This travel narrative recounts a mishap during the author's early days in Gwangyang-Eup, South Korea. While attempting to return from Suncheon after sorting out a cell phone, the author and a friend boarded bus number 88, expecting it would take them back to their accommodation.

Instead, "the bus turned left, pulled onto the highway in the opposite direction" and they found themselves stranded an hour away in an unfamiliar fishing village with a nearly dead phone battery. The author describes the stress of being lost without a clear map reference, unlike their previous European backpacking experiences where getting lost felt adventurous rather than anxiety-inducing.

The pair eventually found a bus stop and caught the purple bus 88 back to Suncheon. The author concludes they had initially confused their directional orientation at the train station—a "rookie mistake" made understandable by navigating a place where Hangul (Korean script) dominates the signage.

The post humorously captures the disorientation of travel in unfamiliar places and the challenges of using unreliable navigation technology in foreign countries.