KTX Train

Me and 3 friends went to Seoul this weekend because we all have a little break and didn't have to be back in Ulsan for a few days, we were just going to hang out as long as the weather was decent. So I took my first trip to Seoul, and my first ever train ride! I've never been on a train before (that I remember) and certainly not one like this...

First we took a taxi (because we missed our bus and didn't feel like waiting for another one) to the train station.


Then we bought tickets. They were kind of pricey. $50 one-way. But it's worth it.

Here's my ticket. We wandered over to the platform to wait.

We got there with a few minutes to stand around and wait. Brian was in the picture when I tried to take a picture of the time, so he struck one of his famous bewildered poses. I have a feeling I will probably post similar pictures in the future. He always makes this face.


There was a little air conditioned room for people to wait in, but since we only had a couple minutes and it was crowded in there we waited in the heat.


This is what the inside of the train looked like from my seat. All of the seats face the middle of each car, so half of the train is facing backwards and half is facing forward. I think the forward-facing half is more expensive. At any rate, we were stuck going backwards both ways. Alas.

They had TV screens throughout the train playing who knows what, news or something. There are earphone jacks in the armrests so you can listen to it if you want. But I only looked at them to see the top part change from the date and time to the speed of the train! The KTX train is a special bullet train. It travels at more than 300 km/h!!! (which is in excess of 180 mph for us metrically-challenged folks.) That is why the trip is so expensive. In a normal train, this journey takes most of your day. On the KTX train we were there in about 2 hours.

When we got off the train in Seoul, I was compelled to take this photo from the top of the escalators up from the platforms to the station. The station in Ulsan was just two platforms, this one was huge. Trains coming and going every which way!


Odd art/logo/thing and giant TV inside the Seoul Station, for your viewing pleasure.


The outside of the Seoul Station building. I took this one on the way home after our trip, it was raining that day. The day we arrived I was too busy looking around me to take the picture looking back. This was my first view of Seoul, stepping out of the station. It is overwhelmingly HUGE. You could walk for days and days and probably weeks and still be in Seoul!!! This city's vastness is impressive and mind-boggling.

Coming up later: American breakfast, the subways, and bar-hopping in Seoul.