Korea Day Trip Catastrophe
After trying and failing to fall asleep for the night, the morning of March 13th, 2019 drew closer. I recognized an opportunity to get an early start on an adventure, although it meant foregoing sleep. Having hardly been outside of Seoul, I felt a countryside trip was in order! I planned to take two trains and a bus to Petite France: a colorful French style tourist village in Gapyeong-gun. With the entire day ahead of me, I embarked toward Hongik University station around 7:30AM. The first train ride went smoothly, as did my transfer. It was on the second train I experienced my first hiccup as I rode one stop too far, caught up in a phone conversation with my little sister. In Seoul, this would be no problem; however, I found myself on an empty platform in a small farming neighborhood.
At the rural station with just one train, it would be over 30 minutes before the next arrival. In hopes of making better time, I decided to find a bus instead. A bus stop a five-minute walk away had a bus scheduled ten minutes out. On the way, I came across the only Goodwill I ever saw in Korea and appreciated the familiar sight.
I crossed the street in the quiet neighborhood, and waited for the bus. Dogs fenced in 50 feet away barked and snarled at me, and the only passersby was a fleet of Korean military vehicles. The bus never came, so I wandered to another bus stop without a bus. After two fruitless endeavors, I went back to the station. Having lost 45 minutes, I regretted my initial lack of patience. The wait was pleasant as I enjoyed the view of a nearby mountain, heard the gleeful screams of children playing in a nearby schoolyard.
I began to worry as my phone’s battery dropped below 10%, so I wrote the instructions for the next bus on my hand. The train arrived and I got back to the right stop. Following the instructions on my hand, I waited for the bus. I noticed a poster for a tour bus with a stop at Petite France. Though the ticket was only ₩6,000 (just under $6), I decided to stick with my plan. That decision sealed my fate.
I hopped on the bus when it came, and it took me to the express bus terminal. This was not where I’d intended to wind up, but I’d gone the wrong direction! The rest of my instructions had become useless, and my phone was dead. I popped into a nearby cafe to charge my phone and come up with a new plan. Of several potential routes to take, the soonest wouldn’t have me on my way for another hour. I made my way to the bus stop to wait. A bus approached; in a panic I thought I remembered it from the list of options. With no time to check first, I just got on. I realized pretty quickly that I had made a mistake--but I was going in the right general direction, at least. This bus ride holds the title of most wild of my life. The (clearly experienced) driver sped around the curves on a winding highway carved into a mountain with a river running alongside it. At the first stop I watched an elderly woman no younger than 90 and no taller than 4’6” hop off with a bag of groceries before the bus driver sped away, again. Eventually, I got off the bus in a small downtown area to find another cafe in which I could charge my phone and regroup. The navigation app presented me with two options: walk 70 minutes, or take the bus I had just taken back to where I had just come from to catch the right bus. Being a big walker, a 70-minute walk sounded okay to me--until I looked at the map and noticed the route was over a river where there didn’t seem to be a road. While it was possible there was a footbridge not obvious on the map, I didn’t want to risk it if there weren’t. Tired and discouraged, I resigned to the idea that it was best to simply head back home.
I found a bus that could to take me all the way back to a train station near Seoul, from which I’d be able to get home without any more trouble. It was scheduled to arrive at 2:35, around 20 minutes from that moment. I made my way to the bus stop, but I found there were no posted schedules. In fact, only one little sign even indicated that it was actually a bus stop. I was unsure on which side of the street to wait, but I made a guess based on the apparent bus route. The full 20 minutes passed before I realized that I was waiting for a bus that was not coming, again. I relocated to another stop, but remained unclear on whether I was in the right place, or when/if any of the buses I waited for would arrive. I did know that I wanted to take the 8005 or 7000 bus. When I spotted a 7000 bus arriving, I was wary that it might not be right one. Again, I found myself with no time to double check. Again, I got on out of desperation. I rode the suspicious 7000 bus to--you guessed it--even further into the middle of nowhere! I found myself at an international hospital atop a hill. At least I got a nice view, there.
Not to mention this fun photo.
I repeated the process of selecting a bus and waiting until I realized that it wouldn’t arrive. In case you’ve lost count, that was the fifth time that day. I had no choice but to start walking. The time was 4PM, my phone was on low battery, and I was walking through the most rural area I’d seen all day. Walking brought me to a place with the most unique energy I’ve ever experienced. Houses were built into the hills, the likes of which I’ve never seen in any of my travels, or even movies, or photos. Although it was totally unlike anything I have ever seen in my waking hours, it bore an uncanny resemblance a dreamscape I’d visited more than once. I had an incredibly strange feeling, similar only to déjà vu or some other inexplicable experience. I wasn’t totally sure for a moment that I wasn’t dreaming.
I continued to wander toward what appeared on my map to be a town. The afternoon sun shone down as I walked past a creek full of ducks and school children headed home. To my surprise, I found myself right back in same the place I had taken that 7000 bus from! A 8005 bus suddenly appeared, and as I stepped on that it would travel in the right direction and take me home. It did not! I got off to find myself on an isolated road running through a campground. I waited on this road for another bus in the opposite direction. I began to feel a chill as I watched the sun set behind the surrounding mountains. Just as I had started considering finding a motel, a bus approached. I had no idea where it was headed, but it had to be better than where I’d found myself.
I didn’t realize it yet, but I had arrived for the third time in the same little town. I sat down at one more cafe to charge my phone, and opened a different navigation app. It offered exact an exact timetable which I had little faith in. Through the second level window of the café, I watched the bus come right on time--twice! After that, it was done for the night. I considered taking a taxi to a station, despite how expensive it could be. Instead, I found a bus route to the nearest station which happened to depart from the same unmarked bus stop I had waited at earlier in the day. To my relief, a bus actually picked me up this time. The sun had set and it was after 7PM, but I was finally going home.
The bus ride was dark, and it might have been scary if it weren’t for the fact that there were a few schoolchildren travelling with me. When I got to the stop for a transfer, it was very dark. Behind me was a river, and on the banks some structure I imagined may have been a prison. In front of me was a highway. There was no one else about in the dark night. I set off towards the next bus stop. I heard dogs barking, and I followed the map through dimly lit back streets. That was the only time I was ever scared for my safety while in Korea. The stop I arrived at was tucked under a tunnel with a truck parked in it. Upon seeing it, I immediately turned around and went elsewhere. I walked along the highway and waited at the dark bus stop, singing aloud the whole time to comfort myself.
The bus came and I went to the station. I got on a train for 40 minutes and felt incredibly grateful to be nearing the end of such an exhausting day. After the first ride, I transferred and rode another train for an hour. Finally, I made it back to Hongik University station, which was quite congested and in stark contrast to everywhere else I’d been all day. I walked home like a zombie, ate a sandwich as my only meal for the day, and then went straight to sleep.