19 May
Leaving South Korea
We left Busan on the Queen Beetle, a jetfoil ferry, for the nearly four hour journey across the 200km Korean Strait to Fukuoka. Our entry into Japan.
The next phase of our trip involves crossing Japan by rail, stopping off at Hiroshima to reach Yokohama to join our transpacific sailing on the Queen Elizabeth. And there she was! As we opened our curtains in the morning, we found the Queen Elizabeth lying at port, just in front of our window, in Busan!
We breakfasted at the lovely Paris Baguette at Busan station, and caught up with our blog before making our way, along the raised walkway, to the brand new ferry terminal. Peter had his Swiss Army knife taken from him at security, but it was returned to him as we disembarked in Japan.
Terminal Two Queens…
The jetfoil passed the Queen Elizabeth, making our way out of the port at slow speed. Once on open sea, the jets set in and we were buffeted along at 50-60 knots. We had great seats, but Lynne was regretting declining the sea-sickness tablets offered before departure. Even Peter was feeling distinctly queasy too – best to recline and shut one’s eyes!
We really enjoyed South Korea. There was much more to do and see than we had expected. It was a welcoming country. Strangers were happy to offer help, even when we weren’t lost. We didn’t feel pressured to buy from pushy vendors. People gave up their seats on the subway, and often engaged in conversation.
It’s a well-ordered country. Even pedestrian crossings are divided into the two directions. We didn’t see any rubbish lying around, nor were there many bins. Obviously everybody looked after their own rubbish. Even the public toilets were immaculate. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it as a country to visit. But we reckon it’s best to test out Korean food at home first, so as to understand what to order!
Fukuoka
Crossing into Japan was easy, as was finding the bus stop, which was just outside the arrivals hall. But navigating the fare system for the bus was complicated. You take a ticket on entering in the middle of the bus, study the bus video display and work out your fare, as you approach your destination. Then get off at the front of the bus to pay cash. But first you need to change bank notes at the change machine. The driver is very helpful, but it was a bit of a palaver.
It was dark when we alighted the bus at Hakata station. Peter had chosen a hotel very close by, but a bit difficult to find in the back streets. Bijou doesn’t describe how small our room was, hardly room for our rucksacks on the floor, upright! We bet the bathroom in our cabin on the Queen Elizabeth will be larger.
We ventured out for dinner, hoping to find somewhere near the buzzing railway station. All the restaurants were all very busy, so it took a while to search out somewhere to eat that had two seats available. In the end we congratulated ourselves on enjoying a fine meal, without garlic, with no English spoken, and no English menu. We are still not sure what we ate, but it was jolly nice.
You choose…
After some failed attempts to get cash from ATM’s, we worked out that we needed to go to a convenience store (aka 7-Eleven). We passed on buying a tourist SIM card, as the shortest period we could find was 30 days and we really only wanted one for 5 days. We could make use of Starbuck’s WiFi, as they are everywhere!
