Frances Says:Getting to Cheongju.

The woman at the desk at our hotel told us we should go by subway to the bus station.  DO NOT BELIEVE THIS.    We walked the couple of blocks to the subway entrance.  So far, so good. We went down several flights of stairs to the ticket kiosks. They were impossible to decipher. It said insert card. I tried putting my credit card in the slot.  It was too thick to fit.  I tried all kinds of things and finally resorted to the most reliable way to handle a situation like this. I asked the best dressed man I could find and he did it for us. 

We got on the subway and lurched on the holding straps for several stops and finally were able to sit. There werre 11 stops.  I lost count but Sallie didnt.  And the well dressed man didnt either. He came and told us when to get off.
The hike from the subway station to the bus station involved some tricky jay walking and lots of questions. We eventually came to our bus area at the far end of the station. We bought tickets and paused to have a small lunch snack before getting on the bus.

The ride was interesting. . We looked out the window at high rise apartments coming out of rice fields.  We saw ginsing fields and small shacks and car factories and large shopping centers.

We finally came to the Tunnel of Trees that marks the entrance to the city of Cheongju..   In short time, we were leaving the bus into the terminal.

This was where the plan broke down. My cell phone doesnt work and I needed to call InYoung.   I tried using the pay phone but the coins didnt fit the slot and I thought this was a bad sign.  I asked for help at the fruit stand and the lady there pointed back to the pay phone like I had two heads.

Across from the fruit stand was a Yo Ebul shop.  Yo means bed mat,and Ebul is the cover you put over yourself. . Two ladies were working in there.     They called InYoung on their cell phone and I had my marching orders. Then they offered me coffee. I said that I needed to go get my dongsang, my younger sister. I went out and said  "Hey Sallie, the bedspread ladies want to give us some coffee."  Sallie looked mystified but came with me and suddenly we were perched on smalll stools in the Yo Ebul store drinking hot sweet instant coffee.  One woman served us. The other had gone to get her friends. They were all there looking at the  American women sitting in the back of a store drinking coffee.