On the two-hour bus ride back to base, we made a pit stop.

I want you to think back to the last road trip you took.

Did you stop along the interstate at one of those roadside rest stops?…

Was it the old kind that’s been there since the 70′s with funky disinfectant smell, faded green paint & always empty paper towel holders? You know the kind, the one with the vending machines locked behind barred gates & the rusted metal barrels for trash cans.

Or was it one of the newer, more modern rest stops that some states have built along the state lines trying to out-do the neighbor state’s brand new clean & shiny rest stop? Modern brick buildings with staffed information centers asking you to sign the guestbook with large painted murals of the state icons adorning the walls.

Because what I’m about to show you…what I’ve been anxiously awaiting for days to show you…will top any roadside rest stop you’ve ever seen.

From the outside it appeared to be the newer more modern kind of rest stop.

Nothing too fancy…nothing that hinted it would be any different from the American rest stops back home.

But as we got closer…

…it became apparent that this was not your ordinary run-of-the-mill “I need to pee” rest stop.

In the open center of the building is a food court.

There’s Baskin-Robbins ice cream, coffee, Dunkin Donuts & several different Korean food vendors where you can buy things like popcorn crab cakes & octopus on a stick.

And in the open space they even have booths set up for clothing & souvenir vendors.

But the kicker…

           …the absolute…

                                …you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me…

                                                     …. kicker is the bathroom.

When you initially walk in it’s got the air of an upscale airport bathroom…so far no biggie.

Six stalls backed by six more stalls backed by six more…and on & on down the length of both sides of the building.

And if you look closely, you can see that in Korea the stall doors run all the way to the ground with no visible gap between the door & the frame.

Your own completely private privy…complete with zen garden.

Kid you not.

Look…look real close.

That long run of glass walls hides the same long run of bathroom stalls – on both sides.

The narrow end back there is the glass wall that bumps up against the bathroom sinks & mirrors.

When I finally stopped gawking at the open air garden and after I managed to successfully & secretly take this picture, I slipped into an open stall to find this…

…a toilet with lights.

I couldn’t tell if the water was blue or if it was blue lights…but I’m leaning towards blue lights.

At first it was an odd sight, but the more I thought about South Korea & their love of electronics it didn’t seem like quite a stretch anymore.

That is until I sat down & realized two things:

1. This toilet seat is warm…and not recently used butt-warm, mind you…but an actual heated seat.

2. This keypad obviously controlled the toilet & I needed to find the only button that really matters – the flusher.

Crap.

Look at all those buttons!

[sorry for the fuzzy picture...I thought it was focused when I took it]

And not one of them labeled in English.

So let’s see…what all do these do?…

To be honest, I still haven’t figured them out. But I did find the flusher…

It’s that dark-ringed swirly button in the center.

You know, just in case you ever find yourself at a rest stop in South Korea.