Finally! Hostelling in Korea. After two years, even.

Anyways, here's the scorecard for day one:

8:10 am bus from Suncheon to Busan, 3 hours
7:30 pm bus from Busan to Gyeonju, 50 minutes

I suck at goodbyes. But last night I did my best. I cried a bit, despite myself. I think, however, that this diary is supposed to be about my travels, and not the life beforehand, so let's move on.

Left Suncheon on the second bus of the day to Busan. Travelling by bus is almost always the best choice in Korea. The trains are comfortable and fast, but the coverage and departure frequency of the bus routes are tough to beat.

I took my friend Hal-Lan with me to Busan. We work together. She's a really nice kid, about two months into her first teaching job. Hal-Lan is sort of inexperienced at life and work, but is learning rather quickly. And there is some travel in her future also, with a month in Europe pencilled in for this coming summer.

Today was my second trip to Busan. Last time, I concentrated on some urban sites: the Busan aquarium (nice), the "famous" Haeundae Beach (horrid and fake), Napodong Market (delightful) and the Busan Museum of Modern Art (pretty nice). So, this time around I went with Hal-Lan to a place outside of the city. We escaped the urab jungle to Beomeosa, a rather wonderful Buddhist temple complex. And yeah, all of these giant Korean temples all sort of look the same, but they usually impress if one is in the proper mood and if the weather cooperates - Beomosa also has some nice hiking opportunities.

Another note abuot Busan: my Lonely Planet says that Busan's populace has "a quirky custom of banging into strangers in public places" (208). That statement is hilariously accurate! Navigating crowds is always fun for Koreans and tourists alike.

Anyhow, Hal-Lan asn I walked a bit, and had a couple of nice meals. She took a bus back to Suncheon, while I took a 7:30 bus on to the city of Gyeongju. And hey, I know I said that the bus system is top notch here, but beware nigt time buses: the heat is always on, and the windows never open. A hapless tourist can find himself trapped in a sweat box for an overnight journey. Yuck!

So, yeah, I'm in Gyeongju, in one of Korea's few hostels. It's called Han-Jin Jang Hostel. It's a tatty place, and a bit too expensive, but it seems sort of sup-ercool, in a shitty sort of way. But more about this place when I explore some more tomorrow morning.

April 15, 9:43 pm, Gyeongju, Han-Jin Jang Hostel