportation and I have to say that its a lot better than what I've experienced in the US. The buses were on time and most of the bus stops had a computer screen in them telling you what the next bus was and how long it would take to get to you. I know that would be convenient in Pittsburgh (save playing the "well maybe something will come along" game). The only major downfall that I found with the public transport was that the buses were all manual transmission; while they are great for fuel economy, you also get shift shock (especially first to second) coupled with people standing. Lets just say that people get thrown about a bit so you really need to pay attention.