"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowline, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain
We were catching the 8:30am ferry to "sail away from the safe harbour" and get this adventure started! Sheri R's sister was the chosen 'victim' to transport us and gear at that unearthly Saturday morning hour to the ferry terminal and I was to be ready for a 7:30am pick up. 7:07am the doorbell rang and when I opened the door, this cyclone of energy, enthusiasm and exuberance burst through "C'mon let's go" she said and then just blathered away. I looked bewildered beyond her to her sister, who said, "Yes, she's like a Muppet on crack!"
Off we went lugging two duffel bags, two daypacks, two carryons, and one shared suitcase with our sleeping bags.
During the ferry ride, and while waiting for our flight, we took great delight in watching the "You are doing WHAT??!" expressions from those that asked where we were headed.
I brought along some Emergen-C, instant oatmeal and tea for a light breakfast on the ferry after which Sheri R commented "I have less nutritious snacks...but they have chocolate!"...definately the makings of a good trip!
We were flying Korean Air to Kathmandu, via an overnight stay in Seoul, South Korea. The flight attendants were so gracious and the service was exceptional. We all had a package on our seats -- pillow, blanket, bottled water, slippers, toothbrush and toothpaste AND our own screen and remote control to watch movies, play games or listen to audio.
This was a 5100 flight that would take 11 hours and cross the International Dateline before arriving in Seoul, which was 16 hours ahead of Vancouver.
We would have two meals with the choice of Korean or North American -- I opted Korean on the first meal. It wasn't that I didn't like the seaweed soup, the 'pickles' were interesting, the white rice was ok, it was the dish of unidentifiable foods that got me -- could of been mushrooms, a few different types, or maybe something of an animal persuasion -- the idea was to dump the rice on top, mix it all up, squeeze this red hot sauce all over (to hide the bad taste I thought) and then down the hatch.
Once I hit something that I knew wasn't mushroom and the sign language from the Korean beside me seemed to indicate it once had legs -- I was done!
Our second meal some 7 hours later, I opted for the fish of the 'fish or chicken', North American options. Hmm, one bite of the fish for Sheri R (they ran out of chicken should have been our first clue) and myself was enough. It made me remember an old movie where fish was served on a flight which the pilot and co-pilot ate then got so ill they couldn't fly so a passenger had to step up to the controls. Figured if I was going to save the plane, crew and passengers, best not to eat the odd tasting fish!
We arrived in Seoul at 5:45 p.m. on Sunday to a sea of fog with no visibility until we were on the runway. Typical tourists, we were last off the flight, exclaiming about being in Asia for the first time, and getting our pictures taken by Korean signs. We lost sight of what directions everyone else went in when the pilots from our flight came along and offered some directions. They asked if we were staying in one of the hotels around Incheon Airport (we got a voucher for one as there was no connecting flight until the next day but a Trip Advisor check suggested it wasn't the cleanest or quietest of hotels). Nope, we said -- Millenium Hilton, downtown, do you know it? There was a moment as they look askance at our attire (hiking boots, fleece jackets, baggy pants, backpacks) and said it was very nice and to make sure we took in the buffet restaurant which was 'spectacular'.
We cleared Customs and easily found the ticket booth for the limousine bus service, bought our ticket for 15,000 WON (about $13) and headed to the pick up spot. All very efficient, timely and well run. The bus had big leather recliner chairs, wide armrests and a big screen TV for the 80 minute ride to go 40 km into downtown Seoul. How could it take that long? Traffic! Overpasses, 8 lane highways and bridges, all filled with vehicles like Highway 1 into Vancouver after a long weekend.
The bridges were architectural engineering masterpieces -- each one a couple of kilometres from the other -- each one of different design and lit up in different colors. The road signs were also in various lights, some looking like daisies (to point out road construction).
The bus driver seemed to drive a tad more aggressively than what we are used to and Sheri R turned to me and said "I am not driving. It is not my job to watch how he is driving. I should just be watching the scenery. Right??" then we hit the long series of small speed bumps just before the toll booth "Great" she said "Driving by Braille."
Seoul is a city of hills and tall buildings. Every block had some kind of sculpture or art piece and there was traffic with scooters by the thousands.
We disembarked at the Hilton and I looked at Sheri and said "Remember the American Express commercial where the guy comes in to a fancy hotel all dirty and disheveled from the desert and plops down his Gold American Express and then is a 'somebody'. That's us! except we don't have a Gold American Express!!"
Huge lobby with fountains, at least 5 restaurants, stores, amazing floral displays of orchids, exquisitely dress guests (big fancy casino attached to the hotel) ... and us! At least when we got on the elevator we had lots of room -- no one crowded us.
We had a fabulous room on the 11th floor with a stunning view of Seoul Tower -- about 1 km further up the hill from the hotel. The Tower is 479.7 m high and lit up like the Eiffel Towel. From its observation deck you can see Mt. Songak in North Korea, Incheon Harbour and all of the city of Seoul.
It was 8 p.m. Seoul time but 4 a.m. Vancouver time -- we had been up for 2 days with about 4-6 hours of disrupted sleep. Our flight out the next day was 8:40 a.m. which meant a 4:45 a.m. wake up call to catch the 5:20 a.m. bus back to the airport.
After an 11 hour flight and the bus ride, we figured a walk up the hill towards the Tower was in order. The crosswalks have 2 sections, one with arrows for those crossing in one direction, one with arrows for those crossing from the other direction ... it only took exasperated looks form those I was walking into for me to figure that one out.
Even the sidewalks have a dividing line but we couldn't figure out, by those approaching us, if we were to be on the left or the right. Debated that all the time we were walking -- does it match with cars driving on the right or it seems they walk on the left.
We passed a gas station where the hoses hang from the ceiling, you pull in and it is lowered for a guy to pump the gas then he pushes a button and back up it goes; a motel doorway filled with the shoes of its guests; a maze of alleys and staircases traversing the hillside; silent scooters speeding at breakneck speeds down the sidewalks (you best get the heck out of the way); a mixture of smells mostly unknown (some foul and some appetizing); houses perched in every nook and cranny on impossibly small bits of land; and paving stone sidewalks that tilted at crazy inclines. Back to the hotel by 9 p.m., showers and had to push all the buttons on the beside gadget that turned on/off all the lights, dimmed them, curtains open/close, put on the "do not disturb" light before I finally dozed off.
At 2:45 a.m. I checked the clock and Sheri R asked what time it was. I told her we still had 2 hours to sleep and she said she kept getting 'fizzy' moments where she would get all wired up and excited and about 'stuff' then slow down and go back to sleep. She said "Hey, I've been thinking. You must have to walk on the right on the sidewalks because .... " "I know! I know! I was thinking that, too!" I said " ... because the crosswalks have you going on the right!" we said in unison. With that out of the way, time for a couple more hours of sleep.