Annyeong! I’ve got good news for my readers. As some of you know, I and my husband have been to Korea for 15 days last week, I decided to take notes while traveling and write a lot of things here in my blog. Some are already posted and still got a number of drafts that I am still editing. All of them are mostly tips and personal experiences about our half month stay in Korea and most of these are relevant topics from transportation, money, food to accommodations of which I think will be very useful for everyone who’s planning to come and visit the land of KPop and Kdramas.

We arrived in Incheon last January 23 in the morning around 6:10am, cleared immigration right away but took us a couple of minutes for the baggage. Soon after, I decided to look around and check on ways on how to get to Busan safe and affordable without sacrificing comfort. Although I have an early readings on Incheon Airport and how to get to busan by both bus and KTX, we are still undecided until the last minute but finally gave in into taking provincial buses since KTX station is in Seoul which is about 45 minutes away from the airport. It seems inappropriate for us to take KTX since both of our luggage weighs 30kg but for people with small luggage and in a hurry, you can take AREX to Seoul Station and hop on to KTX.

BUS ROUTE PARKING IN INCHEON AIRPORT

Despite my insatiable cravings for breakfast that time, I have some of my US Dollar bills changed to Korean won at the airport first. I didn’t change all my USD bills because the forex rates in the airport is usually lower and at the same time credit cards are widely accepted in South Korea so using plastic money is not a problem. Then, we search for the gates and look for the 9C and 10C to check for provincial buses. In a snap, I bought two (2) one-way ticket to Busan and chose the earliest departure time which is at 8:20am. One ticket costed us 42,400 korean won about 40 USD more or less. Just a quick tip though, if you’re not used to Korea, don’t get confuse with P and B. Busan means Pusan so you can see in my ticket below Pusan East Term instead of Busan East Terminal.

The Ticket is printed in brochure/catalog type with discounts on other attractions but mostly in Hangul. But the most important details are pointed out with the cashier’s pink ballpen. All the details is printed as well – the fare, your seat no, the destination and the time of departure.

We ate our first meal in Korea at Jamba Juice. I ordered ham and cheese sandwich with fresh TLC and a bread with bulgogi fillings with matching Strawberry Smoothies. We paid 18,000 won for this healthy meals.

Brrrr….. After our breakfast we headed at the waiting area. It was 1*C that time and its super cold but we have to be at 10C 10 minutes before our departure time.

THE BUS – when you see the bus, no need to rush since the driver will actually help you load your luggage. Then check for your seat no. Before the bus depart, the driver will check your ticket and get the other part of it. The seats are very comfortable and spacious. You can even recline it when you want to sleep. The amount you’ve paid is really worth it.

Since the whole journey will take you 5 hours. A stopover is necessary for bathroom, snack and coffee break. In this photo, we stopped at Cheonan and like what we’ve experienced from 2011 (Gwangju – Seoul Trip), the stopover never failed to amuse me with their snacks kiosk, novelty store and clean toilet rooms. Then after some coffee, we boarded the bus again. A friendly old man opposite our seats gave us this sweet red bean filled bun. He’s so sweet and so kind to us the whole trip.

Then we arrived at Busan Central Bus Station around past 1 in the afternoon. From the photo above, you can tell that their terminal are clean and at the same time have some store, coffee shops and even Lotteria for arriving and departing passengers. From there, we took taxi to Sunset Hotel Located in Haeundae for 16000 KRW. One More Tip : There is a Tourist information center here so in case you can ask them about Busan Itineraries.

To sum it up it was a long journey but having someone you can talk to along the way will make the trip seem shorter and enjoyable. In case you’re traveling alone, you wont get bored because there’s free wifi on board. The seats are very spacious and comfortable as well so it doesn’t matter. I have a small table of comparison (that might help you) below for you to check if you’re having a hard time in choosing between the bus or the KTX. You can also get to busan by air via the GIMPO AIRPORT though we prefer traveling by land instead.

Happy Traveling and Happy Reading!