20 March 2015
Last stop
The slow bullet train from Gwangju to Seoul
Now I am in Seoul, it will be my last stop on this trip. Well except for my 6 hour stopover in Hong Kong airport due to a flight being changed on me after I booked.
Anyway, getting from Gwangju to Seoul involved the bullet train, the slow bullet. It took 3 hours. A new line between Dajeon (the one big city in Korea I am not visiting) and Gwangju is due to open next month, which will make it 300kmph the whole way, until then, it goes much slower for 2/3 of the trip.
Next to me on my train I had a serious business man, he had solid gold cuff links, and when his phone would ring, he would bark 2 words, then put his phone down without hanging up assuming whoever is on the other end would, then he would go back to dying of lung cancer. Seriously, he was having issues breathing. He had a cool watch though, diamonds floating in it. I should have robbed him.
Getting to my hotel in Seoul was no problem, its just 50 metres from a subway station, however the hotel is dated. The rooms predate electricity. What powerpoints they do have, have been retrofitted, hanging loose from a hole in the wall, finding them was another story.
The room is setup so that you cannot access any powerpoint at all apart from the bathroom. Not to worry, I dismantled the furniture to get behind it and unplugged a useless lamp.
When I leave, I will make sure I do not plug that back in.
Fast wifi though!.
Not a lot of photos today, because no one wants to see photos of trains and train stations.
The Gwangju high speed rail station is under construction. Its only half built, even the tracks were being laid in the station area.
Which means this is all the retail there is on offer. Mister Donut though. I bought some mixed nuts from the convenience store. The packet showed real nuts, inside were those processed peanut ball things and sesame crackers.
Heres my train. I took this photo a day after yet another rapper died making his debut superstar video for youtube on the train tracks. 2nd in a month. Luckily I did not fall in front of the train.
The station in Seoul is much much larger, and its the secondary station, just a few hundred metres from the main Seoul station.
It is called Yongsan, I went here on my last trip, I didnt have much to photograph today and I was too early to check in, so I walked down the street to take a photo of this concrete cube building.
This is my room in all its powerless glory. I have an extra bed in case I want to invite someone over for a happy fun sleepover, Korean style.
Bathroom looks better in pictures than in person.
My room may be underwhelming (but its very cheap!) however, the key makes up for it.
The holes in the room key are the tumblers for the lock. When you slide it in the door you can hear the pins falling through. I had so much fun with this I went in and out 3 times just to use the key.