Wando

I'm due on Jeju Island tomorrow. The closest port to the island is Wando, which is my destination today.

However I do have some time to kill before heading to the bus terminal, so I visit an art gallery and then the Asian Culture Complex. The medication has kicked in and I find it hard to concentrate on the task at hand. One of the lady reception staff at the hotel is kind enough to call a taxi for me when it's time to leave. She even starts to help me load my megaluggage into the boot - that's a WHS issue if I've ever seen one so I decline her help.

I thought I'd given myself plenty of time to get to the bus terminal, but traffic congestion and red lights eat into the contingency. Every red light costs 3 minutes of time, they start to add up. Anyway I have around 6 minutes to spare when we reach the bus terminal.

It's around a 2 hour trip to Wando. The bus driver does a quick head count and tells me to buckle up. Later on I understand why, as he takes cornering as a speed challenge. I can feel my ribs under pressure from the seat belt 😫

Arriving at Wando, I eschew taking a taxi for a walk with my luggage. It's around a 10 minute trip to Wandonesia (I'm not making this up) where I'm staying. It's no problem checking in, the problem is that my room number is 403 and I'm Wandonesia is a hostel without lifts. So I have to haul my luggage up 3 flights of stairs (remembering that ground floor is 1F).

The room is quite lovely though, particularly the bathroom. There is a lot of road noise but once I close the double-glazed windows I hear nothing.

I want to buy a ticket for tomorrow's 9am ferry to Jeju. Unfortunately the ticket office is closed, even though it's not long after 4. Looks like I'll need to be there at 8am tomorrow when the ticket office reopens. I take the first 3 attached photos on the way back to Wandonesia, then the last photo from my room.Read more