Chuseok: discovering the wonders of the Seoul bus system

I take the bus three stops down the road every day to work, turning a 40 minute walk into a five minute ride. Other than this I've found the subway to be very convenient for taking me elsewhere in the city; it's clean, fast, and all the maps have English translations. I've even heard other foreigners go so far as to wonder why you would ever need to take a bus, and that they wouldn't know how.

After having had my attention turn to this convenient website (use with IE), I've started to be more adventurous with my bus travel. Travelling south of Seoul for the Korean harvest festival - Chuseok - to visit family, it was a good opportunity to avoid a four-transfer subway trip in favour of a direct bus all the way there.

Regarding the holiday, hanging out in the countryside was definitely what I needed after a long stint in Seoul, but I did feel mildly awkward not being able to follow my hosts' break-neck speed conversations! With an extra day off on Monday to play with, I went to see Mamma Mia: the Movie with my cousin. Once I got over how incredibly lame the storyline is, it was actualy quite entertaining. And just to note: I love popcorn in Korea! Having a mix of salted and caramel HOT popcorn is a much better idea than drying out your mouth with just one or the other that British cinemas insist you eat!