Every other person we know had visited Japan this year or was planning to go soon. As such, our trip would be rather un-special if we also flew there like everybody else. Nah. We entered the country by boat instead.
As a result of extra zooming into Google Maps during our trip research, I came across several options to take a boat from South Korea to Japan. After initially considering JR Beetle and PanStar, we ended up with a reservation on Camellia Line‘s overnight ferry from Busan to Hakata (Fukuoka).
Kamikaze Concerns
The most famous naval journeys from the Korean Peninsula to the Hakata Bay were Kublai Khan’s two campaigns against Japan about 750 years ago. The mighty Mongolian army face planted miserably both times, thanks to severe weather events at sea. This windy divine intervention had since entered the Japanese lexicon as kamikaze, which was later used by those suicidal WW2 pilots to describe their own ship-sinking tactics.
This family man on vacation wanted none of that shit, but it was summer on East Asia’s Pacific Coast. Weather had been turbulent since we set foot here. Typhoons were causing flight cancellations in and out of Taiwan. Our phones had been beeping around the clock with PSAs (in Korean, which we had to use another phone to translate) about rain-induced road and park closures. A thunderstorm was so severe during our night in Busan that we could see the lightning while in bed with our eyes closed. It’d be a lie to say that I wasn’t nervous about the upcoming boat ride.
Thankfully, we lived to tell the tale. In fact, the weather was so calm during our trip, we barely felt the boat move at all.
The Logistics
Booking our ferry was reasonably smooth and easier than some foreign train reservations. However, the rest of the process was not as ideal. Basically, it was similar to the airport experience except (a) we had to exchange the booking certificate for physical tickets at a window, (b) the waiting area beyond immigration was suffocating, (c) there was a single boarding group for the 522-passenger ship, leading to a massive line, and (d) information on the timing of events from the ship operator was confusing, internally inconsistent, and different from reality, so we spent more time at the port than necessary.
Besides, it didn’t seem efficient that we had to be on the boat for almost 12 hours for an 8-hour trip. We boarded by 8pm and the ship set sail around 10pm. We docked at Hakata by 6am but weren’t let off until 7:30am. Was it to give us “more bang for the buck” with a longer cruise experience? Perhaps it was nice for those of us in private rooms, but I can’t imagine the majority who slept communally cared to stay longer than necessary.
Additionally, the restaurant, vending machines, and video game arcade on the ship only took Yen, and I didn’t see any Japanese ATM or currency exchange kiosk since arriving at the port. It didn’t matter to us, but I can imagine the frustration among the Koreans who start their vacation without any foreign currency.
The Ship
We had a reservation for one of the few private room that could accommodate a family of 4, located on deck 5 which was entirely dedicated to rooms. It had a pair of bunk beds on either side of a narrow corridor, and a small sitting area by the outside window. Public toilets are on the opposite end of the hallway, with stalls so tiny that I had trouble fitting in.
Deck 4 was mostly filled with rooms, except for an “observation salon”. This was the only public area with view of the front of the ship, which was cool in concept. However, for some reason it was kept locked up for the majority of the journey.
Deck 3 was the happening place. Beside the lobby area where we boarded the ship, there was a large dining hall with a small kitchen and multiple access points for hot water. Including us, hundreds of passengers enjoyed instant noodles for dinner. There was also a duty free shop, a video game arcade, and some karaoke rooms, though I’m not sure anyone used those facilities. The rest of the deck were the communal rooms where we got a peek at how up to 24 strangers shared a sleeping space.
The Bath
Also on deck 3 was the “observation bath”, a gender-separated onsen with large windows. This was among the few details that I prepared the kids for prior to the trip. Figured it was a cultural teaching moment for what a Japanese bath was about. They were horrified by the thought of getting completely naked in front of strangers. I assured them that no participation was required… a bath on this particular evening was not strictly necessary. But hey, a public bath on a ship in the ocean? That’s gotta be a super unique experience, right?
For the record, I was terribly uncomfortable with the idea of an onsen, too. Thank goodness for the brief practice at InterContinental Osaka six years ago, I had some mental preparedness to embrace this experience.
Unlike the nearly-empty onsen at that upscale American chain hotel, this floating bath house was full of people. Full of fully-naked men who were, for some reason, far above average size by Asian standards. At any time there was a dude putting his stuff into a basket by the entrance, a couple dudes drying their hair by the sink, and half a dozen showering along the wall. Does anyone know why those shower stools had to be toddler-sized? Some men might even be helping each other with the shower, but I can’t be sure.
The majority of the onsen space was dedicated to two large baths by the window. Each of them was larger than the standard hot tub found next to swimming pools. To my surprise, hardly anybody used them. I walked over and dipped my toes into bath #1. Holy moly it was unbearable! Was it meant for washing people or making instant noodles? I switched to bath #2 and it was no better. Just as I was about to call it a day, an old dude jumped in and submerged his entire body below the neck. Respect… my inner competitiveness pushed me to follow suit, but it wasn’t pretty.
The Journey
The ship set sail around 10pm, after everyone had finished eating and bathing. We went out to the open deck at the aft of the ship to witness the action. The best part was sailing under the gigantic Busan Harbor Bridge which, unlike the famous Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo, actually lit up in rainbow colors.
According to my phone, we sailed past Tsushima Island (unimportant but worth a mention because of the video game) around 1am. Then we began receiving Japanese cell signals around 4am when we were nowhere near land. By 5am, we entered Hakata Bay, so we headed back out to the deck.
I looked at the sunrise behind Shikanoshima Island, where the second Mongolian invasion force got stranded centuries ago. No kamikaze this time, and I was grateful.
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