9 August 2023, Oriens Hotel, Seoul

Spent last night at the Great Western Premier Hotel at Incheon Airport. It is better to stay locally, rather than trying to find a hotel in the dark after a long, tiring flight. Our timing was near perfect. Clearing Immigration and Customs took less than 20 minutes as we only had Carry-On luggage.

After a good night’s sleep and a short shuttle back to the airport, we made a quick visit to the KT Communications counter to collect our pocket WiFi. At around $50AUD for 20 days, with blistering speed, it will be an indispensable tool for our travels. We also purchased a couple of T-Money cards last night from the convenience store at the hotel. The T-Money card is an IC stored value card that is used in subways, buses and even convenience stores across the country.

Loaded up with the necessities for independent travellers, we bought tickets for the ARex Express train to the city from an easy-to-use ticket machine. The ARex is the fastest option to get into Seoul and, at about $10AUD each for the 50 minute journey, it is well worth the difference in price over the “All Stops” train which is about half the price.

Our room in our city hotel wasn’t ready, so we dropped our bags and took the subway to the National Museum of Korea. Seoul’s subway is extremely efficient and well-signed. We were amazed at how uncrowded the subway was. Even on our return trip home, after 4:00pm, there were plenty of seats.

The National Museum of Korea is a huge, well-designed building, with English signage to explain the  theme of the rooms, as well as individual displays. European as well as Asian history was included. The Korean War Memorial was a short subway trip away. It is well worth a visit. From an Australian perspective, the museum recognises the role of the U.N nations, including Australia, in the conflict. There was also a great outdoor section with a large range of military equipment used in the conflict. Including a B52 bomber! 

10 August, Seoul

A very miserable day weather wise today as Typhoon Khunan approaches South Korea. The storm is expected to arrive near Seoul sometime late tonight or early tomorrow. Heavy rain rather than destructive winds seem to be the biggest issue further south around Busan where the typhoon crossed the coast this morning. We have had constant drenching rain and some gusty blows that have threatened to turn our umbrellas inside out.

Most of today’s activities were outdoors, so we spent the day in wet sandals and damp shorts, but we pressed on regardless! Our subway trip was fairly simple to manage as our local station is a transfer station for the two lines we needed today. Two palaces, Changdeokgung and Gyeongbukgung, the National Folk Museum and the Bukchon Hanok Village were on our list. Even on such a miserable day, the palaces were spectacular, well preserved/restored and extensive. Both palaces have had a difficult past. Palace coups over the years and a Japanese invasion all but destroyed both in 1592. They were progressively rebuilt by 1602. 

The Hanok Village was well preserved with narrow curving alleyways. The village area has avoided the temptation to become rows of T-shirt shops, a transition that has ruined some similar areas we have seen elsewhere.  

We were disappointed to find that part of the Folk Museum was closed for renovation. If the bits we missed were as good as the displays we saw, we missed a lot. Fishing has been an historically important industry for the Korean peninsula, as nowhere is too far from the sea.

Tomorrow we have a trip to the DMZ booked and we have just had it confirmed despite the pending typhoon.