Korean Adventure 5

 

Train to Busan and Busan Day: 1

No sooner did I declare that I would be taking ‘Train to Busan’ there was flood of queries, memes, GIFs and concerns. At one level probably they were pulling my leg and at other, were worried for me [Really?]. For the starters, there is this Korean movie by name, “Train to Busan” [I had given up watching it midway [it was too gory] while my son thoroughly enjoyed it, generation X with profound gap!] a block buster only next to Oscar winner “Parasite”.It depicts valiant efforts of the protagonist father to save his daughter from the attacks of Zombies who have taken over the train. Not only me but umpteen numbers of v-bloggers on ‘You-Tube’ too were asked the same question. The answer was same for everybody, “We alighted on Busan platform in one piece, No, and there are no Zombies on the “Train to Busan”!

Train to Busan was to depart from the platform number five of Seoul’s KLT station that does/did not have escalator or elevator. I cursed my bag of 16.5 kgs for its weight though I had packed it myself and there was nothing but clothes in it. Only hitch was, they were all winter clothes, so heavy. I somehow climbed down the staircase managing it, in the end getting utterly exhausted. It was to be my first ride on ‘Bullet Train’ so I was appropriately excited. Aerodynamically built locomotive and the carriages with tubular structure like airplane, makes it catch the speed at times more than 300 km/hr. Like its European counterpart ‘TGV’ in France or ‘AVE’ in Spain it does/did not have racks near the entrance to keep heavy luggage. It had to be stored on the racks above the seats. I by myself could not lift my bag but maybe, he was considerate so my co-seater helped me to put it there and I was ready to take my first ride on Bullet Train.

Like airplane you do not feel the speed. Only when it is passing through a tunnel or at very high speed, your ears get blocked due to air pressure variance. Korea passing by showed the progress it has made not only on the industrial front but on the agricultural front too. Not a single inch of land was/is wasted, it was either industry or ‘Green Houses’ and cultivated farms from the word go. Seoul is in the north, practically near the border of the nation while Busan is a port city at the southern tip of Korean peninsula. It means, entire Korea has developed and there might not be backward areas like we have! Train reached Busan bit late by 10 minutes or so. Normally it’s a run of 5-6 hrs while Bullet train takes around 2-2.30 hrs to cover the same distance. Just prior to Busan station there is the longest tunnel in Korea, it just went on and on for miles together and when it ended we were entering Busan railway station!

Small tit-bit. After checking with Wikipedia, it turned out that it is the fourth longest railway tunnel in the world. And is more than 50 kms long. Name and other things don’t matter, I forgot them! Busan railway station known as KLT Busan is ultra clean like any airport. Comparison with any Indian railway station is abhorrent! The hotel ‘Ramada Encore’ where I was going to stay for next 4 days was next to exit one so I could just walk to it, dragging my 16.5 kg bag with four wheels. Though the distance was short, I realized that Four wheeled bag is okay for smooth surfaces only but it is totally cumbersome where the surface is even little bit uneven. It seems that every wheel has mind of its own  and tries to go in different direction at the same time. To abort their ‘Wayward’ behavior you have to exert! And it was borne by my elbow and arm. They started having that nagging pain which is neither severe making you give up nor that mild that you can ignore

Ramada was 4 stars, up market hotel with a room more than adequate for a single person.

I cursed my loss of hearing the most on my first day in Busan. I was to take Busan City Tour operated by Ktourstory, a tour operator from Seoul. I was to meet them at “Meeting Point’ at 8.20 AM sharp. Being a pucca Punekar I am stickler for time, so I was ready, already having my breakfast of Korean fried chicken burger and cocoa at 7.30 AM sharp. And the ordeal began! Nobody knew exactly where the ‘Meeting Point’ for Ktourstory bus is!!!!

In Korea wearing the mask is still compulsory and everybody abides by the rule strictly. My observation, like TDS, Tax Deducted at Source, 50% of sound waves are dampened by the mask and what we hear is mostly mumbling sound. Plus the Indian accent of English and Korean accent of it are at cross with each other. My chaste English [put on] English accent used to go over their heads while on their babbling in the name of English, I used to be at large. Plus my hearing loss! I cursed and cursed it, like never before [Till then I was taking it in my own stride, as some loss of faculty is expected at my age of seventy!].

I made more than three rounds of the area but could not locate the point. So I took help of a police woman. She accompanied me in my search but she too with her Korean Maps could not take me to the correct location. The front desk man showed a spot just opposite the hotel. As my voucher showed the same spot with letter G in capitals, I waited there till 9 AM, thinking G is for Green bus. No Bus. I was exasperated by then. It turned out that it was the pickup spot for some another local tour operator, Busan Tours, BITI. And the conductor refused to take me in, naturally, it being other tour operator.

I again went in search of the meeting point hoping on hopes that the bus might still be waiting for me. Some students were having a stall nearby for promotion of some Google program. My hunch told me that these boys/girls might know English, at least some. I requested one girl to lower her mask citing my difficulty in hearing and behold, she obliged. Another surprise, we did not have any problem in conversing for at least full 10 minutes, but again she could not tell me where the meeting point was using her mobile maps.

I gave up after sending a stern message to my tour operator in India and decided to take Red route [There were four: Green, Blue, Orange and Red] by Busan City Tour which was about to start.[Rest had already left] It was not that costly, Kwon 15000/- around Rs 950/- and it turned out to be wise decision on two accounts. One, I did not lose a day and two; it was hop on hop off tour that suited me the best!

Busan is a city with best topography in Korea. It has vast sea coast, with many beaches, mountains with lush greenery, and ultramodern cityscape. To top it has many islands scattered around, in the sea nearby. As it has many islands it has more bridges connecting them, one better than the other. 

Within few minutes bus crossed the Busnandaegyo Bridge. It’s like our Sea link with cables’ suspension. Only difference is its two storied and goes zigzag in the sea. Within minutes we crossed another spectacular bridge, Busan Harbor Bridge. Again a suspension bridge but more grandiose. It gives the magnificent view of entire Busan Harbor from a very good angle. I gave a skip to next few stops, US memorial, Busan Museum and Yonghoman Boat terminal and got down on Gwangalli beach.

Why when one is on the foreign land keeps comparing the status of the home land, is it with everybody? I think so, Indians including! Many beaches from India flashed in front of my eyes from Mumbai to Goa and from Kerala to Eastern Coast, Chennai and Gopalpur. All lack in the most important feature, Cleanliness! We too have few good beaches in India, I am not talking about Goa beaches, they are the most commercialized in one way or the other, but unspoiled ones like Gopalpur beach in Odisha or Kovalam in Kerala. Unfortunately they are very few and can be counted on the finger tips. Rest is filled with hoards of clueless plebeians, unhygienic food vendors, pushover sellers and uncouth thieves. 

Again it was spic n span clean beach devoid of any food stalls, vendors but having magnificent Gwangalli Bridge in the back ground. Its extremely stunning design adds to the beauty of beach. I could not venture in the waters for variety of reasons foremost being the temp at that time. Though it was around 10-10.30 AM in the morning the temp was around 10-11 *C. With three layers of clothes I was barely managing, to go devoid of clothes in the waters was unthinkable. And that remained the situation in my entire stay in Korea; I could never venture near waters. Other minor deterrents, the weight of towel, wet clothes, sand in the shoes. Many. I gave up on the idea.

The next stop, I took was Dongbaekseom island that turned out to be ‘Paisa Vasool’ as it had/has trail along the sea coast.

It was really an island but by reclaiming the sea it now is joined to the mainland making it a sort of small peninsula. The trail though longish one that gave my legs and feet extra work was more than spectacular and soothing to the eyes. Every view was picture postcard and I could not stop my shutter from clicking. Going up and down along the sea coast it has many spots that give spectacular view of Gwangalli Bridge and surrounding Busan.

The point from where I started the trail is/was the western end of Haeundae beach [Why so many vowels in one name, that makes it a tongue twister for non Korean tongue!], the most popular beach not only in Busan but in entire Korea. So the tourists thronged, the very reason I remained away from it! For a change it had everything that’s meant for ‘Merry Makers’, more the reason for me not to venture.

At the beginning of the trail there was a statue of may be a sailor who is looking through binocular for something far away in the seas. Even after exploration I could not get the details. While another statue of a mermaid nearby reminded me of the Mermaid from Copenhagen! Fashioned on the similar lines, this mermaid does have a story and history. Recently erected for the second time after the original one was destroyed in the typhoon, she was a princess Hwangok, waiting for her King Eunhe. It’s commonly known as Topaz Princess Mermaid.

Though the ups and more ups took toll on my breath I continued nonetheless and efforts were rewarding. There stood a beautiful light house at one of the turns that gave panoramic view of Gwangalli Bridge along with the high rise skyline of Busan.

APEC house a structure made with million glass panes houses office of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation is just next to it. India is not in the picture though an Asian country! So as a protest I visited their loo!

On the way walking back there was Dongbaek Park on the right which has Statue of Choi Chi Won, a Korean philosopher of substance, in a Buddhist canopy.

Normally it takes about 45 minutes to complete the trail, I must have taken much more but it was worth the time and efforts.

Bus criss-crossed through rich and richer sectors of Busan giving nothing but heart burns! So far I had not seen/met any Indian tourist, even a Paki that was surprising. Even the number of White and Black tourist was negligible. White a few but Black; zero!

I got down at next stop by mistake. Centum City, Cinema center. I was looking for Busan Film Festival venue and this one turned out to be a big, big mall Shinsegae with Multiplex-Cinema Center. Asked for the correct venue but as usual drew blank, by this time I was used to it, so did not bother. Many a time translator too did not help. Even the police at the site could not direct me properly. Vaguely he showed some direction which my logic was not ready to accept. In the end entered the mall for having lunch as it was already 2 PM or so. Out of hundreds of unheard but up-market brands only familiar brand was H & M.

By the time my mobile’s battery was on the death bed. The attendant at the restaurant where I had decided to have the lunch said, of course through sign and mobile language, that the charging facility is available only for the customers. ‘I am the one’ I gladly responded and ordered for a bowl of chicken salad as by this time I had learnt that its sure to be accompanied by side dishes. There was another surprise. Robots were serving the dishes and collecting the used ones! When my Robot came with the dishes I did not know what to do after one takes the dishes off the shelf.  It stood there staring at me with its electronic eyes. I looked around and realized that some button on it has to be pressed. As soon as I did it, it retraced back as it came, making whirring sound!

When I was waiting for my Red Line bus at the stop the board there said that the Busan Film Festival Theater is just in the vicinity, say around 800 meters round the corner. I dropped the idea to catch the bus and started looking out for Busan Film Festival Cinema center. And yes it was very near, just a seven minutes walk. Had I dropped the idea I would have missed two very memorable surprises of the life.

On the way I saw Busan Kidzania and memory of Mumbai Kidzania came rushing, it’s bang opposite my home in Mumbai!

Busan Cinema center is/was huge structure that has/had won International Architecture award along with entry in Guinness Book of world records for its unique roof. With a huge [or is it ultra huge] open air IMAX theater accommodating around four thousand seats or more, it has few other cinema halls with lesser capacities. Rather than going in the technical details I would say it was worth a visit and I thanked myself for dropping the idea to return.

Another surprise waited for me in the lounge. While waiting for my coffee to come to desired temp, I don’t like my coffee too hot, I chanced to see ‘Museum of Illusions’ just in front of the cafe. And it turned out to be major surprise. One has to see it to believe it. The attendants were more than cooperative and helped me take my photographs in the museum. Absolutely happy and more than elated I caught the bus back again after two hours than I had already decided. In the photograph on the right I am actually lying flat on my back, horizontally, but illusion made me look like hanging for my life on the wall!

Below: How many'me's are there?Here is my twin lost in the fair when we both were hardly 10 years old!

Another jolt was waiting for me when I reached the hotel. Next day I was to take a day tour to Odeo Island also named as Tongyeong by the same tour company Ktourstory whose ‘Meeting Point’ I was unable to locate in the morning. After contacting my tour designer in Mumbai I was frustrated because according to him the ‘Meeting Point’ was same, vague without any concrete details. I wanted to cancel the tour but the stipulated period to do it, 24 hours in advance was already over. Praying for my luck I went to sleep after having dinner of leftover Chicken salad from the lunch, the serving was that sumptuous.                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                        To be continued.