So last week, we took a short trip to Geoje Island which is in the southeastern part of Korea. I’m currently on vacation until the 19th, and Hyo had a short 4 day vacation from her hagwon.
We like going to the sea, so naturally Geoje was a good choice for us.
For starters, Geoje is quite difficult to get to. It is not connected to any KTX line, and taking the bus from Incehon or Seoul could take 4-6 hours depending on traffic.
We didn’t want to worry about traffic, so we ended up taking a train to Busan, and then taking an hour long bus ride from Busan to Geoje via the new bridge/tunnel that connects the two cities. Before this new link, the bus time would take about 3 hours.
We started our day on Thursday morning by taking an early subway ride to Seoul Station so we could make out 8am train. We didn’t take KTX down there in trying to save money, but in retrospect, we should have. It would have saved us time and the KTX is more comfortable than the Mungunghwa slower train.
Anyways, we arrived in Busan at around 1:30 Pm. We headed off for some lunch at a Vietnamese place, and then caught a cab to the Express Bus Station. We bought our tickets for Geoje, and left at about 3:40 since we just missed to last bus that left at 3Pm.
We were dead tired, so we pretty much slept the whole way on the bus. I did wake up in time to see us crossing the new bridge (I like bridges for some reason) and I tried to wake Hyo up to see the bridge and ocean, but she didn’t really care and went back to sleep on my shoulder.
We arrived in Geoje around 5pm, and took a short cab ride to our hotel.
Upon walking to our hotel, we saw the owner’s golden retriever who was very curious of us as we approached the door. We walked in, and we were greeted by the owner…an old man who looked to be in his 70s but was very kind and helped us check in right away.
We got our key, walked up to our room on the 7th floor, and we were greeted with an amazing view of the bay and sea. The hotel is a bit older, and if the owner did some renovations, he would have a sure money maker on his hands just because of the view.
It was now around 5:30pm, and we wanted to check out Oedo Island (μΈλ) to see the botanical garden there. We went back downstairs and asked the owner where we should take the ferry to the island, but we were informed that the ferries had stopped for the day, and that we should take a ferry tomorrow instead. We were actually a little relieved because we were so tired.
The owner recommended that we go to the ferry terminal anyways so we could book our tickets in advance as it was the busy season and they might be sold out. So we walked to the ferry terminal and on the way, we passed by the shipping docks where the worst smell ever permeated throughout our noses as we walked. It was seriously bad and we assumed it came from the fish residue or whatever that kept washing up against the docks. This smell would haunt us daily as we walked to and from our hotel.
Once we got to the ferry terminal, we found out that the only ferry left was for 7:04 am. We are definitely not an early bird couple…we are an owl couple so this was shocking to us, but we had no choice. We bought our tickets (about 60,000 won for 2 people) and headed out to find some dinner before we turned in early for the night.
I decided that since we were on an island, and close to the sea, I should try some new food that I’ve never tried before. Hyo made a lot of recommendations, but I finally settled on an eel restaurant near our hotel.
Now I am one of the pickiest eaters ever, but I think Hyo has been changing my taste a bit as I’ve been open to trying more foods lately. I have always wondered what eel taste like ever since I saw a scene from my favorite anime, Samurai Champloo. Now was was better than ever to try it.
We sat down in the restaurant, ordered our food, and the eel came out. Straight raw eel cut into many pieces and even the head sitting there staring me in the eyes. Not the most visually appealing dish, but it was time to roast it on the grill. I tried it, and although not my particular favorite texture of food (I really don’t like the texture of fish), it tasted pretty damn good. We wrapped it in lettuce and sauce to make it taste even better.
Hyo told me that in Korea, they think that eel is good for men’s health and stamina so maybe it helped, maybe it didn’t. Anyways, we finished our meal, and headed back to our hotel. The room had a nice balcony overlooking the water, so we sat out there eating some snacks with a can of beer and just talking. Definitely a relaxing and romantic way to end the night.
We turned in early so we could get up at 6am for our ferry. Part 2 comes tomorrow π