I guess deciding to go travelling, It’s important I just don’t write about the things that work out, I guess I should write as well about the adventures that went off the reservation somewhat.

My first weekend in Gwangyang-Eup, I went to Suncheon to sort out a cell phone. It only being a 10-15 minute bus ride, it was simple enough to figure out how to get there. Knowing I was leaving for Seoul the next day for the 5 day weekend, I wanted to check out where the train station was (Which turned out to be a bit of a walk).

A friend of mine decided to join, and after a bit of a hike, we had found Suncheon Station. It was starting to get late, and so we decided it was best that we head back. I had remembered at one point google maps had told me I could take the 88-Bus to get from Eup to Gwangyang-Si.

Now full disclosure, I still don’t know if the 88 bus gets you back to Gwangyang-Eup or not, or where it really goes, I’m concerned to try it again as google maps has proved to be spot on some times and completely out to lunch other times.

We saw an 88 stop and hoped on quickly. Happy with our luck of finding a bus so quick, we sat down and got comfortable.

And then the bus turned left, pulled onto the highway in the opposite direction to ‘Eup’ and took off.

Now this wouldn’t have been an issue, except that it was a highway, with a divider in the middle, so there was no way to get off, and catch the bus back on the other side.

So we were along for the ride. We kept looking at google maps on our phones seeing, and hopelessly trying to guess, where it would begin to loop around. After close to an hour, the bus pulled up to a small fishing village, stopped in a parking lot, and the bus driver kindly told us “Thank you, goodbye” in Korean. It was 6 pm, on a holiday friday, and it was clear we were certainly not in Kansas any longer.

Hesitantly we stepped off the bus, and began walking back up the street we had seen the bus drive down. After about a 20 minute awkward walk back tracking the roads the bus took we came up on the “down town”. We entered into town and started weighing our options.

Do we take a cab all the way back? Wait for a bus (…..when do they stop?). Try to figure out the trains back?!

Normally I’m quiet okay getting lost. I went backpacking through Europe after university and one of my favorite things was to go and get lost walking through a new city. But when you’re an hour out of town, and you don’t know where you are even on  map, and with a cell phone that’s almost dead from the hour of “Siri, where the hell are we”, when you know the buses are inconsistent, its a little stressful.

If I can’t find the way back, this is what dinner will be.

Wandering a little further, we finally came up on a bus stop. Our salvation…right?! We couldn’t see any markings of  “88” anywhere, but we waited, then waited…then waited, and just as faith wandered out the door, a big, loud, glorious purple bus pulled up reading “88” on the top electronic banner thing. Jumping on the bus, and asking the driver “Suncheon?!?! Suncheon Yes?!”. With his re-affirming nod and one long ride back, we had finally made it back to Suncheon, vowing to never to take the 88 again.

On our way back

Back in Suncheon

The 88 may actually be the bus I want, It may get the job done, but the issue was we had mixed up whether we were walking north or south with east and west by the train station, and we actually got on the bus going the wrong direction…rookie mistake. But when 90% of the words are Hanguel, its not that surprising that I find my self in the odd fishing village an hour from anywhere.