Take 2

So we tried the whole leaving the country thing again... and this time it worked!


After a long night of figuring out visa information and rearranging accommodations and an even earlier morning, we  lugged our way through DIA and found ourselves at the gate.  As you can see we were quite stoked to be going somewhere other than back home today.

The first plane to SFO was entirely uneventful except for a long nap.  We touched down and ran to our next gate just in time to board the double decker airbus for the long haul.  It was immediately evident we were going to a different land when the language of choice spoken by passenger and staff was Korean.  We did manage to order our dinners though (delectable airline chicken and veges?).  This was topped off by ice cream though so they were doing it right for the most part.

As we approached our destination, the anticipation started to sink in.  Hunter snagged a few photos over the wing in between watching movies and attempting to sleep in or matchbox sized seats.  Before long, they made an announcement for breakfast, about 3 hours after the dinner portion of the flight.  We opted for the oriental version of terriyaki noodles, although my seatmates informed me this was definitely not a Korean thing; they were just as shocked as I was at this.  Another couple hours later and the crew completed the journey over the Pacific.  Mission 1 (Part 2) accomplished.

Just after the terminal, we were carted off on a very busy, but efficient, tram system much like beneath DIA.  Customs was no hassle and we breezed into a luxurious airport in no time.  By luxurious we mean this place had a mini shopping center, movie theatre, karaoke stage, and even a skating rink.  We could have spent all day here but decided to jump on the train to our hostel.

The train ride afforded us our first outside views of Asia and our first attempts at finding our way around with little English on the signs.  We passed a huge salt flat or river delta area which looked like the salt flats of the US.  Huge construction projects were underway building dirt roads across the area.  After checking into our hostel (Seoul i Guesthouse), we decided to walk around and find dinner.  We happened upon a small family owned placed tucked away in a side street and figured it would do.  After brief gesturing with the young boy at the counter, we discerned that there were two things to order: spicy and kinda spicy.  We opted for the kinda spicy and got a big bowl of something like noodle soup stew.  Large chewy noodles, rice noodles, veges, and meat?  Quite a good flavor but a lot of things we had never palleted before.  Also the spice was building and so after many glasses of water and a full bowl of soup later, we all looked like the guy in the picture at right.

 Walking home after the meal, we found ourselves walking through a well lit park with many shops, restaurants, and people having picnics on the grass including one birthday celebration.  Seoul is a very clean and easygoing city from what we have found so far and are excited to explore near the river tomorrow.  For now, jet lag has taken over and us old timers are calling it a night around 9 pm.