The last day of a trip always requires a bit of diligence.
Since I usually start my days quite late,
getting out of the hotel before checkout time
is actually a rather difficult task for me.
This morning, I managed to be diligent again.
I packed my bags, took a bus,
and came out near Mokpo Station.
I had lunch around the station.
My train was at 2 p.m.
There was some time left,
but with nothing particular to do,
I decided to simply spend the time
in the waiting hall at Mokpo Station.
As I was spending time in the waiting hall…
huh?
There was a train going from Mokpo to Suseo,
not just one heading to Seoul Station.
Ah, that was it.
It had simply been too long since my last domestic train trip.
Even though Suseo Station is right near my home,
I had gone all the way to Seoul Station to catch a train.
Besides the Honam Line KTX departing from Seoul Station,
there was also the Honam Line SRT departing from Suseo.
For some reason, I had thought the SRT didn’t have a Honam Line,
even though I had taken it before.
I hurriedly canceled my KTX ticket to Seoul Station
and rebooked an SRT ticket to Suseo.
Well then.
I thought I had traveled quite a lot,
to the point of even writing a blog like this
and sharing experiences and information,
but once again I was reminded of a very obvious truth:
even things you think you know for sure
can turn out to be wrong.
My original plan was a four-night trip:
two nights in Mokpo and two nights in Gunsan.
In Mokpo, I wanted to visit
Seongyeong Junchi Hoetjip and Daemyeonggwan,
both places I had always liked,
as well as Jangteo Sikdang, which I hadn’t been to before.
In Gunsan, I really wanted to visit Wanjuok again.
Mokpo and Gunsan also share
streetscapes with buildings from during Japan’s colonial rule,
so I thought that could give some unity
to both the photos and the stories.
But in the middle of the trip,
I ran into a physical issue.
I’m not entirely sure why,
but for several nights I simply couldn’t fall asleep,
and in the end, my stamina was completely worn down.
On top of that,
traveling from Mokpo to Gunsan
is less convenient than expected,
since it’s not a route you can cover with just one train.
So I changed my goal:
instead of forcing the move,
I decided to visit more restaurants in Mokpo
that I hadn’t been able to try before.
That change gave me enough time
to ride the cable car,
eat sushi and tteokgalbi,
and even look for new bars.
Of course, I was also able
to walk around the old downtown area
more slowly and thoroughly.
In the end,
I think spending a relaxed four nights in Mokpo
made this trip much more fulfilling.
That’s how travel works.
It’s almost like a living creature.
This is especially true for someone like me,
who makes rather loose plans.
No matter how carefully you research and plan,
once you’re there,
plans change for all sorts of reasons,
and your heart follows suit.
That’s why I make plans
with plenty of gaps from the beginning.
I’ve always liked moving on impulse.
These days, with just a phone in hand,
it’s easy to get the information you need right away
and adjust your plans on the spot.
This time as well,
I booked two nights in Mokpo in advance,
but didn’t book the two nights in Gunsan at all
before leaving.
I had already assumed
that I might change my mind once I got to Mokpo.
And so,
this loosely planned Mokpo trip has come to an end.
It was my first domestic trip in quite a while.
It had also been a long time
since I traveled mostly on foot,
without driving a rental car.
My next trip will probably be somewhere in Japan again.
I’m thinking of traveling a bit more seriously from now on.
I don’t yet know where the next destination will be,
but before long,
I’ll likely be back with another travel story—
one that’s not particularly exciting
and not especially useful either.
That does seem to be my specialty.
Leave a Reply