My chronic back pain, which the Nova Scotian healthcare system thinks I should go suck eggs over, can lead to some pretty sleepless nights even with some Tylenols in me. I try to explain to people without chronic back problems how it feels, when I attempt to either lay down or get up, by saying it's like my back is having a deep yawn. However the lower half of my body wants to cramp up at the same time.
I bring this up because I slept in pretty late today after a bad back night and the coffee still hasn't done much for me. So the world is these two photos above.
I took these photos while I was taking the Mugunghwa train with a visiting friend from Gunsan to Seoul. He had gifted me yet another Olympus Pen when he arrived, which I later lost the lens cap on which drained what little juice was left in the selenium light meter. I'm a serial killer of cameras. We spent the ride up in the dining car, as much as you could call it that. The little food kiosk was long shut down and your meal was whatever you thought to pack. At least we managed to snag some stools, there not being any regular seats available that day.
Now, here's the thing: Senior citizens get to ride for free. And they do. In whatever seat they can find. You will have to get pushy with an 80 year old pretending to sleep if you want to sit down. They're not happy but if you can present them with a printed copy with your seat number they always comply.
One summer, coming back from a trip to Seoul with a very heavy backpack, I booted a not-actually-sleeping old fellow out of my seat. I was the hero of all of the students who were forced to stand because they lacked the courage and social freedom to tell various grannies to get the fuck outta their seats.
I assume they tell tales about me around soju bottles to this day.
Man, I wish I still had the ability to carry a very heavy backpack around....
Mugunghwa is notable for being slow and meandering. The seats are also wider than the ones on the high speed trains like the SRT and KTX, so there's that. That meandering does take a significant amount of time to get you anywhere, but the views out the window can be amazing depending upon the time of the year. I preferred taking it if I had a lot of time to get to places.
If you visit Korea some day and aren't in a hurry, I recommend it as your main way of getting around the country.
