9 Oct 2012 - Unexplainable experience on bus 401

I couldn't get a taxi after waiting for 5-10 mins, but I saw bus no. 401 at the bus stop. It was the same bus stop as the city bus stop. I decided to take this bus out to the main road for a taxi or bus to Donghwasa Temple. 

I have no idea where bus no.401 would bring me to but I kept a lookout as the bus travelled. After travelling on the bus for about 5-10mins, I saw some signboards with the words 동화사 桐華寺 Donghwasa. I pressed the button to alight and the bus driver said something which I didn't understand at all.    

As he drove on, I went to stand at the exit and pressed the button to alight but the bus driver did not open the door when he stopped the bus. He opened the front door for passengers to board the bus but the door to alight was closed. He drove on after the passengers got on the bus. I was puzzled. 왜?? 

One minute later, I pressed the button again to alight at the next bus stop. He did stop and opened the door for passengers to board the bus but again, he did not open the door for me to get off the bus even though I was standing at the exit. 왜?????  Did I do anything wrong?  At first, I thought the button was faulty but it wasn't.  So what's the problem?  

I was quite fed up and I could feel all eyes on me. I pressed the button again to alight at the next bus stop. Again, he opened the front door but not the exit door. This time, I quickly rush to the front door to alight. Till now, I still couldn't understand what went wrong. I can understand that every bus have their designated bus stops and it may not stop at every stops.  However, since he stopped to pick up passengers, why didn't he opened the exit door as well??  I told 필여 about it and she also does not understand why..

This was what I saw when I got off the bus. Absolutely no idea where I was. Actually, I have to thank the bus driver for not opening the exit door thrice. I only managed to get off the bus on my third attempt to alight. I think it was the correct stop to alight. As shown by the red arrow, a signboard indicating the direction of Donghwasa Temple. Hence, I crossed the road to get to the opposite side to check out for buses to the temple.

There's bus no. 1!  I learnt from some bloggers that bus no.1 goes to Donghwasa. Great!

This bus stop is 백안삼거리.
There was also bus no.2 at this bus stop...
Erhh..I mean if anyone needs to know...

Hmmm...I was at 백안삼거리. 동화사(Donghwasa) was supposed to be the final stop. 

Somebody crossed out 동화사 (Donghwasa).  So what does that mean? 

I was just three stops away from 동화사(Donghwasa).
If the final station for bus no. 1 was 동화교, where was 동화교?  
Was it near to Donghwasa??

Here comes bus no.1.  I waited for about 15 mins for it. Take note this bus is green in color. I asked the bus driver if this bus goes to 동화사(Donghwasa)..  He replied,"아니오."  Huh??  No? It does not goes to 동화사??  I thought bus no.1 goes to 동화사(Donghwasa), so which bus should I take now?? I decided to take a taxi but I couldn't get a taxi after waiting for about 25mins. There were taxi but most of them were occupied.  During the time when I was trying to flag for a taxi, I saw two bus no.1 passed by.  However, they are red in color.  Bus no. 401 came rather frequent.  When the second red bus no.1 passed by, a middle age lady who was standing beside me all these while, told me this is probably not the bus stop for 동화사(Donghwasa) and told me to follow the direction of the red bus no. 1.  I guessed she heard me asking the bus driver just now.  Her words confirmed my doubts as well. 고마워요 이모  ^^

I used the same traffic light to get across the road.  As shown by the red arrow, the red bus no.1 turned into that direction. I simply follow the flow of traffic. I was hoping that the next bus stop will not be too far since my legs were still feeling wobbly..  

I have wasted 45 mins waiting at the wrong bus stop but its ok. I learnt something at least.  Couldn't resist taking pictures of pretty flowers along the way  ^^ 

I saw a number of eating places that specialised in mushrooms. Is mushroom a local specialty for this place? I was tempted to eat here but I thought I will save my stomach for lunch at Mount Palgongsan after taking the cable car.

After walking for about 7 mins, I saw this bus stop.
 It was right outside the eating place shown in the previous picture.   

This bus stop is 공산초등학교.

Huhh?  Two bus no.1??? So I checked the bus routes. 동화교 is also along the bus route and동화사 is still the final station. The bus routes looked almost the same to me except for the 'break' in between 동화교 and 동화사. I was only two bus stops away from my destination, 동화사.

Not long later, the red bus no.1 came along. I asked the driver if this bus goes to 동화사. He replied, "예." Phew....thank god. I am finally on the right track.  Come to think of it, I was very lucky to alight at a bus stop which was not far from my destination.

I boarded my bus at 1.18pm and it took me less than 10 mins to reach here.  Just before the bus turned into a long winding road, I happened to catch a glimpse of the bus stop for the city tour bus. My red bus no.1 also stop at this bus stop, which I came to know later that this bus stop was 동화교 !!!  Am I right to say that actually the green bus no.1 will stop at this bus stop???   No not exactly I think. I will show you later on.

Anyway, I alighted at the bus stop after the bus stop-동화교 ie right after the long winding road. This was what I saw when I alighted.  Ermm...I decided to take the cable car instead of going to Donghwasa because my legs were still feeling kinda shaky. Hahahaa...Moreover, I might miss the city tour bus again if I were to visit Donghwasa. Yup, I planned to catch the city tour bus which will come at 3.10pm but I wasn't sure where to take the city tour bus.  The brochure stated that the nearest pick up point will be at Donghwa Facilities Complex but I didn't know where is Donghwa Facilities Complex.  The city tour bus stop which I saw earlier at 동화교 was a bit far(about 10mins walk).  I think there should be one city bus stop somewhere nearby but I am not sure where it was. 

From my online research, I learnt that the cable car is not far from Donghwasa.  I think the way to Donghwasa should be straight ahead as shown by the red arrow.  The green arrow was the direction which I took for the cable car station.