Arrival

So once we got here we were meet with a non English speaking driver who RUSHED us through the airport. I am talking sprinting. I will be nice to Patricia and won't go into detail on how the ATM confounded her. The ride over was beautiful wish I had taken good photos but a little hard to do when you're being slung around the back of a squeaky van. It was beautiful to see the mountains and rivers. Lots of bridges here. Seoul itself is packed with people everywhere walking, riding bikes. No wonder everyone is skinny it is terrifying to drive. We left the airport I would say around 5pm and got to the hanok about 715pm. It is about 43 miles. So needless to say traffic was insane. I was trying to get a video of it but I guess in my stupor I didn't hit the right button. Around 6pm the sun was going down and by the time we got to our hanock it was pitch black. Which may be a good thing. I don't know how the driver drove down those itty bitty streets. But I use to do the same in Okinawa, guess I just forgot how small the streets are. We didnt get to see much but what we did was fascinating.  The hanok is beautiful. The room is nice and cozy we are sleeping on the floor which are heated. We were both hot so we cranked up the a/c needless to say after the temperature dropped last night we were freezing. So glad for the heated floors now.  Here are a few pics. I do need to go back to sleep. It is 230am here.

The Flight

So flying from Houston to Dallas to Seoul total 15 hours. We left Houston pretty much ran to the next gate in Dallas. Riding the train like packed sardines.  Then we were escorted to our little pods on Korean air. There was so much room I was able to stand up in front of my seat and do some streches. I liked that you could adjust the seat since my feet wouldn't touch the ground. Technically this post should be called what I ate at 3000 feet. So much food and so yummy. I liked the little slippers we were given to wear on the plane. Yes I like the little things. So here is a slew of photos. Or as many as the blog will let me post.

K-day

So today is the day only 2 more hours until the car is here to pick us up. I think I may have slept 3 hours in the past 2 days. I hate the feeling that I forgot something. At least I got my suitcase packed again after opening it. Never ever open a packed suitcase. Okay this is just a small note, wanted to test if I could blog from the phone.  I can!

Break Time

Taking a break from attempting to put this blog together. I have the itinerary up so our guide will know what we are doing, so I am happy with that. But now I am having problems posting pictures UGH!! really. I need a class on this. But I am taking a break at staring at my computer. Only a few more days to figure this blogging crap out.

Itinerary Day Oct 20

OCT 20 This will be our last day. We will be heading back to the airport. I hope that by the time we reach this point we will have experienced what Korea is. I want to ride the subway, the train, to smell all the exotic scents. I want to see the colors of fall the native trees and plants. I want to touch their sandy shores so when I stand on ours I can look back at the wonderful times I will have had in Korea.

Itinerary Day Oct 19

OCT 19 Free day!

Itinerary Day Oct 18

OCT 18 another FREE day

Itinerary Day Oct 17

OCT 17 another Free day. 

Itinerary Day Oct 16

Oct 16 DMZ Tour, Imjingak Park, 3rd Infiltration Tunnel, Dora Observatory, and Dorasan Station. Hangang River Cruise.

Itinerary Day Oct 15

OCT 15 Korean Bath House (Jjimjil Bang) 

Itinerary Day Oct 14

OCT 14 Gatbawi Rocks.  Mokpo Harbor. Mokpo Natural History Museum

Itinerary Day Oct 13

OCT 13 Jeonju Hanok Village

Itinerary Day Oct 12

OCT 12 Kimchi Making. Changdeokgung Palace including Secret Garden (Huwon). Jongmyo Shrine. Traditional show 'Miso' in Cheongdong Theater.

Itinerary Day Oct 11

OCT 11 Hwaseong Fortress. Icheon Ceramic Village (pottery Making)

Itinerary Day Oct 10

OCT 10 This is pretty much a free day. whoo hoo love to just roam around we will be going from Daegu to Seoul

Itinerary Day Oct 9

OCT 9 Taejongdae Park. Haeinsa Temple.

Itinerary Day Oct 8

OCT 8 Ulgi Seaside Park. Haeundae Beach. Dongbaekseom Island (APEC House). Busan Tower. Jagalchi Fish Market.

Itinerary Day Oct 7

OCT 7 Seokguram Grotto. Bulguksa Temple. King Munmu Underwater Tomb. General Kim Yushins Tomb. Cheeomseongdae. Anapji Pond.

Itinerary Day Oct 6

OCT 6 Hahoe Village. This village is a traditional Joseon dynasty village. It has people who actually live there.

 National Gyeongju Museum
I love to wander around in museums to see how people lived in the past and their contributions. 

 Divine Bell of King Seongdeok. This bell was cast in 771AD!! Just thinking that far back in history is mind boggling.

Cheonmachong Tomb, of the Silla dynasty 57BC-935AD. Each hill is a tomb. So what do you say to the king and queen when visiting?

Itinerary Day Oct 5

OCT 5 The National Museum of Korea. I think we may get lost in this building. What a beautiful view of old and new architect. 

 63 Building Observatory. I hope to see this at sunrise/set to see the building glow. 

 Gwnaghwamun Square King Sejong Memorial. This is the king who created the Hangul alphabet. How is that for an achievement. 

 Cheonggyecheon Stream. This is about a 4 mile river that runs through downtown  Seoul. It has street performers, vendors, food, waterfalls, and fountains. Lots to see and do. Would be nice to have something like this in Houston. Wonder if there will be any festivals while we are there?
                                         

Itinerary Day Oct 4

Oct 4 Officially the first full day in Korea we will be touring a museum, a palace, a temple, taking a cable car, and going down an alley. Sounds like wide variety of sights and sounds. The day will star off meeting our tour guide Mr. Lee or Mr. Shrek (makes me wonder how he got that nickname). First stop will be the  Gyeongokgung Palace This palace has been around since 1395. Can you imagine all the history seeped into the walls? 

Gyeongokgung Palace

The second place we will vist is the  National Folk Museum the museum itself is an awesome looking building. 

National Folk Museum

The third place we will visit will be the Jogyesa Buddhist Temple it has been around since 1910.

 Then off to Insadong and Seoul Tower Namsan, a one way cable car riding. 

 Then onto Myeongdong for the grilled fish alley at Donngdaemun Market. 

We have a full day packed. I hope we get to spend a lot of time at each place. There already seems to be not enough time. What is good we will circle back to Seoul if we want to revisit any places.

WTH am I doing

So my friends keep saying they can't post...so trying different settings. I may just move this blog to an easier site, this one seems to be a bit much for me :)

update: Apparently it works now. So look forward to more of my ramblings.

Itinerary Day Oct 1-3

So I decided to post my itinerary. I will post each day what I will be doing. When I get to Korea I will post how it went and my thoughts on it. This will help my friends know what we are doing and the history of the places. I have several friends who love history, and love to study up, so I think this is more for them then anyone.

Oct 1 will be stuffing and packing 3 weeks of clothes into a suitcase. Most people know I love clothes, but don't really dress up much. I wear pajamas to work everyday!! When I vacation I love to dye my hair different colors and wear stylish clothes. However, doing a lot of walking and moving from one hotel to another I don't want to pack a lot. And the only shoes I am bringing are my walking shoes and maybe one pair of dress. Winter clothes, I think I only own two long sleeve shirts. Okay enough about packing....seriously I could ramble on about what to wear. When did I become such a girl?

Oct 2 Is flying out of Houston to Dallas then onto Seoul!! Nice long flight 15 hours of being in a tin can hurtling threw the sky at ridiculous speeds!! When did I become such a scaredy cat?

Here is a map of Korea

We will be traveling from Incheon-Seoul, Andong, Gyeongju, Ulsan, Busan, Hapchun, Daegu, Seoul, and the DMZ. Mostly we will be in Seoul and it is our home base traveling to other cities. 

Oct 3 We land in Incheon-Seoul. We will meet a local driver who doesn't speak English but will have our name on a sign board. BTW the drivers name is Mr. Shrek. Can I say that I am just fascinated with that. Every place I have been in the world I have had friends, family or an assigned military person who I knew about, meeting me at the airport. Getting off an airplane and looking for your name is one of those quirky things I have always wanted to do. We will be staying  at the Kundaemunjip Guest House. We will have the rest of the day to just get settled in. I am sure Patricia and I will more than likely want to go run the streets and be crazy. Hmmm have I packed enough SD cards for my camera, duct tape, rope...oh wait ignore that last part...

As you can see the first 3 days of my vacation are just getting there. However I found out that if we want to I can take Korean culture classes at the AIRPORT!! How cool is that, I could pull a Tom Hanks in The Terminal type scenario. Incheon Airport has museums, gardens, crafts, culture, and festivals. 

The Hanok guest house is Kundaemunjip Guest House the photos are beautiful, I think I would love to paint  my room like room #103. We will be here for 3 days. If you click on the room/rate button then the rooms themselves. Also the outside view will show you lots of beautiful photos of the Hanok, a traditional Korean home.

Going Dizzy

So I am bouncing around ideas on this vacation of a life time. Do I put up my itinerary? Do I write about each place and why I am going there? Or do I just post as I go along? What if I run out of time and forget to blog, or no Wi-Fi? How many pictures can I post? Do I link to Flicker or Photobucket? How do I even blog and do pictures? Am I required to make this cute? What do I pack it is going to be winter or winter for a Texan? (see attached photo). What if I get there and make some social fuck up? I am excellent at that here in the States. Is there one place that will send out all my information to Twitter, Vine, Instagram, Facebook, and whatever else is out there? I am forgetting the social medias that I am connected to. I think just having this blog and inviting my friends to view it may be the best solution. This vacation is to be relaxing. What if I snore to loud? What if I get bad stomach cramps from the different foods and can't find a bathroom? How do I say "where is the bathroom" in Korean again? OH MY I can't even remember how to say HELLO!!! I introduced a friend into Korean dramas and she fell in love with the culture, this is the big reason we are going. So off we go...What if she doesn't like it? This is like taking a friend to your favorite restaurant and the food sucks that one day. *sigh*  Yes my mind is not stable right now. I must pace and rant around until I can figure out what the heck I got myself into. Or maybe I will just go get a root beer float.....

Under Construction

If you have wandered onto this blog, sorry it is under construction. I will be going to Korea in October and wanted to blog about it. So move on to the next blog and come back here in October to see my friend and I having fun in Korea.