It's funny how life drives me around this adventure path, which of course I follow eagerly to see what's the next crazy experience it has prepared for me. This time it was a quite spontaneous, colorful and fun trip to Busan, South Korea.

While working on my computer, a Google's doodle of the day popped open, and as curious as I am, when I saw all the colors in each letter, I couldn't help but open and see what is was about. It turned out, that it was Holi Hai in India, a day in which friendship and equality are celebrated throwing colors, hugging everyone and forgetting about your differences.

The idea of it resonated in my head - "How AMAZING?! I want to be there!" -. Luckily after that, facebook showed me an event tour to Holi Hai festival and Cherry Blossoms Festival in Busan, being held that same weekend.

On Saturday morning, my friends and I headed towards Daejeon, where we would be meeting with the tour group. We didn't expect to see that much people (4 buses packed with almost 150 tourists, the majority of them teachers). We got inside our bus and started the 6-hour ride to Jinhae, the southernmost part of Korea, where we arrived at 1pm.

Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival

Jinhae is known to be one of the top destinations for Cherry Blossom season. And it truly was a wonderful thing to witness. Strong applause for nature!
Hundreds of trees gathered together making an extraordinary path for tourists to go through. Couples and families taking selfies below raindrops of petals carried by the wind. Lots of stalls welcoming visitors to try Korean tastes, games and other experiences.

We first visited the Gyeonghwa Station, then we headed to Jehwangsan Park, where the main festival was taking place.

It was really nice! Many kinds of street food, fair games, goood prices, and a very good atmosphere.




And oh, the Yeojwacheon Stream... the most romantic spot according to Pinterest pictures. There we encountered thousands of people fighting for a chance to take a selfie in the "lovers bridge". All the place was completely packed with people. Maybe we didn't choose a good hour to visit, who knows?



So after 2 hours we headed to our final destination:

Holi Hai Festival, Busan

Arriving almost at 7pm, and trying to find our way to our no-bed motel, Yes, we had to sleep on the floor... we left our stuff there and headed towards a Vietnamese restaurant to meet some of the other tourists. Then, we decided to go to the beach, where we were able to appreciate the beautiful Gwangan Bridge (광안리해수욕장), along with some music, special fireworks and delicious flavored soju.


Next morning was the true party! We went to Haeundae Beach (해운대해수욕장), where they welcomed us with colored dust, a holi cap, and some delicious samosas.

Haeundae Beach, Busan

The countdown started and everyone was lost in a sea of colors, laughs, bollywood music, dancing and celebration of life. There was nothing else besides that moment. Why is it so fun to throw paint at each other?!

Holi Hai festival, Busan 2016

Everyone was so friendly and open. We met amazing people from places like India, Singapur, China, New York, etc. After finishing the party, and still with the Holi Hai spirit inside, we went to try some more Indian food, which btw I totally loved!


And as amazing and caring as God is, it didn't start raining until we were inside the bus heading back home, despite the 100% chance of raining during the festival that everybody was talking about. And so we left the rainbow color trail behind, carrying only our new memories and dirty clothes, and headed back to Gongju.