a hop, skip, and a quick jump to Japan….

My departure from Gwangju was just the first step in my journey back to Busan to be back with Nicole in our uber cool new apartment. Theres a little “to do” with my visa stamp that was due to expire on July 1 that needed to be addressed and to do that, on a visa run I go!

Having dumped a boat load of money into the Japanese economy in Feb and March, I had no intention of making this a long stay but in any travel adventure, I wanted it to be fun! So instead of a plane I opted for the hydrofoil boat. 3 hour of speedy awesomeness above the East Sea with Miraejet (http://www.mirejet.com/). For approximately $250 round trip ($200 ticket) (including taxes and fee’s), I got a front row seat on the 2nd deck to watch the waves scoot by on my marine adventure for a tourist visa stamp. (side note: there are specials that run often but you need to book early….you should be able to save yourself 50K won if you do!)

The motion of the ocean was quite relaxing and after a 2 hour snooze, we arrived at Hakata port in Fukuoka. Having visited this city already, I wasn’t heartbroken with the
fact that my turn around voyage departed 2 hours later, however I did have biz to take care of.

Immigration is easy if you have all your forms filled out (customs and embarkation). “Konichiwa”…”Arrigato”, done.

The trip home was significantly more noisy as a ton of Japanese set off for the bargains to be had back in Soko. Apparently this was a cause for celebration because a fair amount of the passengers seemed sake’d up which made for some high sea’s chanting which is always fun

Smooth sailing through Korean Immigration and I was home. Here are some details of the trip.

Left the Apt: 8:45am

Departure (KR): 10:00am

Departure Tax: 24,000won

Arrival at Hakata: 12:55pm

Departure (JP):  3:45pm

Departure Tax: 2100 Yen (29,635 won)

Arrival in Busan: (6:50pm)

Arrived Home: 7:30pm

Good to go until October! Phyeww…..

adam