Korea 2023- The arrival. Korean trains and railways
Michelle, Ylenia and myself arrive finally in Busan after an extenuating trip, from Geneva to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to Seoul. As if a 15-hour flight were not tiring enough, we had decided to go straight to Busan for the first week and spend in Seoul the second one. But for the sake of the experience we took the train. Traveling by train adds some local taste to the whole experience, because it is what locals do most.
So, from Incheon to Seoul Train Station we go with AREX – AirPort Express https://www.airportrailroad.com/?langCd=1 and the all-stop train option.
Just buying the tickets was an adventure. The guy at the desk points at the automatic machines and we go there. It takes a good half an hour to figure out the right sequence of buttons to push in order to select the right ticket and pay by credit card, but finally we manage and we board the train.
It’s only when we get out in Seoul Train Station that we realise the external temperature. It must be over 30 degrees, but what slaps us in the face is the percentage of humidity. We can’t stop sweating and the only relief is in the shops and restaurants in the station with the air conditioning. A few minutes outside – and by outside I mean under the porch of the station close to the platforms, not even in the sun – it’s enough to sweat and feel sticky. In fact it’s the beginning of August and the Korean summer is very hot and humid.
The first attempt to buy the tickets fails miserably. We did not book in advance as we were afraid to lose the money or waste too much time in case of delay. ( However, if you want to have a look, that’s the website of the Korean Railways: https://www.korail.com/global/eng/main ). It is the second time that we have to fight with the automatic ticket machine. We try one, then the next one, then the next next one… we fight, we scream, we curse, we try all the credit cards we have. There is nothing to do, that hideous machine does not want our money. In the end we give up and we go to the desk, queue and finally get our precious train ticket, that we cherish as the pupil of our eye. It turns out that we can’t take any train going to Busan, but have to reserve, so as we have a couple of hours waiting we head to the restaurant to have our first encounter with the delicious Korean food.
After lunch, we sit just waiting for our train to arrive. It comes with some delay – due to the heat wave – but finally it arrives. The other travelers see our difficulties in identifying the correct platform and very kindly, guide us. We sit in the train and we collapse as now the lack of sleep, the jet leg, the fatigue and the heat are overwhelming. I put the alarm as I am afraid to be still asleep when we arrive in Busan, but luckily it does not happen. After the nap and the approx 3 hours journey, we finally arrive. I just manage to put on the bench the first suitcase and somebody grabs it from my hand. I’m about to shout for help while the « thief » unexpectedly hugs me. It takes a second to recognize my friend ShinMi. She came to pick us up at the platform and spotted us before we could spot her. We cry from joy, chat a few minutes, take two taxis as we have a lot of suitcases, check-in at the hostel and head straight to the fish marked for dinner.
