Last day in Korea and going to Japan

In the morning we checked out, but left our bags at the hotel while we looked around the Chang Deok Gung Palace. It was 15,000 Won each, which was a lot more than we had expected. The Korea guide book said it was about 3,000 Won. Looking at the boards outside the ticket office, we could see that the normal tour price was about 3000 Won, but Thursday was a special self tour day where the price was 15,000 Won.

So first we thought we had picked a bad day to visit there (and since this was our last day in Korea, we wouldn't be able to come back another day). We debated about whether it would be worth the ticket price since we would only have a few hours to look around before we had to go and get our flight. Eventually we decided that we would pay the price and go in.

It turned out that actually Thursday was a good day to visit, as the other days are just guided tours, so you can't hang around and take photos of stuff on other days, but on Thursdays you can hang around taking photos, and go wherever you want (well any of the public parts).

We left the palace about 2.30pm and went back to the hotel to pick up our bags. We went down to the subway, but discovered we didn't have enough Won to buy a ticket to Incheon International Airport - tickets to Incheon are much more expensive than anywhere else it seems. So we stood around wondering what to do for a bit, as the ticket machines don't take credit/debit cards, and the ticket offices are never open.

After a bit, we asked a man, and he spoke English (luckily), and he said to get a ticket as far as Gimpo airport (which is on the route to Incheon Airport from Euljiro Sam ga), and there we could go to the foreign exchange and get some more Won to buy the ticket the rest of the way to Incheon.

So we did that, when we got to Incheon we asked a man by the ticket exit gates where the foreign exchange was so we could buy a ticket to Incheon Airport, and he told us where it was. So we rushed off to the main part of Gimpo Airport, which was quite far away, found the foreign exchange place, and Moccle exchanged a £10 note for some Won. Then we had to rush all the way back to the subway station, but when we got there to buy the tickets to Incheon Airport, we noticed these machines did take credit cards!

So we had wasted a lot of time and effort rushing about Gimpo airport to get some Won, when we could have just paid by credit card instead.

After buying our tickets (which were different to the normal Seoul metro tickets, and had drawings of peoples faces on saying hello in different languages), we got the train to Incheon Airport. When we got to the airport, we had to work out where to go, which I didn't think was as clear as Heathrow was, but clear enough that we did find the right place. We had to wait in a queue for about 45 minutes to check in, and it was now getting close to our flight, so we were hoping that we wouldn't be too late.

We weren't too late, but we must have been about the last ones for our flight to check in as the only seats available were right at the back of the plane in the middle aisle. After checking in, we tried to find where our boarding gate was. There was a sign saying something like 'Gates 1-4' leading into a different area that people were going through, with a queueing system to get into there, and a security guard person. Our gate number was something like 37, so we weren't sure where to go since we couldn't see any signs for other gates.

Looking through into the area sign posted as 'Gates 1-4', I could see a sign in there saying something like 'Gates 25-35', so we decided to go through into the 'Gates 1-4' area. We went through security, which was similar to Heathrow. You have to bag up any liquids, remove any metal items from your pockets, take your laptop out of your bag, and place your jacket and all of the other items in a tray(s), then walk through a metal detector or whatever it is doorway.

However, I didn't have to take my belt or shoes off, unlike Heathrow. Also, I didn't have to get searched or hand-scanned, like I did at Heathrow, though I saw other people having to do this. After that you get your passport checked, then you can go through to the departure lounge.

We found we were in the right place, and went to our gate. When we got there, I opened my travel sickness medicine, which was in a bottle. Moccle said I should just take a swig from the bottle, but I decided to try and take one cap's worth. However, when I tried to drink from the bottle cap, the medicine just spilled out. I found there was a toilet nearby, so I got my bag and went in there to change my t-shirt, however all the cubicles were full.

So I waited for one to become empty (there were 3 cubicles), but I had to wait about 20 minutes until one became free. What on earth people were doing in them, I don't know. After changing my T-shirt, I went back to the gate, and our plane was now boarding. I had intended switching the gps to the Japan map before we left for Japan, but now I didn't have enough time.

The flight left about 7.10pm and took about 1½ hours. We got served a meal on the plane, which was a bonus. When the plane landed, we followed everyone else off the plane. After walking a bit through the airport (which was very quiet, ours was the only flight there), we had to go on a shuttle train, which took us to another part of the airport (which wasn't so quiet).

We had been given customs and an embarkation/disembarkation card (similar to on the way in to Korea), but this time we had filled them out on the plane. We had wait in a queue to go through security, where they take your embarkation/disembarkation form, check your passport, and take your fingerprints and photograph. After that you go through a bit where you hand in your customs form and your passport is checked again.

Then we headed to the baggage reclaim area, and our baggage was actually on the correct carousel. We picked up our baggage, then went out to the main part of the airport, and picked up a few leaflets. There was an information desk that said it offered tickets and hotel bookings, and the lady there spoke English, so Moccle asked her about cheap hotels.

The one she suggested was a bit cheaper than the one in the Japan guide book, but was off the map that she had (and gave us). We bought the train tickets to the station near the hotel (Namba) from her, but didn't book the hotel.

We got the subway to Namba, though the tickets bought from the ticket desk at the airport wouldn't go through the machines, so we had to show them to the security people at the ticket gates to get through. The train took about 45 minutes from the airport to Nambe, and it was waiting for quite a while before it actually set off, so I got the laptop and gps out, and switched the gps map to Japan.

When we got to Namba, we found a map outside the station, but couldn't reconcile it with the gps and the very basic map on the hotel leaflet. Then a bit further outside the station, we found another map, which we could reconcile, asnd gave us an idea of where the hotel was.

So we went to where we thought the hotel should be, and wandered around that area a bit, but couldn't find it. There was another hotel there though, the Toyoko Inn, so we went in there and booked a room for the night. It was about 8,600 Yen, which was probably a bit more expensive than the one in the Japan Guide book. But we were just happy to have found a hotel so we could have a rest. It was a good job we hadn't booked the other hotel through the ticket desk at the airport, since we couldn't find it.

Food
Breakfast: Slice of Strawberry jam toast; cup of fizzy grape drink.
Dinner: Soba Noodles; Rice with pink stuff on it; Bits of pink stuff; Little small onion style things; mushy orange stuff (wasn't actually mushy, but felt mushy when you chewed it); soy sauce; wasabi; Soba noodles sauce stuff; pink and white thing (tasted a bit fishy); something else I can't remember. To drink I had yellow tea.