South Korea - Daejeon

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David here...

The first bus journey from Gyeongju to Daegu took 50 minutes and was very comfortable. Arrivals was on the 2nd floor. Ticket sales and departures were on the 3rd floor. We made our way up and found the ticket counters. While looking at the boards, which did have English on, we were approached by a gentleman in uniform who asked us if we required any assistance. We asked about onward tickets to Daejeon and he promptly led us over to the ticket counter, ordered the tickets for us, translated the sellers information and then led us to the platform gate we required. We were astounded and very appreciative of the assistance. We would've been able to figure it all out given time I'm sure, but to have some official assistance made it really easy. We also found we got 2 of the last 4 tickets on the next bus, which was due to leave in 40 minutes time.

Seeing as we had time, we had a latte and used the facilities at the bus terminal before jumping onto the bus and taking our seats. The system in Korea is really good. You scan your ticket as you get on and it shows on a screen at the front. The seats are big and comfortable, all recline and have leg rests. Some buses even have USB charging available at the seats, which is useful. We were right on the back seat for the 2 hour journey into Daejeon and it felt weird being seated higher up than the rest of the bus, but we were soon dozing away, quite comfortable in the warmth.

The journey was pretty uneventful. At the mid-point the bus stopped at services and I failed to get another crunchy hotdog on a stick as they sold out while I was queuing. We're pretty sure we saw snowflakes falling at one point. Anyway, we arrived at Daejeon at the main bus terminal that was miles away from where our hotel was located. We looked around for an LRT sign and couldn't see anything. I was all up for walking, though it would've taken about 2 hours and Suzanne was about to suggest a taxi when it occurred to her to go back into the bus station to see if they had free wi-fi. 5 minutes later we emerged with directions to a bus stop round the corner and a bus number that would take us right to our hotel. We found the bus stop and within minutes the bus pulled up. We paid, got 2 seats where we could stow our bags and then both watched Google maps as the bus took us right to the bus stop nearest to our booked hotel. We've said this time and again in this blog and to ourselves but technology has really changed the face of travel, even in the 6 years since our last RTW trip. Just knowing where you are on a map is streets ahead of looking at paper maps and guide books as we did on the last trip.

The EAN residence was a little disapointing at first. The room itself was fine, lots of room, a washing machine, a kitchenette and underfloor heating however the bathroom was tiny and there was no separate shower, the shower was linked to the sink tap, the bathroom was that small. Everything was also a little dusty. We don't think people have stayed in the room for a while. Also, although there was a kitchette, all the cupboards were bare of any crockery or utensils.

Once settled in and after a little research we headed out earlier than normal to the university area where there were supposed to be lots of little restaurants and bars. This would be a 45 minute walk to get there, did I mention it was a little cold? Well, it was freezing, -9 deg. to be exact and while we were wrapped up in all our available warm clothes it was still freezing. We eventually made it to the studenty area and wandered round. All of the neon signs around us was actually quite warming, maybe it was just the knowledge that what, at first, appeared to be a bad idea was likely to be a good one. We ended up in a little bar called Dark Haus that had just opened (it was now 18:00) and had draught Kozel at a very reasonable cost of £3 for 620ml. We also ordered a plate of hot chicken wings to share. It was a lovely little place and the guy was very friendly, explaining to us in broken English that the oven had to warm up and if we needed service, to press the call button on the table. After a second beer we moved on looking for something more substantial. We had a choice of a European style pub or a Korean chicken and beer place. We ended up in the little fried chicken place and after a bit of pointing and nodding we ended up with 2 big beers and a big platter of boneless fried chicken and chips all covered in chinese style curry sauce...delicious and filling.

We then moved next door to a bar we had spotted that looked sufficiently dark and moody however the service was not helpful and they only had expensive bottles of beer and no Korean beer so we just left. Deciding to head back we again passed a bar called Howling at the Moon. It had appeared in our research earlier as a potential bar that was 'Rock friendly' so down the stairs we went. The bar was in the basement of a building and had lots of guitars and pick shaped tables and chairs and was pretty empty with only 1 other table occupied. It was also dark with strategically placed lights so it appeared nice instead of gloomy. We loved it. They also only had cocktails or bottles of beer, but did have cheap Korean beer in the fridges and the welcome from the guy behind the bar was lovely. He seemed really pleased for us to be there.

We grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge and settled into a corner, warming up after the freezing temperatures outside. The music was OK, nothing to shout about but good enough for us to decide to stay for one more beer before heading back to the hotel. As I grabbed more beer I asked if they had any Rock and got handed paper and a pen. We put down a Kiss, Guns n Roses and H.E.A.T as requests, the last one a test to see, not really expecting to hear all of them. Sure enough we got all 3 requests...and was then followed by Placebo and the Scorpions. Sensing a challenge we bought more beer and requested Avatar, Hardcore Superstar, Rammstein, Iron Maiden, Lordi, Aerosmith and finally Posion, getting everything we requested. By this time it was gone midnight and we had got through 6 beers each. Paying up, bowing to the owner and expressing our thanks we left the bar as Talk Dirty to Me was playing, remembering as we got upstairs and outside that they had a speaker on the street and everyone had heard what we'd requested...explains why more people came in!

The walk back was very cold and took 45 minutes again. We'd decided to get a wash on when we got in so that our clothes had time to dry so we picked up a big beer, cereal and milk from a local 7-Eleven before getting back into the room. We figured out the Korean buttons on the washing machine and got that going and drank more beer in the room while listening to Lordi in readiness for LA in a weeks time. The washing took over an hour and it was 02:30 before we had hung the washing up in the room and finished the beer and could go to bed.

We had a very lazy morning, not setting the alarm at all and eating cereal out of mugs with sporks for breakfast. It was gone 12:00 before we left the room heading for the supposedly excellent Daejeon Modern Art gallery, one reason we were here in the first place. The city is big but is really a travel hub only with not much to see or do as it is on the main Seoul to Busan route. We walked the 30 minutes to the gallery through some lovely parks to find the place shut. It wasn't a Monday, Chinese New Year was finished and the gallery should've been open, their own website and Google said it was open. It wasn't . Even locals were turning up and looking bermused to find it closed.

Without a backup plan and the cold making outside activity was a no-no we decided to head back to the hotel and make use of the time to book our internal Brazil flights for May (check) and to confirm how many Malerone tablets we will need to get in LA, and to contact a travel clinic in Hollywood. We did stop off at a Korean supermarket on the way back to take a look round as it is always a fun experience to see local shoppers and to seem what you can buy. Unfortunately we ended up walking out with two big bottles of beer for the room which we demolished while booking flights and sending emails.

While in the room it occurred to us that as we had a kitchenette, it was crazy not to have pots and pans available so I popped to reception and asked. Within minutes we had a big tub of crockery, pans and cutlery in our room. That was that, we were straight back to the supermarket where we bought steak, rice, eggs, cheese and more beer to cook up for dinner that night, hopefully saving us a little money. We made steak topped with cheese, scrambled eggs and a massive pile of rice, using the rice cooker that was in the room. It wasn't the best meal we've ever eaten but it was tasty and good to be able to cook ourselves, saving us a little money. The evening was spent listening to music, drinking beer before settling down earlier than the previous night as we wanted to be out earlier the next day.

That day started with cereal again, this time out of bowls, and we were out of the room and on a 901 bus out to the Yongseung bus terminal where we could get another bus out to Gongju, a town that the Rough Guide claims to be very under visited and lovely. We got to the first bus station and got tickets for a bus to Gongju easily, however we did not know which bus it was. We asked a driver and he tried to help telling us it was one of two when the lady who sold us our tickets came out and directed us onto the bus that had just pulled in.

30 minutes later we were stepping off the bus in Gongju. If I'm honest, it was pretty much the same as previous Korean towns we'd visited to look at. The mantra of the day, and this leg of the trip has been "it would be lovely in the Spring". The riverside parks, the fort and the tomb area would be lovely in warmer weather. However the temperature was below freezing, with the occasional snowflake falling. We visited the Hanok tourist village, a mock up of what a 5th century village in the area would look like, and the National Museum, which houses relics found in the tomb of King Murjeong. All of it was very interesting and with the touristy stuff on the other side of the river to the bus station, we got some exercise as well. We also had fun messing around with the ice in the fountain outside the Tomb area. You could slide big glass-like sheets of ice around and off one level down onto another, which amused us.

After about 3 hours in Gongju we decided to head back to Daejeon, in the hope that we may be able to hit the Art Gallery again to see if we could finally get in. We got to the bus station and asked for tickets back to Daejeon and after some confusion got tickets back to the bus terminal. We realised, too late unfortunately, that we actually needed tickets to Yongseung. Anyway, our bus turned up and we were away and back in Daejeon Bus Complex in 30 minutes. It did give us the opportunity to find out where to get tickets to Seoul. We were soon on the 106 bus winging our way back to the hotel. We did stop and pick up some supplies so we could cook again that night before we gratefully got into our warm hotel room.

We again spent the evening holed up in the hotel room with beer and we took the opportunity to cook again, making chicken and rice with sweetcorn and onions. We will definitely be buying a rice cooker when we get home, very easy and clean to use.

The next morning we had a bagel with cheese and egg and finished off the cereal and milk before packing up, getting the 106 bus to the Daejeon Terminal Complex and catching the 11:00 bus to our final stop in Asia, Seoul. Daejeon turned out alright for us in the end. Getting the cooking equipment made a nice change for us and it was good to be self sufficient for a while. The town itself is OK, would be a nice place to live we reckon but not too much for tourists to do really.

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Photos

Gongju - Bust of King Muryeong
The caption to this bust basically said it was created from descriptions of the King from around 525 AD and may not actually look like him at all