Hello, Korea — Hello, Japan

Today was the day to say goodbye to South Korea and to continue our journey to the nearby island. Japan awaits.

So: Hello, Korea — Hello, Japan, which means farewell, Korea — hello, Japan.

The day started with packing everything that wasn’t packed yet and then checking out. Fortunately, we were able to leave our luggage at the hotel, allowing us to spend the remaining time with a walk.

We headed to a park nearby. A place to catch a breath and recharge amidst the bustling city – especially for nature lovers like us. The park had a lot to offer: beautiful paths, a hedge maze (where it seemed some had already cut corners), a book café, an Eco Bridge, and an overall very calm, relaxed atmosphere, perfect for recharging our batteries.

After a quick lunch to sensibly pass the time – one last bibimbap while we're still here – and a quick coffee, we continued on towards the Busan airport.

My conclusion about South Korea:

Without knowledge of Korean, it can be somewhat challenging to communicate. English is spoken considerably less than I expected. Nevertheless, one always manages – if necessary, with gestures. People were incredibly open and helpful, especially in such situations. Often, we received unsolicited “instructions” when we merely looked like we didn’t know exactly what to do.

Moreover, almost everything important for us was extremely well signposted – from subways and trains to landmarks and directional signs.

The food was consistently very delicious. However, anyone who doesn’t eat meat or follows a vegan diet has to search a bit more to find suitable dishes.

The historical places we visited were all extremely worth seeing, beautiful – and, while not crucial, also remarkably inexpensive to visit.

And here are a few numbers from our stay:

• 7 onigiri eaten from convenience stores (let’s see if that increases in Japan)
• 22 different coffee beans tried
• about 153,000 steps for me
• about 177,500 steps for the coffee nerd (a bit shorter legs)
• Total: around 340,000 steps in 11 days (including a rest day with only about 4,000 steps)

After this mental recap, some waiting time at the airport, and about an hour of flight through a bit of a bumpy thunderstorm cell, we finally landed in Japan – at Fukuoka Airport.

And the first thing I noticed: I learned Hiragana and Katakana (the Japanese characters) but still can’t read much here. It seems like you can’t really get by without Kanji. But oh well – it will work out somehow. It did in South Korea, after all.

After about an hour at the airport with security check, immigration, and all that, we took the bus into Fukuoka and then walked to the hotel. We were quite tired but really wanted to eat something. And finally, I got what I had been looking forward to since the start of the vacation: ramen. Straight from Japan.

And yes – it was absolutely worth it. Very delicious. I just hope the ramen here don’t ruin the versions back home too much.

With a full belly and happy, we returned to the hotel and almost directly went to bed. Tomorrow, the first real outing in Japan awaits – and we want to be fit for that.