After leaving Jeju, the husband and I travelled back to Seoul where we parted ways. He took a flight back home and I travelled south to Jeonju in Jeollabuk-do by the KTX train.
Many people have asked me how easy is it for someone who cannot speak the language to travel around in South Korea, and my answer is: “Not difficult at all.” I did most of my inter-city travelling by coach.
From personal experience, I find travelling by coach within the country to be a lot more convenient, and cheaper, as compared to the train. I make my way to the local bus terminal, buy a coach ticket at the ticket counter, locate the coach departure gate (which is written on the ticket), check the signboard that the bus is indeed heading towards my destination, throw my lugguage into the bus, board the bus, sleep for the rest of the journey, alight at the bus terminal of my destination, get into a taxi, show the taxi-driver the name and address of my hotel/motel written in Korean characters and that’s it. With the coach, it is a relatively hassle-free point-to-point travel. I don’t have to worry about getting lost in transit, or lugging my suitcases all over a train station trying to find the right platform to board the train.
I took the KTX train from Seoul to Jeonju and the experience was a nerve-wrecking one. I had to change trains mid-way through the journey, outside Seoul, and worried about getting off at the wrong transit station. At the transit station, I had to lug my heavy suitcases up and down flights of stairs to find the platform for the connecting train. I very nearly missed the connecting train because I was at the wrong platform. That was the first and last time I took the train. And I stuck with coaches for the rest of my trip.
I arrived in Jeonju Hanok Village at the right time. Autumn was at its peak and I was treated to a pletora of beautiful colours eerywhere: yellow, reds, mustard-gold, burnt orange, bright green. Huge and very old gingko trees look so majestic covered in their gorgeous yellow leaves.
Fallen leaves in varying shades lined the eaves of old Joseon buildings, and covered the pavements. It was a magnificent feast for the eyes. Witnessing the changing colours of leaves is the reason why I love visiting Korea and Japan during autumn. I never get enough of looking at the autumn hues. It is beautiful a world that God had created for us.
^ Gingko fruits. Unlike the ones we saw in Seoul, these did not stink. They were probably male fruits!
