Onward to our next destination Seoul via KTX
Riding the KTX to Seoul
Today we take things down a notch and had our second travel break day. Much of today is spent on travelling from Busan to Seoul, our final destination of the trip, via the highspeed KTX train. We would spend the day orientating around in Seoul and watching one of the non-verbal comedy that South Korea is so famous for other than kimchi and K-pop. We woke up later than the previous days and checked out of the hotel in Busan at 10am to catch the train departing at 12 noon. We wanted to get to Seoul by 3 pm to catch our 5pm show. We wanted to get to the train station early to prevent the episode of missing our train my friend and I faced with three years ago. As a result of that, we got lost in the middle of nowhere. I did research on Naver Map App the night before and got to know that the train ride from Haeundae Station to Busan Train Station takes around 1 hr. After checking out, we dragged our luggage and headed to Haeundae Station, which is around 5 mins walk from the hotel, at the end of Gunam Street in the Haeundae area. The subway ride includes a change of train at Seomyeon Station. 1 hr later we arrived at Busan Train Station. We still have a bit of time to get some food to be consumed onboard the KTX. Unlike countries like Japan or Taiwan, there aren’t any shops selling bento sets for long-distance train commuters. The only shops that sell food are bakeries near the boarding platforms at Busan Train Station. From our recce two days ago, we have already identified the food we wanted to get which cut short our time in going around and see what is for sale.
Taking a wefie at Busan Train Station before we leave for Seoul
After getting our takeaways, we headed to the platform where our KTX train is waiting for passengers to board. We had trouble looking for a spot to stow our luggage for the journey. There are very limited luggage storage space in between train carriages and all of them were occupied at the time we boarded the train. We had to place one of our luggage in the seat with us, while the other in the space behind the last seat in the carriage. We got settled into our seats and the train commenced the 3 hr journey from Busan to Seoul with a few stops in between. We wanted to pamper ourselves a little and gotten First Class seat tickets on the KTX. Instead of four seats across in the Economy Class, First Class seats only have three seats across each row. The seats are very comfortable and resemble a large armchair. The seats are so comfortable that we got a good rest onboard. About 30 mins after the train leave the station, a train attendant comes around and distributes a snack pack to passengers in the First Class section of the train. First Class passengers can also obtain an unlimited number of bottles of spring water from the vending machine between carriages for free. We watched South Korea zoom pass the large windows from our seats, the view from the train was amazing. Mountains after mountains, cities after cities and rivers after rivers. This is the joy of riding a train instead of flying. Halfway through the train ride, we settled on the food we bought before we board the train. The 3 hrs train ride just whiz pass like the scenery of South Korea before our eyes as the highspeed train made its way from south to north of South Korea. The train soon pulls into Seoul Station before we know it.
Taking a wefie with the KTX train that would bring us to Seoul
My other friend is sitting behind us
Onboard in the First Class seat
Return to Seoul – A Sense of Familiarity
As we exited the station, the streets suddenly became familiar. My friend and I were here three years ago. Nothing much as change. As we were standing in front of Seoul Station, we begin to relate to our other friend where we stayed the last time we came to South Korea and the supermarket where they were giving out new year rice cakes to customers who walked into the supermarket. We had no troubles finding the entrance to the subway station in Seoul Station and managed to find the subway line that would take us to the hotel we would call home for the remaining days we have in South Korea. The hotel we stayed is a mere four stops away from Seoul Station. We arrived at the hotel and checked into our rooms. My friends and I settled in for a while and headed out to watch the Korean Non-verbal performance – Fantastick. We made our booking through KLOOK, however, when we arrived at the address that KLOOK gave us through the vouchers, we were surprised there weren’t any theatre buildings around. We begin asking some locals on the Fantastick theatre, although there was some communication difficulty, the Seoulites we met were very helpful. Using a translation app and their limited knowledge of English, we were told that the address given was the wrong address. One of the Seoulites that we met even googled the address on his mobile phone and showed us the correct place of the theatre. As we were already late for the show (the show would have started even if we head over to the theatre), we gave up the idea of watching the show and headed to Gangnam.
Taking a wefie in front of Seoul Station
Seoul as I remembered it
Gangnam Garosugil
My friend and I visited Gangnam Garosugil three years ago when we came here. Back then we were here to explore the area, however, this time around, we were here to get some mobile protectors (Spigen shop is here). As we exited the subway station, the sense of familiarity kicked in. We did not even have to rely on the map to tell us where to go. Gangnam Garosugil got its name as trees are planted on both sides of the road, almost like soldiers in a parade. Gangnam Garosugil is a relatively short street with shops, restaurants and cafes lining on both sides of the street. There are not many tourists here, mainly Seoulites visit this place. The place is as we remembered it three years ago. All sorts of luxury branded shops as well as local designer shops lined on both sides of the streets in Gangnam Garosugil. Some shops we saw three years ago are still there, others have been replaced. There is even an Apple Shop in Gangnam Garosugil. The Seoulites coming to Gangnam Garosugil are all dressed up as if they are trying to match the upmarket Gangnam Garosugil. After getting our mobile phone protectors, we took the subway to Gyeongbokgung Station for the Ginseng Chicken we had three years ago when we came. My friend still can’t forget the Ginseng Chicken we had from the restaurant three years ago. The restaurant, Tosokchon Samgyetang, is very popular with tourists and locals alike. We had to time our visit to the restaurant to avoid the long queue, which is very common in this restaurant. We reached Tosokchon Samgyetang at around 7.30pm, where the crowd had died down and we did not even have to wait in a queue.
Myeongdong – Shopping Mecca of Tourists
After having the delicious and flavourful Ginseng Chicken Soup, we headed to the shopping mecca for tourists in Seoul – Myeongdong. Myeongdong is a shopping area, nearby to Seoul Station, with a lot of shops. It is highly popular with tourists as most of the shops here offer on the spot VAT refund for tourists. Exiting the subway station, we were faced with hordes of tourists coming here to shop at Myeongdong. Nothing much has changed here since our visit three years ago. The same shops are still there. One thing nice about Myeongdong is that not only it is packed with Korean brand shops, there are also street food stalls lined up in the middle of the walking street. What I like about Myeongdong is that most of the staffs in the shops can speak fluent mandarin or good amount of English. Some of the shops here even offer good discounts for tourists and are very generous in their gifts to tourists. Myeongdong is a one-stop area for tourists as it has everything that tourists usually come to Seoul to shop for. After getting the things we were here to buy, my friends and I went back to the hotel to rest for the night.
Myeongdong is always crowded with tourists
Taking a wefie in Myeongdong
Myeongdong is very crowded especially on a weekend
Myeongdong is full of tourists
Nice post! I’ve never been to Gangam while I was out in Korea, but I did go to quite a few other places. Seoul is a very big and lively city, depending on where you go. My wife preferred Jeju over anywhere else in Korea.
Thanks for liking my post and the very encouraging words. Your comments keep me going on sharing my travels 🙂
Jeju is very scenic, this leg is one of our three legs in South Korea. On this trip, we visited Jeju first then to Busan and finally in Seoul. We visited more places in and around Seoul.
That’s cool, I would love to go back I get a chance. I still remember Itaewon, Jeju and Lotte World very clearly.
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Like!! Really appreciate you sharing this blog post.Really thank you! Keep writing.
Thank you for your kind comments and encouraging words. I will start writing about my trips again once the COVID pandemic is under control and countries start to open up their borders. Meanwhile, please stay safe. 🙂