Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Getting to Seoul Proper


I touched down in Incheon Airport around 4pm on Sunday December the 27th. Walking out of the exit ramp and into a windowed corridor the first sight of South Korea for me was a snow covered tarmac littered with planes. Hello Seoul!

There wasn't any hassle getting through passport control. Having done a bit of research online before travelling here I was under the impression I'd need printed verification of an onward journey to be let in to the country as a visitor. Since I don't have a printer at home I had made it a point to stop at the Korean Air ticketing booth in Heathrow before flying to get a printout of my itinerary. It turns out I didn't need it, but better safe than sorry, eh?

After collecting my knapsack from the luggage belt I took a seat and turned on my iPhone. Again, research online told me that the Korean networks were CDMA, but that you should be able to roam on a 3G phone depending on your carrier. And…. Yes, it connected to KOR SK Telecom without an issue.

Quick aside: I did discover later that I'm not able to access data on the 3G network. I wouldn't have enabled roaming data very often on the phone but there is one specific type of scenario I've already encountered many times in which it would have been very useful. Trying to find a specific location when already on the road. Google Maps with GPS location data and the inbuilt compass. (Double aside: There aren't really addresses here. There are regions, broken up into districts, broken up into areas, comprised of streets. I take the subway everywhere in Seoul so directions to somewhere are usually something like "Take line X to station Y, exit #Z, walk about 5 minutes until you see a Starbucks and SK Telecom, turn left, go a couple blocks and it's on the right) It would be very useful for situations where all you have is a business name, a street name and maybe a subway exit, but no-one to give you directions in English.

So a quick phone call to my friend was placed to let her know I'd touched down safely, that my iPhone works so I wouldn't be renting a mobile phone, and that after hitting a currency exchange and figuring out where to catch the bus I'd be on my way (you can rent mobile phone's from Seoul's airport. Since my phone worked I didn't end up looking into pricing.)


You've got a few transportation options to get to Seoul from Incheon Airport - trains, taxis, KAL deluxe limo busses, and city limo busses (city limo are the cheapest of bus options at about 1400 Won for the trip I needed to make, and are really quite comfortable). Having looked online I knew that city limo bus 6030 stopped in Itaewon, which is where I was meeting my friend. We would be staying at the Seoul Motel for the first while, which is above a McDonalds in Itaewon according to my research. I purchased a ticket at the indoor bus ticket office (there are also outdoor kiosks near each exit), and proceeded outside to find the stop and wait for the bus. While waiting in line a friendly worker informed me in broken English that the wait for the bus to arrive may be around an hour because of the snow (the bus normally arrives on 15 minute intervals). Well, I'd already got my ticket, had no way to research a new route, and wasn't going to pay for a taxi to Seoul.

Well it turns out that they added an extra bus to the route so I luckily only waited about half an hour in the cold :). I was struggling to keep from dozing while on the bus (I don't sleep well on planes) so as to not miss my stop. At some point we returned to surface streets and the driver would occasionally call out something in Korean. ...but no English. I had no clue where I was nor any clue where I was really going. One of the times the driver called out one of the passengers responded in Korean. At this, the driver pulled over and let the person out. Oh boy… this worries me.

The next time the driver stopped the bus I walked up to the front. I crouched down and asked if he spoke English, to which he responded something in Korean. "I need to get off in Itaewon?" I stated. He stared at me blankly for a few seconds and then said, "Itaewon. Long, long way." He then said something loudly in Korean. At this both the driver and the entire bus of Korean passengers began to laugh uproariously. It was an interesting walk back to my seat, all I could do was smile at the passengers and laugh at myself.

After this I was much more intent on watching what we were driving by through my semi-fogged window. Hoping to glimpse a sign in English for Itaewon, or something. At some point in peering out the window I saw a big sign for the Capitol Hotel. Ok, that sounds familiar… ...yeah, that's a couple stops after where I thought I had to get off. I figured I'd stay on one more stop to see if the route I had written down from online was still accurate or not. I thought to myself that I could always catch a cab the short way back from one of these hotels if necessary. On the way to the next stop I continued to inspect the city through the snow. Wait, is that a McDonald's coming up on the right? Look above it. Oh please, oh please… YES! A glowing green sign for the Seoul Motel!

"Excuse me," I called to the driver, "is there any stops near here?" He looked at me in the rear view mirror, but had nothing to say. "Ok," I thought to myself, "I'll just keep close track of any twists and turns, how many streets we pass, and any landmark buildings." I got lucky in that the next stop, the Hamilton Hotel, was straight ahead only a couple short blocks away.

So a five minute walk later and there I was at the Seoul Motel, greeted by my waiting friend. The online reviews of the Seoul Motel were not glowing, but hey, it worked for me. The place was clean, and cost 45,000 Won per night. So there I was, finally in Seoul. Check in, drop the bags, quick shower, then let's hit the town!