On the advice of someone I know, I decided to renew my visa using the Busan ferry. The advice went something like: “oh yeah, it’s really cheap and most people do it because it saves money.” So on Friday, I caught the KTX to Busan and took a ferry to Fukuoka, Japan.
Logistical note: There are various ferries, which depart from the terminal near Jungang-dong station in Busan (the station next to Busan station). The return journey costs around 200,000 won with tax. There are more charges in Japan when coming back. I’ll get to those later.
Anyway, it turns out, it’s not cheaper, just slower which is unfortunately is not the same thing. To begin with, I’d recommend going to another country to renew your visa. Japan, while a great place I’m sure, is not an easy place to get around. For starters, almost everything is in Japanese. Around the ports was a little different, where some signs were written in Korean. After I stepped off the ferry after 2 hours and 30 minutes of smooth sailing and having my bags completely searched, I searched for a bus. All bus signage was in Hanji and were it not for a nice Japanese English speaker, I would have had to catch a taxi. If you’re doing this trip, take the 151 bus to Tenji (the center of town), pay when you get off the bus.. about 200 or 300 yen.
On the subject of yen, know that the place to change money may not be open, as I found. In the mad rush to get to the port in Busan, I hadn’t changed any and only carried a 500 yen coin from my last visit. This factor saved me a good deal of heartache.
After getting into the city, I started searching for hotels or motels. In Korea, it’s easy as pie to find a love motel. They’re nice cheap places to stay if you don’t mind the sleazy neighborhood. In actuality, there’s very little sleaze just a lot of neon and young couples who live at home. The point is, they’re easy to find. I walked all over the city and couldn’t find anything sleazy enough and all the other hotels were full. Finally I got lucky with one hotel who gave me a room that smelled of perfume. Maybe the previous occupant had been a corpse, but I really didn’t mind. Three hours of walking around the city hadn’t put me in the best of moods. If I didn’t find those pretty Christmas displays along the way, I might just have lost my mind.
I had one thing on my mind: food. I needed food so bad. I only had time for breakfast in Seoul and my stomach was eating itself as I trailed the streets for some nice Japanese ramen. I found some, with dumplings and fried rice. I have to put it to the Japanese – they know good food. Next, find something to do in the city.
It was cold, not colder than Seoul, but still quite chilly. I found an English pub and a nice Scotsman inside to give me the lay of the land. We discussed the differences between life there and in Korea. He showed me around a little, a few bars here and there. Eventually, his Japanese wife called and told him to stop hanging around Japanese “beetches” and to come home. I decided to retire for the night too.
What can I say? I only spent a night there, but I felt a little powerless to do anything. The average Japanese speaks less English than the average Korean it would seem. In the few bars I was in and in the discussions I had with my Scottish friend, there really wasn’t a great deal of difference between life here and there. My only thoughts are that the girls are uglier, but dress sexier, the food is awesome, the streets and buildings have a style about them, but also a clinical feel, and finally that where Koreans are quite emotional, Japanese hide that part and give off a calm exterior. For better or worse, well I didn’t stay long enough to find out.
The next day, I had forgotten the bus number I had to catch. I remembered the streets we traveled through from the ferry port, but it seems that my photographic memory is limited to visual locations and doesn’t extend to bus numbers or Japanese characters. The first bus I caught took me far, far away from where I was meant to go. When I finally made it back, it had begun to rain. Again, no English characters. I followed the road back for a bit, where the bus had gone the night before, the slow drizzle flattening my hair and slowly, steadily soaking my clothes. I wanted to catch another bus, but I had a fear of going somewhere far away, so I decided to make a dash for it. I ran for a couple of kilometers, my memory steering me forward. Soaked to the bone, I made it to the port 30 minutes before boarding.
I changed my money back into Korean won, then went to the counter to get my boarding pass. The woman told me that there was some bogus fuel charge of 400 yen. I went back and changed money. I paid the bogus charge, swearing under my breath and went upstairs. Boarding time, I tried to enter but it turns out there is another bogus charge of 400 yen to pay for another unknown reason. No ticket, no entry. I went downstairs again, changed money, went upstairs again, bought the stupid ticket and boarded. I longed to be back in a country that sorta made sense, as opposed to this one which was all hard work.
Now, I know what you’re going to say. I could’ve just taken a taxi from the town to the ferry port. Showing a taxi driver my ticket would have pointed him in the right direction. Yes, yes, that is how a normal person would probably do it. I could’ve checked with the counter before changing money and even kept a thousand yen as backup. Yes. I know. But taxis are expensive, I don’t always get the order of operations right and saved yen is just a waste. In other words, I’m a bit of a cheapskate. If there is money to be saved, I’ll probably do it.
The long and the short of it is, I could’ve spent just a little more money and had a nice trip to another country like Hong Kong, Taiwan or even flown to Tokyo for the same or a similar price. KTX – 90,000 won return, Busan ferry – 200,000 won return, Green Hotel Fukuoka – 50,000 won 1 night, dubious charges in Japan 10,000 won. Next time I’m calling my good friends at Topsale to get me a cheap flight. If you’re residing in Korea I recommend them, call up ask for English then tell the guy that David recommended you. I don’t know that there is any point in the last part, but it can’t hurt.
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