Today it was time to head back up to Seoul. But no flying, instead I wanted to try out the Korean High Speed rail network.

The station was just a short metro ride away. I hope they didn't pay the marketing consultants too extravagantly for the slogan of the city...



It's nice that they have machines that speak english, but none of them take foreign credit cards, which renders it a bit pointless. The staffed ticket office does accept foreign cards. I had actually stopped by yesterday to secure my ticket, so no need to queue up today. The ticket cost me 60000 Won - about 40 Euro. Pretty reasonable for 2.5 hours of high speed rail.



There is high demand for train travel, with a high speed train towards Seoul up to every 10 minutes.



On the train I just managed to find space for my suitcase before settling in to a nicely comfortable seat. The ride was smooth, and the carriage blissfully quiet even when it filled up to standing room only as we picked up more passengers at the intermediate stations.

As a result of the geography a very large portion of the trip took place in tunnels, so sadly not much chance to enjoy the view. Still, train is surely the way to go for regular journeys between these two cities.




Upon arrival in Seoul the entire contents of this rammed 18 car train had to go up a single escalator and staircase. Not particulary efficient...


A minor hike to the metro station, where a broken escalator gave me a reminder of home. It was approaching rush hour so the metro was rammed, but I manage to get a train in the correct direction.




Finally now I am installed at the Novotel Dongdaemun, where I will spend the next five nights. Another upgrade duly received, this one significantly nicer than at the ibis...