I recently took a trip to Joo Wong San to see the fall leaves this November. As you know, I live in Busan, but I went with a Meet Up group that gathers out of Seoul. So, that meant that I had to take a KTX, high-speed train out of Busan and up to Seoul. The group for the trip met at midnight on a Friday, so I had to leave Busan right after work, which would not have been a problem if I had known beforehand about a training session that I had to attend on the other side of town.

KTX Train to Seoul

Anyway, I managed to get to Busan Station on time. I had purchased my train tickets in advance. I have to let you all know that it is easy to buy train tickets at the station (in Busan, anyway). There are computers set up, with an English interface, so you can try to buy your tickets there. You can also, simply wait in line and buy your tickets via a live person. The agent was able to help me in English without much of a problem. Just speak slowly!

How Much Does it Cost to Take a Train to Seoul from Busan?

I bought a regular one-way train to Seoul ticket for about 50,000 won (just less than $50). First class tickets are about 25,000 won more, and you get more leg room and nicer seats. The regular seats aren’t all that bad, though. You get cloth seats and the area isn’t cramped at all, so to me first class was just a little bit nicer, but not worth the extra money. I’ll have to try first class, though and let you know.

The trip to Seoul took about three hours. I met a friend near the station, but the station is huge and we had to keep calling each other and describing our location. After meeting, we met the rest of our group after midnight and took a chartered bus to our first destination, Joo Wong San to see the sunrise at the lake at 6:30 a.m.

We all slept on the bus. Unfortunately, we didn’t arrive to the lake in time to see the sunrise, but we did see spectacular fall colors. The area was quite misty, but it was eerily beautiful over the lake. The rock formations were also incredible and we couldn’t resist taking pictures of the mountains above us. We spent about an hour walking along a path next to the lake and taking pictures.

Next, we headed to Andong. We had planned to visit the famous Andong Folk Village and watch the Mask Dance in Andong. The Folk Village was authentic with actual people living as Koreans have lived in ancient

times, cooking by an open fire, and living in small concrete homes with thatched roofs. The village is also huge, and I was so glad to have a map to get around. I was also happy to see that some of the homes had plaques in English describing them and their historical significance.

Andong Mask Dance

The Mask Dance was okay. It was held in an open air theater, which is comfortable in the fall, but the performers faced only in one direction. Only one side of the audience could really see the action and get great photos. There was a lot of dialogue and it was all in Korean. It was impossible for me to tell the plot of the performance through actions alone. There is a guide to the dance/performance at the information booth, so grab one, so you can understand what’s going on.

I was disappointed with the Mask Dance since the performers only catered to one side of the audience. They also asked members from the audience to go up on stage, and they performers were saying something while the audience laughed, which made me feel uncomfortable because I wondered if they were making fun of them. They chose all foreigners! On the bright side, the audience members danced on stage while people cheered them on, and were given gifts; they looked like CDs.

Spending the Night in Andong Village

We spend the night at Andong, and I have to say that I would NOT have chosen to stay there the night had I seen the accommodations. Some of the rooms slept five people, others were big enough for three, but they were all tiny.
We slept on the floor side by side. The floor warmed up the entire little room and we had plenty of blankets and pillows, but it was weird sleeping next to strangers on the trip. Oh, and there was only one shower per about 15+ people. There were about 30 of us on the trip. The shower was not in the room, so I showered and dressed in sweats to sleep in.

We cooked and ate in the center of the little house which was open, so the experience was similar to camping out. The food was good; we had chicken, barbecued beef, and pork, rice, all cooked on portable stoves. Our group leader even brought beer and soju, and someone cranked up the music later.

I took a bus to the train station in Andong to head for Busan the next day. Luckily, there is one bus that goes into the Folk Village and goes directly to the train station, which is roughly about 30 minutes away. The bus runs daily, and costs about 1,400 wong (less than $1.50).

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3. Chuseok Holiday in Busan
4. Braids and Locs Near Busan
5. Tips and Advice for Moving to South Korea