Springbreak: By Ferry from Japan to Korea

Ready for 出発 from Kobe!

On Friday it was finally time for Yuma and me to leave Japan for our South-East Asia round-trip. Our first goal was South Korea, and to get there we were going to go by ferry from Osaka to Busan. We had found tickets online already, about 33 000 yen for a tour-detour with a company called PanStar.

A picture of the PanStar ferry going from Osaka to Busan

Arriving at the harbor we kinda felt like we were in Korea already: almost all of the other passengers were Koreans! A lady even approached us while we were waiting for the ferry, asking us something in Korean we didn’t understand. The ferry itself was ok; it had some tax-free shops, a restaurant and a cafe. 

The reception of the ferry

The dining hall in the ferry

Since we are travelling on a low budget we had decided to go for the cheapest rooms on the ferry to spend the night. These rooms were separated by gender, and in every room there were four beds. I was the first one to check into my room, and after having left my backpack in the room I locked the door and went over to Yuma’s room to check if he was ready. We were just about to leave for the restaurant area when I noticed another girl standing outside the door to my room. She couldn’t get in, and when I asked her why she hadn’t gotten a key she told me they hadn’t given her any at the reception – turns out there was only one key that had to be shared with all 4 guests staying in the same room! Considering we were all strangers I find it a bit strange that we weren’t provided with separate keys.. It’s hard leaving the room not knowing if you’ll be able to enter when you come back in the evening, or going to bed knowing that the door isn’t locked. Another disappointing thing about the ferry was that although it was supposed to have free Wi-Fi we didn’t get it to work, neither with our phones nor with Yuma’s computer. Luckily we had brought with us a lot of movies, so since there weren’t a lot to do we ended up watching two of them.. On the positive side we discovered that the convenience store had cheap noodles and curry, and with a table with view over the ocean it was quite nice! 

Time for a nap

The ferry also had two shower rooms separated by gender where there were normal showers and two Japanese style pools, and around 7 o’clock there are almost no people there since everybody is eating dinner, so it’s easy to relax. Further, towels, soap and shampoo were all provided.

They do have some entertainment onboard in the main dining hall too for those interested.

Entertainment at the ferry

Ready to leave the ferry at 10 am.

We arrived in Busan around 10 o’clock in the morning, and spent some time checking out the area around Busan Station. We found an interesting Korean restaurant close to Chinatown, and decided to have brunch there before heading over to Seoul. It was good, but as can be expected from Korean food it was pretty spicy.!!

Busan Station 

We ended up having lunch at this Korean restaurant

It was good, but quite spicy!

Our 6000-won lunch

Busan harbor

Right now we are in the high-speed train on our way to Seoul with a 55400-wong ticket. The trip takes about 2 hours and forty minutes, but luckily they have internet in the train!

Related blogposts

• All blogposts from Korea
• Label: South-East Asia Trip 2012

About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.