Insane weekend: To Japan, part 3 (videos)

On Friday, I had to start packing up because check-out time was 11am. I managed to cram everything in my backpack and made my way to Hakata Station for lunch. I bought some Totoro souvenirs and started to make my way to the ferry terminal. These were my last hours on the streets of Japan.



Instead of getting the Japanese ferry (the Beetle) like I did coming in, I got the South Korean ferry (the Kobee) instead. Apparently they have a code-sharing thing going on, and if you book your ticket with one company, they can put you on the other ferry. I was there early and they moved me to the earlier ferry, which actually worked out to my favor because otherwise I'd be in a rush to get from the ferry to the KTX train in Busan (which, I found out later, wouldn't have worked because the customs and immigration lineup was very long and very slow).

From the ferry, leaving Fukuoka...



They showed Stephen Chow's "CJ7" on the ferry.



Approaching Busan. You can tell they were showing "Totoro" on the ferry after "CJ7" by the background music.



Of course, don't carry any meats into the country and stuff. Unlike at Incheon airport, where they seem to skim over you relatively quickly, they check you quite thoroughly at the Busan-Fukuoka crossing, probably because most people who travel through this corridor are there for shopping and most of the gift shops seem to sell a lot of edible (and perishable) products.



That's it for videos for Japan.

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Coming next:

• To DMZ (videos and photos)
• To Japan (photos)