One of the major differences that I have noticed between Japan and the United States (where I live) is the access to transportation. There is an abundance of transportation options throughout Japan such as trains (sleeper trains, bullet trains, and local trains), ferries (normally to Korea), planes and buses. Prices and lengths of time vary depending on which option you take. Recently a group of my friends and I decided that we would go to Korea and that taking the night bus would be the cheapest way to get to Fukuoka (where we would catch a ferry to Korea). The night bus was appealing because it was reasonably priced and would only take about 9 hours during the night. Thinking that I could sleep for those 9 hours, I agreed. However what I experienced was not at all what I had expected.
We arrived at the bus terminal about an hour before our bus was set to leave. Our first problem occurred here. None of us spoke incredible amounts of Japanese so it took about 45 minutes to figure out where to go to check in. When we finally found the bus and got boarded on, I was excited. This would be my first time on the night bus. I was exhausted from classes that day and thus thought that, sitting in the back of the bus with enough room to stretch my legs out, I would be able to get to sleep relatively fast. Sleep never happened. I spent 9 hours on a dark bus wide awake.
Another thing that struck me as odd: there was no bathroom. I was slightly afraid of what that meant...would I have to hold it for 9 hours?! The friends I was traveling with (experienced night bus users) reassured me that I wouldn’t have to worry about it, because the bus would stop to let passengers go to the bathroom or stretch their legs every two or three hours . In all it was not a terrible experience but I will definitely not take the night bus in the near future.
We arrived at the bus terminal about an hour before our bus was set to leave. Our first problem occurred here. None of us spoke incredible amounts of Japanese so it took about 45 minutes to figure out where to go to check in. When we finally found the bus and got boarded on, I was excited. This would be my first time on the night bus. I was exhausted from classes that day and thus thought that, sitting in the back of the bus with enough room to stretch my legs out, I would be able to get to sleep relatively fast. Sleep never happened. I spent 9 hours on a dark bus wide awake.
Another thing that struck me as odd: there was no bathroom. I was slightly afraid of what that meant...would I have to hold it for 9 hours?! The friends I was traveling with (experienced night bus users) reassured me that I wouldn’t have to worry about it, because the bus would stop to let passengers go to the bathroom or stretch their legs every two or three hours . In all it was not a terrible experience but I will definitely not take the night bus in the near future.
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