Slight interval between my arrival and bus departure sweetly paid off, so I didn’t have to wait too long for bus to depart. A few minutes ago, I had asked to one of drivers in order to find a bus which would I take at Busan Central Bus Terminal. His forefinger clearly pointed at the white fleet with a red color. I rushed to bus and asked to its driver who was sitting in front of the parked bus.
“Yes, this bus”, he said when I showed the ticket.
He allowed me to get on early on the bus which its machine was slowly starting but bus still neatly parked at the platform. Bus seats were in two columns on each side and I acquired a seat slightly behind. By being on the bus, apart from getting peace of mind because I won’t be left behind, I also got warm air which made me felt comfortable.
One by one local passengers arrived and tried to find their respective seats. Until a minute before departure, bus seats were not full. The driver came and started checking each passenger with a manifest sheet in his left hand. After marking all lists in the manifest,then driver got off, reported to terminal’s officer, then began to sit behind the wheel. The bus was ready to start its long journey with more than half of its seats left empty.
Then bus was slowly moving away from Busan Central Bus Terminal and starting to show off new areas which I’ve never explored before. Bus entered a toll road by showing the silhouette of South Korea’s beautiful hills. Not infrequently bus entered tunnels which splitting the hill. The streets looked deserted at night, only showing night lights along the contours of Korean hills. Unbelievably beautiful.
Passengers have been asleep for a long time, while I, as a foreigner, prefered to enjoy evening shows while enjoying a few slices of bread which I bought from a minimarket in Busan Central Bus Terminal. Yup, I didn’t have time to have dinner properly, because I was being chased by time to catching bus departure since afternoon.
I didn’t realize I had been enjoying street scenery for so long, until finally driver took a break at Sunsan Service Area near Gumi City, precisely in Gyeongsangbuk Province. All passengers got off to just enjoying a cup of hot coffee or at least go for a moment into toilet. Meanwhile, I just decided to walk around rest area while waiting for driver to finishing their dinner.
Then that madness came….
Twenty minutes later, bus was ready to leave, and all passengers returned to their respective seats. I rushed to bus and sat back in my seat. After driver counted passengers, then bus headed again to Seoul.
I remembered that in my backpack there were still two t-shirts and a pair of socks which weren’t completely dry. Seeing a quiet situation in bus with all passengers were sleeping with their dream, I took out that t-shirt and socks and then spread them at headrest of seat in front of me, I deliberately did this to dry them out. “Ah, while all passangers are sleeping, it will be Okay …”, I thought while laughing amused.
Then I started to close my eyes to rest, because when I arrived in Seoul, I would stay overnight and have to stay awake at Seoul Express Bus Terminal to then immediately exploring Seoul City in the morning. I had to save energy for that….
I started to close my eyes, the bus would still arrive in next two hours….