After flying in to Seoul from Auckland yesterday, I spent most of today jetlagged as I prepare for starting the Seoul Trail tomorrow.
May 12
Yesterday is probably the last time I’ll be in Auckland for quite some time. it’s a little bittersweet to be leaving Auckland and New Zealand, but, as always, life moves on.
Though one thing I definitely won’t miss is the constant passive-aggressive announcements at Auckland airport for late passengers. “Your aircraft is ready to depart, and all other passengers are waiting for you.”
The flight from Auckland to Seoul took about 12 hours. I continue to be impressed with international flights from non-US carriers. Flying with Korean Air, even economy seats get free wine and beer (a feature I’ve also experienced with Air New Zealand, and Australia’s Qantas) and metal silverware, instead of flimsy cheap plastic or wooden utensils. The food was actually pretty good, too.
In a curious move, despite leaving around 11 am New Zealand time, the flight immediately turned its interior lights off and left them off for the entire duration of the flight, except during lunch and dinner meal service. I think this had the effect of making the flight a little more chill (and nearly everyone else was watching movies on their seat-back displays), though with noise-canceling headphones, I was largely in my own isolated bubble.
This meant that, by the time we landed in Seoul (Incheon), about 40 minutes after sunset, it was dark outside, and I’d been in the dark for much of the prior 12 hours. While I usually handle this amount of westward travel fine (Seoul is three hours behind Auckland, same as the US west coast from the east), I could tell this wasn’t going to be great for my jet lag.
Customs at the airport was lightning-fast, though that was a combination of a favorable seat near the front of the economy cabin, and that there weren’t that many foreigners on the plane, so the line I had to wait in was only four people deep when I got there.
Baggage felt like it was a little slow to come out, but the baggage claim had a giant display with one feature I’ve not seen at any other airport I’ve been to: an estimate on when baggage might start to arrive, and then once it did, a progress bar and indicator showing how much baggage had been delivered off the plane. (My checked bag came out a little bit past halfway.) So even if it might have been slow, it was easy to not be impatient, because it was very transparent about what was going on.
Getting and activating a SIM card was the fastest of any trip I’ve been on so far. It also felt ludicrously expensive for a two-week stay.
I could have taken the train from the airport to Seoul (the guest house I’m staying at provided directions), but I wasn’t really in the mood for dealing with an unfamiliar train system in an unfamiliar country with an awkwardly large and heavy suitcase and two carry-on bags, so I got a taxi. Which was way more than the cost of the train, but it did mean I could relax.
My room is tiny, but being that I’m not going to be in it much at all of the next two weeks, that doesn’t really matter so much. It’s also right across from the bathroom, which may or may not be a good thing.
May 13
As expected, I didn’t sleep all that well, between the jet lag and getting to sleep later than I should have.
The guest house has a simple breakfast available; toast, yogurt, juice, cereal, and coffee and tea. I made my way down sometime after 8. I chatted with the other guy there, an Aussie from Tasmania. His son had cycled part of the Tasmanian Trail, that I’d done earlier this year!
After a shower and a short nap, I finally made my outside shortly before noon, finding the side street the guest house is on to be surprisingly bustling. (It was lunchtime, I guess!) I circled the block, both to take in the city a little and find somewhere to get lunch. I stopped at a place that had two-thirds of their front window covered with their menu (in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean), deciding to go in when one of the staff beckoned me in. I got a pork dish, which was quite good. And cheap — ₩ 9,000 (USD $6.12). And fast — I think I was in the restaurant for less than five minutes before I had food to eat.
After lunch, I took a longer walk. What I saw reinforced what I’d seen before lunch. At least in this part of the city — around Seoul Station, the main train station — the main roads branched off into smaller roads and even smaller alleys that were stuffed to the gills with shops. There were plenty of restaurants, food stands, cafes, and a few convenience stores; clearly, food is not going to be a problem. (I also picked up some snacks to eat tomorrow on the trail.)
From my walk, I could see Seoul Tower, a communication and observation tower on Namsan, a mountain in the middle of the city, less than a mile from where I’m staying. It’s not on the Seoul Trail, but it is on the Seoul City Wall Trail, which I also plan to walk while I’m in Seoul. More importantly, it’ll serve as a convenient landmark as I walk around the city.
After a nap, I ventured out to a Korean BBQ place to meet Jay, whom I’d met while on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2018, and his girlfriend Tina (who also hiked the PCT that year). Jay had recommended Korean BBQ because the portions are meant for splitting among several people. The meal was fantastic, essentially a large stir-fry of beef that was cooked on a charcoal stove on our table, with small dishes of various vegetable condiments, and a crab soup (that is, soup, with a whole crab and two prawns in it).
After dinner, I returned to my guest house, and, a little later than I’d wanted, turned in for the night. Tomorrow, I’ll set out to Dobongsan Station, near the northernmost point of the Seoul Trail, and begin hiking from the Seoul Iris Garden, where the first stage of the trail starts (and the 21st stage ends).