17 March 2015
On the bus
Taking the bus from Busan to Gwangju
Today I caught a bus to Gwangju, the smallest city I will be visiting with a population of only 1.5 million people.
As discussed above, I had no ticket, and no certainty I was going to the right station.
So I turned up, saw a sign clearly saying Gwangju 10:10, walked to the window, said GWANGJU, paid my $14, went and stood at bay number 4, and got on the bus.
3.5 hours later on a very luxurious bus, I arrived in Gwangju.
There were only 4 other people on this bus, so I dont think the service is breaking even, not that I care, its the only bus I need on this trip, so if they go broke right now, so be it.
The bus had wifi, scultpted seats like my car with a spacious 2x1 configuration, and a TV that showed where you are and how long to go.
It also had a tv showing Korean tv, which you could plug your headphones in and listen to, however the show featured girls trying on glasses, then laughing, followed by a studio audience cheering and applauding and giving a score.
I dont think the sound was going to add to that too much.
The bus stuck to the freeways, so no towns were visited, we stopped at roadside services which were numerous and of a high quality, reminded my of the ones in England.
Arriving in Gwangju, unfortunately the bus station is far from the subway, and far from my hotel, so I had to walk to the subway for about 30 minutes, past the Kia car factory.
My bag is quite heavy, and the wheels on it are not great, the bricks on the road I took were uneven, and the curb to cross each street was not roller case friendly, so it was quite the expedition. Still I avoided the taxi system which is a bonus.
For my hotel here, I had booked a single room, in one of only 2 hotels I could find that would take online booking in English. The photos had a single bed against a wall. To my surpise I have a huge room, much like the one in Daegu, only bigger, and with a window.
The hotel only has 40 rooms, but despite that, it has 2 levels of day spa, a German beer hall, 2 coffee shops, a Japanese restaurant, a Karaoke bar with private booths and a Korean nightclub of sorts. I will use none of these features.
They also have only 1 lift, and a concierge who is annoying in that he insists on opening every door and pushing every button for you. I walked in with a bottle of water just now and he took it off me and carried it for me to the lift, and handed it back to me.
Now for some fairly boring photos.
Before I set off to the bus station, I had a walk around the local market at 7am. Its enormous.
This is a train station near my hotel in Busan, that is now very rarely used. Theres a very sad looking dunkin donuts store in there, and no people. It is for the old trains, and even then I think its a spur line only.
I thought it was a great photo though, through dirty glass.
The other side of the unused station is another market, just as huge, just as busy.
I saw an argument between 2 men pushing trolleys full of strawberries who met head on. One would have to reverse to let them pass. This situation was unresolved as I left.
Now the ticket hall of the bus station. I thought I was in the wrong place, its too small and uncrowded. I was expecting chaos.
There were at least 100 busses lined up outside waiting for people, but no people. Very strange.
My bus however was there.
Spacious, clean, quiet, comfortable and most importantly, cheap.
I bought snacks for the journey, but ate them all before the bus pulled out of the station.
We stopped at the roadside services, which was great, because I could urinate, and buy more snacks. I leave out no details.
The key point here, there are no toilets on the bus.
I would have liked to eat something better, but I had no idea how long we would be here, the driver shouted something out in Korean, and I kept an eye on one of the 4 other passengers to make sure I wasnt last back on.
The Gwangju bus station is huge, and very modern. They only have one. Too bad they have placed it nowhere near anything useful, like the subway. There were over 9000 taxis though, I taunted them by wheeling my suitcase past them all.
A crooked shot of the local Kia car factory. Impressive looking, but no cars in the yard waiting to be exported.
This is the outside of my hotel. It advertises that it has a rowdy Pocha, which is a beer hall tent. Awesome.
Now, room shot number 1. The bed manages to be harder than granite. It is now made of pure carbonite.
Bathroom has a plethora of shower controls.
And room shot number 2, with lotions, potions, and many remotes. One of the remotes controls the lights, air con, do not disturb sign, disco ball.