A quicker way home

Trip Start Aug 28, 2009

Trip End Sep 28, 2010

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Where I stayed

My studio apartment in Maetan-dong, Suwon

Flag of Korea Rep. Mukho, Gangwon, Korea Rep.
Friday, October 2, 2009

Ulleungdo was about 35km closer to Mukho than Pohang, and as a result the ferry only took two and a half hours to make the crossing, rather than three hours and fifteen minutes like on the way over. I sat with my new found friends Joyce and Euniss in second class, and fortunately I had no seasickness whatsoever. Although the seas were a little choppier, being on the lower deck was certainly better for my stomach, proving that business class isn't all it's cracked up to be. At least on a high speed catamaran.

My plan was to get a bus back to Suwon or Seoul from Donghae, although upon arriving at the ferry terminal we were informed that the bus station was closed due to the Chuseok holiday. Joyce and Euniss both had to go there own way from Gangneung, about 35km to the north, so I jumped in a taxi with them in the hope I could get a bus from there. It took about half an hour to get there from Mukho, passing some forested hills and small villages

Euniss and Joyce on the ferry to Mukho

. It was my first real look at the Korean countryside, and I was a little more impressed with what I saw here than on the train south to Pohang.

Luck was on my side in Gangneung, and there was a direct bus leaving for Suwon just ten minutes after I arrived. The girls helped me get a ticket and then we went off in our own separate directions. It was a stroke of luck meeting up with them on the boat tour around Ulleungdo, as not only did I have some company for half of my journey home, but I would reach Suwon about five hours earlier than I planned.

The ride back to Suwon across the Korean peninsula was quite smooth, sticking to the freeway and passing through tunnels and beneath some huge mountains. I was even more impressed with what I saw here, particularly with what I think was Odaesan National Park, and I decided I'd have to come back and visit one weekend. South Korea was a small country, and it was possible to get to almost anywhere within a few hours. Fortunately, I'd made the most of my last week off, visiting the most far flung Korean destination of all (save for Dokdo), and I felt refreshed and ready to start work.

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