We’ve made it to Seoul. This is my first time in South Korea, which is somewhere that I’ve wanted to visit for so long and I’m really happy to be here. It has been a long couple of days travelling, though, including a really disorganised experience passing through Shanghai Airport this morning.
Our flight from London to Shanghai was great. I had never flown with China Eastern before but overall I had a great experience – the service was very good and, importantly for me, there was a lot of leg room. That experience wasn’t replicated during the transit process in Shanghai, however.
A chaotic transit in Shanghai
After leaving our flight and entering the terminal building we followed the signs to the transfer area but, after arriving there, there was a lot of confusion because the path saying international transfers split into several routes and it wasn’t obvious which one we had to take. Luckily there was a person to ask and she directed us to the shuttle that would take us over to the correct concourse.
At the next concourse the confusion continued. There were two lines – one long and one very short, with no obvious signage to say what each one was for. We showed our boarding passes to a member of staff and he directed us to the long line of people waiting for the transfer desk, so we assumed we had to have our boarding passes validated or something. It turns out that we had been directed to the wrong line, and that was the one for people without onward boarding passes and once we realised we skipped to the next line and went straight through to the security area.
In the security area there was a similar amount of confusion as you entered a hall with no obvious signage of where to go. It turns out that you had to head to any of the sliding doors which took you to individual baggage scanners – but there were no signs to say this. Once at the scanners, there were no instructions about what they wanted us to do with our bags – each airport has different rules about what to do with the contents of the bags at security – and we got shouted at for not following the instructions that were not there.
Overall, it was not a great experience and we were happy once we had finally got through security and entered the departure area. There was still a little bit of apprehension in our minds, as we had a 6 hour layover so our flight was not on the boards yet and we couldn’t be sure that they had sent us the correct way. Luckily, it would turn out in a couple of hours, we were in the correct area.
Waiting for our flight to Seoul
There isn’t really much to do in the departures area at Shanghai Pudong airport. There are a couple of coffee shops, a couple of restaurants, and a couple of shops but that is it. Luckily, there are lots of seats unlike in some airports and so we never had trouble finding somewhere to sit.
The highlight of the time waiting for our connecting flight, however, was the food we had at a burger place inside the airport. It was only 8am in China but, being an international terminal, they served their full range all day and we ordered a barbecue cheeseburger with onion rings and chicken wings. Despite the experience we had getting through to the departure area I think it was probably the best food I’ve ever had at an airport, other than when I’ve been in a business class lounge, which was definitely welcome.
Flying from Shanghai to Seoul
Our connecting flight to Seoul was on a smaller A321 which, although it didn’t have as much leg room as the 777 from London, was still spacious enough. Our seats were strange, however, in that they were the row in front of the emergency exit. There were only two passenger seats there, but next to us was one of the cabin crew facing the other way towards the emergency exit – and therefore staring straight at us. But somebody was only sat there for take-off and landing.
The flight from Shanghai to Seoul is only a couple of hours. We initially flew east to Jeju island at the south of Korea, before picking up the main air route north towards Incheon airport where we landed a few minutes early.
Arriving at Incheon Airport
Our experience passing through Incheon airport was so much better than our experience in Shanghai this morning. There was a fairly long queue for passport control but there was somebody constantly walking up and down the line to keep people updated, and to make sure that they had everything ready so that they could reduce the time needed at the immigration desk. In addition, the signage was great and really easy to follow, and we collected our bags and were through security in no time – with none of the problems of Shanghai.
The first port of call, after exiting through security, was to pick up a SIM card. I don’t usually bother when I travel – I usually download offline maps, or I travel to parts of the world where data isn’t important – but for a city break, with lots of moving parts, and the need to waste as little time as possible I thought it wise to pick one up.
I went with SK Telecom desk, which is what seemed to be the most recommended online, and it was a fast and easy process that only took a few minutes. I purchased the 5 day SIM which cost 27,500 Won – approximately 15 GBP or 20 USD – and they installed it in my phone for me before testing it to make sure that everything was working.
From Incheon Airport to Seoul
Next was getting to Seoul. There are two options for getting to and from the airport in Seoul – you can take the train to Seoul Station, or you can take one of the airport buses that take various routes throughout the city.
I’m normally not a fan of buses but, due to the time we had landed, it would be the evening rush hour when we arrived in Seoul and I didn’t fancy battling through the metro network with big bags at that time of the day. As a result, we opted to take the bus as there was a stop only a couple of minutes from our hotel.
It was a busy time of day when we arrived, so we had to queue for approximately half an hour before we could get on the bus, but the process was very efficient and there were lots of people around to ask questions, to help you with your luggage, and to make sure that there were no wasted seats on the bus.
The journey to our stop took around an hour and, while we did get stuck in traffic as we entered the city, the bus was comfortable so we didn’t mind. We passed the time looking out the window and watching the scenery, and the streets of Seoul, pass by.
We’re staying in the Jongno District
We are staying at the Grid Inn Hotel in Seoul, which is near Jongno 3-ga station, and there is an airport bus stop right by the station so it only took 2 or 3 minutes to arrive at our hotel once we got off the bus.
The hotel is basic but it seems a great place to stay. The rooms, while a bit small, are clean and have everything you need. Despite the great location the price wasn’t too bad and the staff seem really friendly. The only negative point is that you do have to walk past shops selling smelly smoked fish to arrive at the hotel, but you can’t smell them once you get inside.
We decided to stay in this part of Seoul and not in Myeongdong, where a lot of the bigger hotels are, because it was closer to a lot of the things that we wanted to see and because it’s a much more traditional area of the city – allowing us to soak up Korean culture just that little bit more during our time here.
Heading for Dinner in Myeongdong
Despite not staying in Myeongdong we decided to head there this evening to check out the sights and to head to the famous street food market. We had read online that it was a good place to go if you were hungry, but weren’t sure what you fancied, and it was the perfect place to go tonight.
There is so much to eat at Myeongdong Food Market, and I was so hungry after a long couple of days travelling that I tried quite a few dishes.
Some of the items that I tried include egg bread, Tteokbokki, Hotteok, and grilled cheese with condensed milk but you can also get caramelised fruits, dumplings, fried chicken, BBQ skewers, seafood, Kimchi pancakes, and much more. I can see myself wanting to come back here to try even more in the coming days.
We spent an hour or so browsing all of the stalls, trying a few different things, and soaking up the atmosphere, before slowly making our way back to the hotel.
We weren’t quite ready to tall it a night so decided to head back via Gwanghwamun Square, one of the key locations in Seoul, to walk off our dinner and get our bearings. We stopped at the statue of King Sejong, and the gates to Gyeongbokgung Palace, to soak up the atmosphere, and I couldn’t believe that I was finally in South Korea after wanting to come here for so long.
Seoul is really spectacular at night, and it has a lot of character, so I can’t wait to explore it during the daytime when everything is open.
We will only be here for 4 nights before we move on to Singapore, but we have a lot of things planned and I look forward to my time here. Tomorrow is a full day exploring the city, which should be fun.