6. Busan, South Korea

I understand that there is some obscure regulation that states that a cruise ships cannot leave and return to its starting point unless it leaves the country....in our case, we pay a visit to Busan in South Korea before we return to Japan, if only for a few hours.

The immigration process was relatively quick and before too long we were looking around the local fish market which is rumoured to be the biggest in the world. All manner of sea creatures, some recognizable and some not, were in tanks and most were trying to escape. Those that did were quickly rounded up. 

From there, we moved on to the Lotte Mall as we knew there was an observation deck on the top floor. It was a great spot to take a few panoramic pictures of the city and stop for a coffee.

Lastly we headed into the centre of town and the street markets. Being an early Saturday evening, it was even more packed than usual and the locals were enjoying all manner of delicacies from the street food vendors.

We made it back to the ship 30 minutes before sailaway time.