During our stay in Hiroshima we had had some difficulty in finding a route out of Japan that wasn't going to cost us half our savings. Flights from any Japanese airport to anywhere useful were all in coming at more money then we could spend on flights. So, after some suggestions from Facebook (some helpful, others - you know who you are - not so helpful), we decided the best way to go was to get a bus to Hakata, Fukuoka and from there a ferry to South Korea, where flights are much cheaper. So we booked the bus, a night's stay in Fukuoka, the ferry and two nights in a hostel in Pusan (or Busan, either spelling will do) called Indy House.

So, on our last day in Hiroshima, after taking lots of pictures of the peace park etc. we made our way, by tram, to the bus terminal. The bus ride to Fukuoka was only 4 hours and we had more leg room, so it was a much nicer journey than Tokyo to Hiroshima. Once we got there we found our hostel fairly easily after a fifteen minute walk. It was fairly nice, but it was already 20:00 and we were quite hungry so it looked like a quick dinner and an early night. Or so we thought...

The Thumb.

We wandered around for a bit until we found a nice looking Italian restaurant with a set menu. We went in, sat down and placed our orders which included two cokes (one for Jane and one for me). A couple of minutes after the cokes arrived, the unthinkable happened. Jane (not quite sure how) knocked over her glass, at the exact moment that the glass hit the table Jane reached to catch it out of reflex. Her thumb touched the glass just as it smashed (readers of a delicate disposition look away now) and sliced a long and deep cut just on the the knuckle. Blood spurted forth like we were starring in a Tarantino movie and covered the table and the floor (a couple of drops here and there).

The waitress was very helpful, gave us plenty of napkins and refused to let us pay for our drinks as we made our way outside to find a taxi to take to the hospital. The cab driver was really sweet; he drove like a banshee and then ran around the hospital building to see where we had to go - bless. The hospital staff were also lovely, they had a tiny bit of English and as you know our Japanese isn't quite fluent, but we got through and £40 and 3 stitches later we were in another taxi (we had no idea where we were at this point) and on our way back to the hostel. Having paid for the first cab and the hospital treatment we didn't actually have enough cash to pay the second cab driver, but when we got to the point where our money ran out he turned the meter off. The people here are so lovely and helpful - we like Japan.

So instead of a nice Italian we were now reduced to Tori-kara-age and chips from the Japanese equivalent of a dirty late night kebab shop. Oh well - that was exciting, although I may have exaggerated slightly!

We got up fairly early the next morning to go to the ferry terminal. We were a little worried that we might not know where to go once the bus dropped us off. However, the bus stopped within 6 meters of the entrance of the 'International Ferry Terminal' and our check in desk was directly opposite the entrance doors, PHEW!

The boat ride was fairly nice, if a little choppy. Thankfully we had our own little space to lie down in. Six hours later we were in Busan (or Pusan), and made our way to the Indy House hostel. Once we were there we decided to have a lazy/admin day. We put some photos on Facebook, started to look at our next journey and watched a few films (Yes Man, 10,000BC, Get Smart).

Pusan (or Busan) seems like a really nice place. We spent a day wandering around Igidae park, which used to be a military training area, and then scrambling over rocks around the coast line. Very pretty.

We took another coach ride to Seoul on Saturday. This was a very comfortable bus ride with comfy leather seats. Our hostel in Seoul (Guys and Dolls) was frustratingly difficult to find, but hey ho, we're here now. We have so far been spending our time relaxing and catching up with blogging etc. and looking at flights from here to Vietnam or Cambodia. Tomorrow we are taking a day trip to the DMZ and looking at the country's war history.

Hope you are all well

Jane and Simon