Dong Daegu

Of Interest: entertainment district, multiple bus stations

Lodging: multiple, hotels and motels

ATM: multiple banks in the area

Other transit: subway station, intercity and express buses

Dong (East) Daegu is Daegu's KTX station. It is in the midst of East Daegu's entertainment district. There are a lot of bars and restaurants nearby, and people come here to walk at night. There also two or three bus stations in the area. Therefore, this area has the most forms of lodging of any area of Daegu.

Daegu is relatively spread out for a Korean city. It actually takes up as much space as Seoul, even though it has less than one-fourth the people. The subway is the best way to get from one part of the city to the other. It goes downtown. So do most saemaeul and mugunhwa trains.

Heading south, Busan is a little over an hour away by KTX high speed train. It takes an hour and a half by regular speed train.

Heading north, Daejeon is fifty minutes away by KTX and two hours by regular speed train while Seoul is an hour and fifty minutes by KTX and two hours and forty-five minutes by regular speed.

KTX trains are frequent. Other trains are hourly.

Occaisional trains head into the mountains to end at Yeongju three hours away.

Tsuruga

Of Interest: modern sculptures

Lodging: yes

Tourist Office: yes

I only made a brief stop in Tsuruga. Just long enough to find out that no one in the tourist office speaks English, but they do have a nice English-language brochure and map. Also, the local city hall has decided to beautify their town by purchasing a fair amount of public art. There are several modern sculptures placed throughout the town.

Tsuruga is a little less than an hour from Kyoto by express train. You can also take the shinkansen to Maibara and change to an express, but it takes about the same amount of time. Local trains take 45 minutes to an hour to get to Maibara along the Hokuriku line. Trains along this line sometimes only go between here and Omishiotsu which is fifteen minutes away. The trains end there because Omishiotsu is the first stop in Kyoto Prefecture. Train lines often end at prefectural borders.

According to the signs, technically Omishiotsu is the end of the Hokuriku line. However, what line a piece of track is or is not a part of does not really determine where the trains actually go.

Tsuruga is in the middle of an express route that connects Osaka and Toyama. Kyoto is on the way to Osaka. Going the other way this route passes through Fukui (30-45 minutes away), and Kanazawa. Occaisionnally these trains continue on to northern Japan, with ending points are far away as Niigata or Aomori.

The Obama local train starts in Tsuruga and runs to the city of Obama about an hour away. (The people in the area think that it is kind of funny that the US President has the same name as a small Japanese town.) Some of these trains continue on another hour to Higashi-Maizuru, on the edge of neighboring Kyoto Prefecture.

Trains on most routes run once an hour, sometimes less.

Kanazawa

Of Interest: seafood market, Castle grounds, performing arts center, international center
Tourist Office: yes, inside the station
Lodging: multiple
Internet Access: in the basement of the performing arts center to the right of the station (free from 30 minutes)

Int'l ATM: in the post office in the station building

The tourists office is excellent and has lots of materials in English, including a seasonal tourist magazine. Get a map it is easy to get lost in some of the the small streets in the historic district.

Leaving the station area is easy, just walk straight from the station along the four lane boulevard. There is an international center five minutes walk from the station on the right hand side. It is open regular business hours from Monday to Friday. Another ten minutes walk will get you to a covered market that specializes in fish. This is the point that the small roads appear. You may have look at a map to find the entrance. The market is a good place to have lunch. It is very touristy so it is not cheap.

A five minutes walk through the market will take you to a side entrance of Castle Park. Kanzawa used to be basically an independent country and this was the capital. The park is the largest of its type that I have seen in Japan with remains of lots of buildings as well as lots of areas that have returned to nature. There was a rehearsal for some kind of musical while I was there which was pretty interesting. The area is very hilly; if you stand on top of one of the hills you can see almost everything. (This is another place where I would not bring any luggage.)

There is an arts and craft street across the road from the main entrance (or one of the main entrances). Right now the city is organizing a crafts festival, so this area should be pretty lively. The entrance to Kenrokuen Garden is close by also. This is one the "three most beautiful gardens" in Japan.

At this point, you are pretty far from the station. It is best to take one of the loop buses if you are going back. I think that there are four loop buses in Kanazwa. I think that there are three for locals that cost 100 yen, and one for tourists that is more expensive. Each bus is identified by a color.

Kanazawa was never fire bombed during WWII, so there are historic houses in various places in the city.

The city of Kanzawa has translated their website into English, including the information on transportation. The train section includes information on shinkansen and express trains from Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. Note that from Tokyo, you can take the Tokaido Shinkansen west to Maibara or the Joetsu Shinkansen over the mountains to Echigo-yuzawa. Kanzawa is two hours from Maibara and two and a half hours from Echigo-yuzawa by express train. Other destinations reachable by regular express trains are Kyoto (two hours), Osaka (two and a half hours), and Nagoya (two and a half hours).

Local JR West trains go to Fukui (hour and a half), Toyama (forty-five minutes), and Nanao (ninety minutes). There is also a short line run by the Hokuriku Railroad that has multiple stops within the city of Kanazawa and a terminus in the city of Uchinada. The whole trip only takes seventeen minutes.

Toyama

Of Interest: old Toyama, local history and folk museums, Itachi River

Lodging: multiple

Tourist Office: closed while the train station is renovated?

Int'l ATM: the main post office is just south of the station

Toyama has been an important industrial area for several hundred years. In old Toyama, visitors can see how medicines were made during Edo period. The area also contains Toyama Castle Park which is home to the local history museum and a folk museum which concentrates on the tea ceremony. (The buildings themselves are mostly not original. They are reconstructions dating from the 1950's.)

The Itachi River runs through this area as well. It takes a ten to fifteen minute walk to get to the edge of the interesting stuff which all takes a lot of walking itself. If you are not staying in Toyama overnight, put your bags in a locker at the station. You can also take the tramway to Old Toyama.

Toyama has a lot of commuter rail. Toyama City has several tramway lines, one of which serves the station, and a light rail line which passes the north entrance. The tramway company also operates a local train line that heads north to end in the northern part of Toyama Prefecture in Unazuki Onsen in Kurobe.

JR West runs local trains along the coast to Naoetsu and into to the mountains to Inotani, Toyama. (Inotani is the meeting point of JR West and JR Central lines.) Regular express trains take three and a half hours to get to Nagoya. These trains pass through Kanazawa, which gets the most frequent service from Toyama. Local trains take forty-five minutes, express trains half and hour. There are also occasional express trains to Osaka and Aomori.

Niigata

Of Interest: shopping, walkable river

Lodging: yes, but cheaper downtown

Internet Access: free in the station from 11 to 7

Tourist Office: outside the station, city information only

There are good restrooms in the malls attached to the station.

The area around the station is a major shopping area. The Shinano River is a 10-15 minute walk away. Downtown Niigata is another 15-20 minutes by foot. Downtown is very nice with lots of covered sidewalks. One of the arcades leads to the oldest park in Japan. An arcade the opposite direction leads to a street of temples.

These kinds of arcades are common in towns along the inland sea that borders Honshu to the north and west. The arcades make walking possible as these are the wettest parts of Japan. In particular, Niigata Prefecture is known for heavy snowfalls.

If you are visiting, I recommend getting a hotel downtown as they are cheaper than the ones near the station.

Niigata is the terminal station for the Joetsu Shinkansen which takes two to two and a half hours to get here. There are also there are also four express trains daily to Kanazawa. Multiple trains travel within Niigata Prefecture. Shibata is 25 minutes north by local train. Most trains head south. Nagaoka, a major transfer point, is 25 minutes by Shinkansen and and hour and fifteen minutes by regular train. The trip to Yoshida is 45 minutes.

To head north out of Niigata, go to Niitsu and change trains.

Note: Some platforms only have signs in kana, the Japanese phonetic script.

Kesennuma

Of Interest: not much

Lodging: one hotel

Tourist Office: yes

Restrooms: Clean with toilet paper and soap

Int'l ATM: There is post office a five to ten minute walk from the station

Kesennuma Station is in a suburban area of Kesunnuma City. As such very little is within walking distance. The city is known for commercial fishing and for seaside tourism. The harbor may be in walking distance for someone who likes long walks.

Two JR lines serve Kesennuma Station. The Kesennuma line, which starts here, follows the coast for most of its journey before heading inland to end at Kogota, Miyagi. Kesennuma is in the middle of the Ofunato Line which runs from Sakari, Ofunato, Iwate to Ichinoseki in Iwate. Both routes are scenic although the Ofunato line from Kesennuma is entirely inland.

Beijing to Shanghai

by Vladimir Pariev

I made my trip on Chinese trains in the Spring of 2009. The building of the main train station in Beijing is large, grey coloured in a monumentalistic Soviet style of architecture. There is a spacious square near the railway station. It is not far from the city centre. Metro exit is located on the other side of the square from the railway station. There is also quite good and not expensive hotel across the square from the railway station. Despite the large spaces the main feature of big railway stations in China are crowds of people. Especiallyso the Beijing station, since it is in the capitol of China and many train lines go in all directions from Beijing.

I was on the trip together with my friend. Another Chinese friend bought us train tickets in advance. In China a passenger would need a ticket to enter the train station. Tickets themselves are bought in another building close by. There is a temporary storage room for the luggage, where one can keep bags for a small fee. After entering the station a passenger is supposed to wait for his train in a waiting hall. There are many waiting halls according to the categories of the trains. We took the overnight Z train to Nanjing. The waiting hall for Z trains has many seats, so we got a seating for our wait. Other halls for lower class trains has too few seating places, so they were crowded with thousands of people standing or sitting on the floor. There are many shops inside the railway station selling snacks and drinks.

About half an hour before train departure time, passengers are asked to proceed to the platform. Tickets are checked once again. Z trains have compartments with four soft sleeping berths each, two berths below and two berths above. Sheets, pillows, pillow cases, blankets,

towels are included. There is also hot water and a clean toilet in the train. Some light food is sold on the board the train. The train went from Beijing to Nanjing without making any

stops for 9 hours journey. Despite quite high speed (more than 120 km per hour) the train was pulled by a Diesel locomotive, which I saw at the head of the train.

In the morning we arrived at Nanjing station, which is also quite large. We needed to show our tickets at the exit from the railway station again. There is a separate exit door from the platforms,which leads directly to the street. Once having passed through this door, a passenger cannot reenter the station without having another ticket for another train. It is not possible just to stay for a while inside the station without intending to actually board a train. We took express D train to Shanghai. The train was electric, fast, going at the speed up to 250 kilometres per hour, but making five stops, and it took us about two hours to get to Shanghai.

Shanghai railway station is also large and more modern than the station in Beijing. It is crowded too and it uses the same system of tickets purchasing and waiting rooms as in Beijing. In front of the railway station there is a road busy with traffic, but people criss cross at all times. The exit from the metro station is located on the other side of this road. The building for selling tickets is in about 200 metres from the railway station building and there are some other buildings and a road in between. So, it is not easy to guess quickly, without reading Chinese, where they sell the train tickets. There are a number of hotels close to the station

and we stayed in one of them, which was quite good. We took another Z train from Shanghai back to Beijing. The train took 11 hours of non-stop travel in the night. The train had the same interior as the Z train from Beijing to Nanjing, clean and quite comfortable.

As a side note, all our neighbours inside the compartment (all together4 people on both Z train trips) were males. I do not know, if it isdue to rules for selling tickets, or whether some females initiallyhad tickets in our compartment but then exchange their berths with males from another compartment,or if it has happened by chance (with probability 1/16). This is different from Russian trains, where males and females are usually assigned sleeping places at random, in any compartments.

Purchasing train tickets in China is somewhat difficult to do in advance. The tickets are sold not earlier than 10 days before thedeparture of the train, except for Z trains, when the tickets can be purchased 20 days before the travel date. It is easy to buy tickets while in China, either at a ticket office close to a railway station or in some travel agency. As my Chinese friend told me, it is wise to buy a ticket 2-3 days before the long distance trip in usual times and one needs to reserve tickets 10 days in advance during peak travel times in China, like the Spring festival. Suburban tickets are always available right before departure, if a passenger is willing to stand in the train. If one wants to buy tickets before coming to China, the Internet travel agencies charge high fees for this. Fees amount to 50 per cent of the cost of the fare itself. I could not find any cheap English language travel agencies, which would sell train tickets in advance to me and resorted to asking Chinese friends in China to get the tickets.

Hon-Hachinohe

Of Interest: cheap (but good) fruit, downtown Hachinohe

Hotels: yes, scattered. Good prices.

Tourist Office: no

Int'l ATM: There is a post office in the station

One of the meanings of "hon" is origin, and Hon-Hachinohe is the original Hachinohe Station. It serves downtown Hachinohe. The city is scattered so there is a lot outside of downtown including the current Hachinohe Station.

The area in front of city hall is used for community events. To get there exit the station to the north, then walk up the street that is slightly to the left of the exit. I attended part of the local summer festival, Sansha Taisai. There were food vendors from many local restaurants in front of the city hall with local performers entertaining us on a stage to one side. A big part of the festival is the floats that go to different shrines during the festival. There was a booth explaining how the floats are made. I got to make my own miniature float.

Next to the station, there was a store selling fresh fruit for really good prices. Cheaper even than in Korea. There is also a local products store in this station and at Hachinohe Station.

Only one JR East line serves Hon-Hachinohe Station, a local line that serves the Hachinohe area.

Hachinohe

Of Interest: changing trains

Lodging: budget hotels

Tourist Office: yes, in the station

Computer Access: no

Int'l ATM: according to Wikipedia, the is a post office in the "Yuri" building. It is not easily visible.

This station was called Shiriuchi Station until 1971 when it was renamed, and the original Hachinohe station, which is actually in downtown Hachinohe, was renamed Hon-Hachinohe. Hachinohe station is in a small suburb on the edge of Hachinohe. There is not much else in the area besides the train station. Bring something to eat or head into Hachinohe itself.

There is a large tourist office in the station. It is a good source of information, and it is the only tourist office in Hachinohe. If you are going to Hachinohe itself, make sure you get all the information you need before you head out. The tourist office also has information about Misawa, the location of a US Air Force Base.

Hachinohe is the last stop on the Tohoku Shinkansen. It is currently the only shinkansen stop in Aomori, although that is scheduled to change in 2012 when the Hokkaido Shinkansen opens. JR East also operates three other lines through Hachinohe.

Sendai "City of Trees"

Of Interest: downtown, Chuo-dori Shopping Arcade

Lodging: multiple

Tourist Office: Yes, with lots of information

Computer Access: in the shopping arcade

Int'l ATM: Walk right from the station for 5-10 minutes to a 7-11.

Sendai is called the "City of Trees" because it is one of the greenest cities in Japan. It also one of the densest. These two things are not in conflict.

Sendai Station is downtown. Exit to the west and the second floor terrace turns into bridges that connect with nearby hotels and department stores. Go down to street level across from the station to find the Chuo-dori Shopping Arcade, a pedestrian street that extends from one end of downtown to the other. English language books can be found at Maruzen located on the same side of the street as the station.

The Loople Sendai bus also leaves from the West Exit area. Take this bus to get to Sendai's museums and area attractions, and to just see the city. A single ride is 25o yen while a full day costs 600 yen. Buses run from 9 to 4 all year round.

To me, it looks like local buses leave from the west side, while intercity buses leave from the east.

The Sendai Info Board is a website and magazine with information for foreign residents, some of which is valuable for visitors too. The magazine is available at the tourist office in the station.

Several JR East lines serve Sendai Station. The Senseki Line goes east to Sendai's suburbs and the ocean (including Matsushima), the Senzan Line goes west to the mountains and the city of Yamagata, the Tohoku Main Line runs north and south, and the Joban line runs south along the coast. The city also runs a single subway line and rail link to Sendai Airport. It takes about an hour and forty-five minutes to get to Tokyo by Shinkansen and about the same amount of time to go north to Hachinohe.

A two day pass for all buses trains in the Sendai area, including the subway, costs 2600 yen for two days. Both this pass and a Loople ticket can get you discounts at some tourist attractions.

Moriya

Of Interest: a suburb of Tokyo

Lodging: one budget hotel

Tourist Office: no

International ATM: no

Lockers: small and medium

Handicapped Accessible: yes

Moriya is at the intersection of the Tsukuba Express and Joso Line of the Kanto Railway. Originally, Moriya was the intended terminus of what became the Tsukuba Express, but Ibaraki Prefecture lobbied to have line go all the way to Tsukuba.

The shops and restaurants in the station are the focal point of the immediate area, although there may be a mall in (far) walking distance.

Shibuya, Tokyo

Of Interest: shopping, entertainment district

Lodging: multiple
Tourist Office: Probably yes, but probably unfindable
International ATM: post office (check map in the station plaza)

Computer Access: multiple internet cafes with good prices
Accessible: No, lots of barriers, lots of stairs

Shibuya is the fourth busiest railway station in Japan and the single most confusing train station that I have ever been in. Almost every line has its own little station so you have to change stations to change trains. The Ginza line is inside Tokyu Department Store. Other changes require walking through a mall.

Shibuya Station is in the middle of Shibuya Ward's central commercial district. The area is very businesslike during the day, but at night it attracts young people from all over Tokyo. Because of the variety of people the area attracts, you can find almost any kind of leisure activity. Prices are very reasonable here. If you are looking to save money by staying overnight at an internet cafe, this is the place to do it.

JR East, Tokyu Corporation, and Keio Corporation serve Shibuya Station. JR trains all come to one set of tracks, but there are two different Tokyu station areas. (They want you to walk through their store and buy something.) Three subway lines also come here. Ginza comes into the third floor of the department store while the Hanzomon and Fukutoshin lines run underground. You can change between those two lines without going through a ticket gate.

Here is a review of a Shibuya area hotel, the Granbell Hotel, by Aki, one of my favorite bloggers. Another post on the same hotel has a nice picture of a typical Japanese breakfast. Yum.

Yurikamome Line

The Yurikamome line is an elevated train that serves the artificial island of Odaiba. It starts at Shimbashi Station, runs over the Rainbow Bridge to circle Odaiba before running back north to end at Toyosu Station to the north east. The train itself is a tourist attraction as well as a means of transportation.

In 1853, Egawa Hidetatsu built six artificial island fortresses in Tokyo Bay to defend the city (then called Edo). Daiba means cannon battery, giving the islands their name. The islands were expanded in the early 1990's. Construction of new land was halted in 1995 because the area was full of vacant lots and many of the companies attempting to develop the area were bankrupt. At least one of the original islands, No 6 Battery (Dai-Roku Daiba) was not joined up with others.

The first section of the Yurikamome line did not open until 1995, the year that Odaiba's construction stopped. Before that, the Rainbow Bridge was the islands only physical connection to the mainland.

Originally, zoning only permitted commercial buildings and housing. But in the second half of the 1990's, other kinds of development were allowed. Two beaches were developed (no swimming) along with a park, an artificial onsen, malls, movie theaters, restaurants, hotels, and other entertainment facilities. Today the island is a good example of successful mixed-use development.

The most recent addition is a life-sized statue of a Gundam.

Asakusa, Tokyo

Of Interest: Senso-ji temple, Sumidagawa River cruise, Asakusa shrine

Lodging: multiple, including many budget hotels and ryokan

Tourist Office: between the metro station and Senso-ji

Lockers available: small and medium

There are two Asakusa Stations. One serves the Ginza and the Toei Asakusa subway lines as well as the Tobu Isesaki line that heads out of Tokyo into Saitam, Tochigi, and Gunma Prefectures.

The second one is a stop on the Tsukuba Express. The Tsukuba station is fully accessible with small and medium lockers. It is also fully handicapped accessible. It is an attractive station with murals of the history of the area.

And Asakusa is a good area for history buffs. Asakusa was a village in ancient times that was absorbed into old Edo. Asakusa is Tokyo's oldest entertainment district and is a good place for traditional culture. Asakusa still has geisha houses and other forms of traditional culture.

The main tourist attraction is Senso-ji, Tokyo's oldest temple. Originally built in 645, the temple and its grounds were mostly destroyed during WWII. On the temple grounds is a tree that was almost killed by a bomb during the war. The tree regrew from the burned stump, and this symbolizes the reconstruction of the temple. Asakusa shinto shrine is next to the temple.

There are also museums in the area. Tepco Asakusa (Folk Museum) is near the Tsukuba line station.

To help people get around, there is a local loop bus.

There is an excellent blog post about Asakusa at the Tokyo Dreaming blog including pictures that express the feeling of the place.

Shin-Yamaguchi

Lodging: budget hotels
Tourist Information Office: No
Of interest: good restaurant

Shin-Yamaguchi station is in suburban Yamaguchi. In other words, JR built a station in the middle of nowhere to save money. The second nicest things about the station area is some concrete with some water running through it.

The first most nicest thing is a really good restaurant. The best restaurant that I ate at during my trip. If I am in the area, I am going to go back. Even though I hate empty suburbs.

To get to the Green Park Mare, go right on the road in front of the station. The road will curve. The good restaurant is across from the McDonalds. I had the lunch special (heegawari?) for 880 yen. The Green Park Mare serves French influenced Japanese style lunches.

Like in that show, "Queen of Lunchtime Cuisine".

Nagoya

Lodging: multiple, mostly at the back entrance

Tourist Office:

Of Interest: ramen tour restaurants in the station, international center, downtown (20 mins.)

Tourist Office: in the center of the station

International ATM: post office to the left of the Sakura exit

Internet Access: international center

Nagoya station serves three different train companies, Meitetsu, Kintetsu, and JR Central. It is about a half hour walk to downtown Nagoya (Sakae). The shinkasen to Nagoya stops here. Three lines of Nagoya's subway system stop here.

Downtown Nagoya is about a twenty minute walk from the station walking straight down Sakura-dori after leaving the station by the Sakura (main) exit. The International Center is on the way. It has a good library with books, magazines and newspapers. The center also has information about Japanese classes and some local events. To get to both the International Center and downtown, take the Higashiyama (yellow) subway line.

Sannomiya (Kobe)

Lodging: multiple

When I was going from Himeji to Osaka, I was confused as to when I was actually going through Kobe. Here is what I discovered later.

Many lines connecting Kobe to other parts of Kansai do no actually stop at a Kobe station. If you want to go to Kobe, and can't find a station with Kobe in the name, look or ask for Sannomiya. This stop is a major transfer point, and I believe it is downtown. I know that there are several hotels in the area, including a couple with decent prices.

Shimonoseki

Of Interest:international ferry port, Kaikyo Yume Tower

Lodging: multiple
Tourist Information Office: In the ferry port.

Shimonoseki is an industrial ferry port that also hosts passenger ferries to Korea and China. It takes less than ten minutes to walk between the train station and the ferry port. Maps in multiple languages are available in the ferry port and there is large map on the street.

The area around the port and station is gritty and industial, but there is a decent sized park in walking distance. For a view of the surrounding area, go to Kaikyo Yume Tower, the highest observatory in western Japan.

Pyeongtaek

Of interest: Train station mall is a good place to hang out
Lodging: several motels and a hotel

Tourist Office: No

Pyeongtaek has a new station that is more than a station. In the building are several restaurants, a department store and a CGV movie theater.

Current movie times are on Nate (in Korean). A listing of movie posters with their names and in English and Korean can be found on The Yeogiyo.

The US army is in the process of moving the Yongsan army base to the area. The new constuction is probably in anticipation of this move as well as being a response to economic growth in the area. The station is right downtown, and right next to both bus stations, so it is a convenient location for development.

The station exits are numbered because this is a subway station as well as a regular train station. The main exit is Exit 1. To get to downtown, walk straight ahead. Buses to Seoul leave from a terminal that is just to the right of the main station. A large collection of motels and one hotel are on that same road after the intercity bus terminal.

Exit 2 leads to a residential neighborhood.

The new station is a good place to go when the weather is bad. The prices are cheaper than in Seoul, and there are some restaurants that you don't usually see outside of the major cities. There is a hamburger place and several Japanese restaurants. You can decent white bread in the department store basement.

Pyeongtaek is about an hour from Seoul on mugungwha, saemaeul, and commuter trains. Going north you can choose between trains that go to Seoul or Yongsan stations. Trains go to all southern lines, that is to Busan, Gwangju, Yeosu, Mokpo, and all stations in between. The Janghang Line to Chungnam (Onyang, Hongseong, Seocheon, etc.) stops here. The commuter train takes this route, ending three stops of the main line at Sinchang. These trains stop at the Cheonan-Asan KTX station (listed as Asan Station for non-KTX trains). If you are going past Daejeon, it may be quicker to change trains to a KTX train here. Please check the link in the sidebar for current schedules.

Onyang-oncheon (Asan)

Lodging: Yes, walk to the left when leaving the station

Tourist Office: Yes, in the square in front of the station

Of Interest: Multiple spas based around the local hot springs, City Tour (really county tour, on weekends)

ATM: To get to the nearest station, walk straight out from the station

Computer in station: No

Oncheon is Korean for hot springs. Onyang oncheon is one of the more famous hot springs areas in Korea. It is also one of the hottest. The local hotels in the area all have hot springs in their basements. There is also a famous sauna near the train station. The train station and the hot springs are at the edges of Onyang's small downtown. There is a pedestrian area that starts one block north of the station.

The tourist office is in the plaza to the right of the train station. A tour of the Asan area leaves from this plaza on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The most significant stops are at the local folk museum and a confucian shrine which is partly dedicated to Yi Sun Shin, an admiral who is famous for repeatedly defeating the Japanese when they attempted to invade Korea between 1592 and 1598. He grew up in Asan. There are several monuments dedicated to him in the area as well as a yearly festival.

Onyang-Oncheon is on the Janghang Line that runs south from Seoul and then curves west at Cheonan to run through South Chungcheong Province to the coast then south to Gunsan, then east again to Iksan where it turns north to Daejeon (Seodaejeon Station). The line almost makes a circle around the Geum River. If you are going to Iksan or Daejeon, it is quicker to go to Cheonan-Asan (KTX) or Cheonan Stations (Saemaueul and Mugungwha) and change trains. Cheonan is fifteen minutes away, Pyeongtaek half an hour, and Suwon forty-five minutes. This trains stops at two locations within Seoul, Yeongdeungpo (an hour and fifteen minutes) and Yongsan (an hour and a half). These are most of the stops on this train. Korail assumes that people will take the metro within cities in Gyeonggi-do.

Going away from Seoul, Yesan is fifteen minutes away. From here there start to be significant differences between the time by mugungwha and samaeul as the mugunghwa stops at some of the smaller locations that are served by the metro closer to Seoul. Hongseong is half an hour by saemeul and forty-five minutes by mugunghwa. Trains to Daecheon take an hour to an hour an a half to get to that coastal town. Janghang used to be the end of the Janghang line, and it takes between an hour and a half and two hours to get there. Add fifteen minutes to that time to get to Gunsan.

Onyang-Oncheon is also on line 1 of the Seoul Metro. This line runs alongside the Janghang line from here to Yongsan Station. Sinchang, one stop away, is the end of the line and the location of Soon Chun Hyang University. (I used to work for them.)