Almost made it! Here’s a quick update via the 200 MPH KTX Bullet Train, just a few hours away from our first destination in Busan. This update will be short and sweet as the last 35 hours have been mostly nonstop and (fortunately, this time!) straightforward travel.
We hit nearly every mode of travel transportation on this trip outside a boat. We went,
Phoenix -> LAX (flight)
LAX Shuttle -> LAX Hilton for a very short rest
Hotel Shuttle -> LAX
LAX -> ICN (13 hour or so flight, whew)
Taxi -> Seoul Station
KTX Bullet Train -> Busan Station (halfway done!)
Taxi -> Hotel in Busan (What’s remaining…)
Not surprisingly, Seoul still feels like a city from the future. Clean, high-tech, and people are generally kind and helpful. Consistent with my past two trips, people have been generally welcoming to me and my other travel companions (other than that one time a restaurant owner in Seoul snatched my chopsticks mid eating to give me a fork.. but that’s another story..)
COVID restrictions here are more intense than anywhere I experienced during its peak US. Beyond all of the pre-travel prep, The gentleman next to me went into some interesting detail on his experience traveling to South Korea last year. The two-week quarantine experience was required for all travelers on entry up until April this year. He has dual-residence between US/SK and was fortunate enough to be able to quarantine in his SK home – non-residents are required to rent at a “quarantine hotel” for $100 a night for the full two weeks. My seat neighbor was required to, 1) give the government full access to his phone for tracking, 2) have the phone at his residence at all times, 3) move with his phone at least once every couple hours to ensure he didn’t leave his phone at home and go out and 4) submit temperature readings via an app twice a day. This was all required for two weeks upon re-entry to the country. Whoa!
Things will get more interesting tomorrow as we are meeting Meghann’s sister Seoksoon, possibly headed to the massive Shinsegae Mall, and having dinner with my friend June who is graciously commuting from Seoul to Busan to have dinner with us after our logistics hit the blender.
Looking forward to resting up after a near 24-hour stint of being awake.
Update: I spoke too soon! We 1) got locked in the bullet train, 2) got a ride from an angry taxi driver, 3) who then drove away with Meghann’s bag in the trunk before the bellhop could grab it. We fortunately managed to recover it via the taxi service.. at 1am..
😴😴😴