Mike had the awesome idea of catching the fireworks from atop a mountain on Saturday. We would check out the village and temple at the mountaintop, and then gaze out at the sky as it was set ablaze.
I thought it was a fantastic idea; I imagined myself taking in the show alongside my new mountain goat friend, whom I would name Roger, with soju in hand--one bottle for me, and one bottle for him. We would bond over the soju, developing an almost telekinetic connection. I would feel his pain, and he would feel mine. He would be the Scooby to my Shaggy, the Bullseye to my Woody, the Yoshi to my Mario...you get the picture. We'd become best friends, setting off on one adventure after another.
Alas, though I'm sure deep down in my heart of hearts that Roger and I will one day meet and become brothers of the road, it didn't happen in Busan. When we got to the foot of the mountain, we were greated by a different four-legged creature, though: a cat. Or rather, we were greeted by an army of cats. It might as well have been called Crazy Cat Lady Mountain. They were everywhere! As we walked through the entrance trying to find the gondola that would take us up the mountain, I noticed a stray perched a little ways away, and I thought it a bit peculiar. And then we saw another one; and another one; and another.
At one point, we were certain we were about to see a standoff between a black and white cat and an orange cat. It was obviously a territorial battle; the two approached each other, staring each other down. A fur ball tumbleweed blew by as their tails danced in the wind like hypnotizing rattlesnakes ready to attack. Ultimately, though, the scene unraveled in anti-climactic fashion. The orange cat was far smaller than his opponent; he would've been bitch slapped across the face with a paw that was the size of his face; he'd be catnip for the giant fella, swallowed whole in one gulp. And so, the orange cat retreated with his tail between his legs.
Once we found the gondola, we paid for our ride and made our way up. I explained to everybody that, seeing how us brown folk don't particularly have an affinity for the slopes, this was my first time on a gondola. It was also Rob's, and he seemed a tad jumpy about the whole experience--particularly after Mike made a rather poorly timed comment about the rather sharp rocks directly below us.
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| Hellloooooo, Busan! |
I'm happy to say that we made it to the top alive. However, this is where our plans fell apart. It turned out that 1) the temple we were going to visit closed at 5:00--it was 5:00 at the time--and 2) the last gondola ride down the mountain was at 6:30. That meant we would have take the one-hour hike down the mountain after the fireworks in total darkness. Soju + dark and tiresome mountain hike + angry, tired, hungry, possibly horny mob of stray cats = not a good way to cap your night.
With our plans officially shattered, we sat atop a restaurant for a while and enjoyed a few swigs of soju before finally making our way back down on the last gondola of the night. During our ride down, as we drifted in the air, high among those very same sharp and jagged rocks we saw on our way up, we decided to have a conversation about the worst way to die for some reason. I have absolutely no recollection of how this happened, but it did, and I still stand by my decision of drowning.
Rob was also given an orange by a random stranger on our ride down after he saw Rob take a swig of his soju. He seemed to say that they go great with soju. I'll never tire of such courtesy and friendliness.
When we got to off the gondola at the bottom of the mountain and made our way towards the exit, we heard the angry cats come to life, ready to take over the night. We had to make a run for it; their numbers seemed to be getting bigger and bigger by the minute. There were cats coming out of every bush, tree branch, and hole in the ground. Above the stampede drifted a cloud of smoke that lifted up into the night air alongside their howls, which pierced the night sky and shook the moon and stars.
The mass was gaining on us despite our best efforts, until eventually, Lex bravely sacrificed himself to save the rest of us. "Tell Honey I love her, and that I died with honour!" he yelled out (except he said it without the 'u' because he's American) as a cat dug its claws into his eyes. He fell to the floor in agony and was immediately consumed by an array of coloured fur. His screams will live in my nightmares for years to come. We couldn't afford to look back, though; we said a prayer for him and continued on our way. The exit was in sight! We knew that once we got there we'd be safe.
Once we got to the other side, we sat in silence, thinking about our lost brother, Lex. What would we tell Honey and their 14 children? Molly, Lex Jr., Sarah, Thomas, William, and the rest--they would never see their father again.
Oh well. Such is life. Tough it up, kids.
We said another prayer and hailed a cab to Gwangalli Beach to catch the psychedelic illuminations of the fireworks.
The cabbie dropped us off as close to the beach as he could, considering that every foreigner and Korean in the city was making their way to the beach en masse. Random fireworks were let off from time to time despite the fact that the show wasn't supposed to start for another 15 minutes, and I felt the sound reverberate through my chest cavity. It was going to be a great show!
We cut through some random alley, possibly shaving 10 or so minutes off our time, and made it to the beach with ten or so minutes to spare. From 8:00 to 8:30, as we stood shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the crowd, we were treated to a visual display unlike anything I've ever seen in my life. I thought North Korea was invading or something.
The fireworks shot up from Gwangan Bridge, which spans across the beach. A rainbow of dandelions exploded in the sky, followed by red sparkling snow flakes that floated down to blanket the crowd. The sky was exploding, man! The musical numbers added an awesome dramatic flair to the whole experience. It was a relentless 30 minute spectacle. Though I didn't see fireworks quite like Gandalf's dragon fireworks in Lord of the Rings, I was still blown away.
Unfortunately, I didn't snap any pictures, as I was too busy eating the sky with my eyes. However, if you Google Image search for "Busan Fireworks Festival," you'll get an idea for what I saw. Ain't it prrty?!
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True story
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