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Published: December 24th 2012
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Arriving at Seoul's Incheon airport half hour late, 10pm the queue at immigration is long, the AREX express train to downtown already shut so either I take the regular train or limousine bus to town. After getting cash from the ATM, I saw there was a booth near the ATM machine, I inquired about limo service and was told there is one leaving soon so I ditched the subway and headed out to wait for the limo bus. I just missed it! then ended up waiting another 20 minutes for the next one. In the end I made it to the Itaewon area where I booked a dorm bed at
SP@Itaewon GH, owned by a Serbian dude. It was easy to find but uphill, it was crazy busy when I arrived and Sa Woong my good Korean friend was waiting for me at the living room of the hostel, Nemanja the owner sorted me out, took a quick shower and Sa Woong and I headed out for food and party! Nemanja invited us to go out with the rest of the hostel people but they are too slow, so we headed on our own.
We found a street food eatery
covered in plastic tent as it was darn cold. We ordered some seafood soup thing and washed with cheap, awful soju and of course heaps of kimchi!! Party revellers abound in the area, we found a good party club and we lined up to get in, it was crowded but music was good and we had fun drinking and chatting with the locals. Before you know it, it's 5am and so off to breakfast and funny enough we had the hangover soup! It was darn good too. While looking for a place to eat, this young guy kept following us and staring at me, finally he spoke with Sa Woong and turns out he is an artist and is making a docu on different fotos of feet from different nations! Crazy idea, anyway Sa Woong told him I was Filipino and he asked if he could take fotos of my feet, a fetish??? I relented after he helped us find the best eatery in the area. My 5 minutes of fame.. and as we were doing the photo shoot, a group of drunk Americans on the street got rowdy and one of them threw a half full beer bottle into
the street, everyone stares at them but says nothing, some passersby told us, American servicemen..
We slept for a few hours in a jimjilbang, a Korean version of a Japanese sento where you can use the sauna and sleep as well n bunk beds or on the floor topped with thin matts. We both passed out exhausted. Then had a quick shower and explored the city.First up is the Insadong neighborhood and the Gyongbokgung Palace. Weather was nice, sunny but cold, lots of tourists visiting the palace, I was jet lagged and get tired easily, we window shopped around Insadong and found a coffee house to chill and nap, then around 7pm we met up with another Korean dude I hosted in Boston, a couchsurfer, Bum Jun was late meeting us in a restaurant, but he came and we had a great meal of "chicken soup". Apparently it's a famous dish, its actually a small whole chicken in a rich broth with ginseng roots. It was a tad bland but the meat was tender and delicious. Then we all went our separate ways, I headed back to my hostel crashed and woke up to a rainy day.
I
decided to head out of Seoul as the weather is crap and head to Gyeongju, an ancient city near Busan, I have to figure out the best way to get there, I took the subway, which by the way is efficient and easy to use, to the Expres bus terminal. Finding the station for Gyeongju was quite a task, it is located in another building, I found it but buying ticket was another nightmare I kept being pointed from one booth to another, finally confused and ticked off, I approached a security guy showed him my planned destination from the rough guide book and he walked me to the right ticket counter, I wasn't sure if he understood me as I cannot find my destination on the list, but true enough I was on the right counter, the place was spelled differently, why, dont ask me.. The security dude stayed with me until I purchased my ticket and he waves goodbye as he points to my gate, such a nice fellow.
Meanwhile I have some time so I had breakfast at the cheap eatery in the station, food was good and cheap, then waited at the gate for my
Seoul
Sa Woong and the gas masks in the subway station bus which never came! There were several people waiting as well, and suddenly some guy showed up and started asking everyone's destination, used his walkie talkie and voila a bus turned up and we got on quickly, and though late, the bus left promptly..bye Seoul..for now..
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