Seoul

South Korea 2019

In Cebu, Philippines, my husband and I parted. He was going home and I had time for exploring another Asian country on my own. My initial plan was to see Taiwan. However, my husband was against that; he does not like when I go to a country that he himself did not visit. So Taiwan was replaced with South Korea where he had been before.

Luckily for me, Cebu Pacific flies directly from Cebu to Seoul and in 4.5 hours, I was in the capital city of South Korea. The President hotel where I made a reservation for 6 nights is located on the city’s main square.

Getting from Incheon International Airport to the hotel seemed to be straightforward when I looked up directions online. I had no idea how complex Seoul subway system is. It consists of over 20 lines and almost 1,000 stations. An employee helped me to buy a subway ticket, then of course I got lost when changing trains, and as the result it took me about 2 hours to find my hotel.

My room was clearly not the best in the hotel. The furniture, carpet and fittings were worn and outdated. Later, I peeked into other rooms on the same floor while they were open for cleaning and noticed that they were renovated. That explained why my room was rather cheap for a 4-star, centrally located hotel. On the other hand, the room was on the 23rd floor and overlooked Seoul Plaza with its amazing City Hall. I opened the window to get rid of a stale smell in the room which is not always possible in modern hotels and switched off the noisy air-conditioning. In the end, the good points outweighed the bad ones and I decided not be too picky. I got what I paid for.

Seoul City Hall as seen from my room

Breakfast buffet was excellent. Although it was not included in my room I preferred to pay extra and to have breakfast at the hotel rather than to look for a place to eat early in the morning.

My plan for the following day was to make myself familiar with Seoul and to visit a couple of palaces. The President was so conveniently located that I could walk to all royal palaces, Seoul Tower, the market and other attractions. Also on my bucket list, there was a trip to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Before retiring for the day, I did a quick search online for a DMZ tour, found plenty of companies that offered them, read reviews and easily booked a tour with a pickup from the hotel.

Downtown with Seoul Tower in the background
Downtown with Seoul Tower in the background

Seoul

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