The journey home was the longest possible route between Seoul and Suncheon that two people could possibly ever take. We were going to stay in Seoul for the night and decided on our way back to the hotel that we were ready to get out of the city and that we should head somewhere to digress. What better a place then Boreyoung, home of the mud festival, a place where you can get a full body mud treatment for 30,000won and sit on the beach. We also made a promise to one another, what ever came our way, bumps in the road, long layovers, wrong buses, we wouldn't let it get the best of us and would remain in good spirits.
After 2.5 hours on the bus we got to Boreyoung and realized we just wanted to go home, why not just get a bus to Suncheon. Sorry, you must go to Gunsan for that.
Arriving in Gunsan we met our biggest traveling challenge, ticket vending machines. The man at the door grunted, spit and spewed some information we didn't understand and sent us on a bus to Gwangju- 2 ho
urs. It was also in Gunsan that I ended my trip through the disgusting bathrooms of Korea with the worst of them all. As you walk into the doorless bathroom with a wet sluddgy floor, to your immediate left is a toilet standing alone, in the middle of the room, with no walls or toilet paper is a toilet, small enough for a five year old. Thankfully I noticed that there was one stall in the far end, which was a basin- overflowing. I opted to hold it for this leg of the journey and walked out of the bathroom, camera in hand to show Gavin my findings.Once in Gwangju we were on our home stretch to Suncheon, one more hour. All in all, a four hour journey turned into a seven and a half hour journey, but we kept our promise.
1.12.07- Suncheon to
Pusan...1.13.07- Pusan to Yeongju...1.13.07- Yeongju to Danyang
1.14.07- Danyang to Guinsa...1.14.07- Guinsa to Yangwol...1.14.07- Yangwol to Taebek
1.14.07- Taebek to Samcheok...1.15.07- Samcheok to Sinnam...1.15.07- Samcheok to Seoul
1.17.07- Seoul to DMZ...1.17.07- Seoul to Boreyong...
1.17.07- Boreyong to Gunsan
1.17.07- Gunsan to Gwangju...1.17.07- Gwangju to Suncheon
I have realized that Korea proudly provided the dirtiest bathroom facilities on the planet. Often times the toilets do not have toilet paper let alone walls.
And so, 2 countries, 13 cities, 26 hours of traveling the buses of Korea, 300,000 won, chicken chicken and more chicken and five motels later we arrived back home safe and sound. I feel like my time here in
Korea, whether I experience nothing else for the remainder of the time I am here, has been well spent. I have seen more of this beautiful country then I have of my own.We went from solitude to bustling cities, from the mountains to the open fields, from a free prospering country to a communist suffering one. I have been enlightened into the lives of the people of Korea, the struggles and the celebrations, the art and the lack there of, the hospitality and friendliness they show and the anger and frustrations they hold inside.
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