Wow, the flight this time around really kicked my butt! I'm not sure if it had anything to do with flying the other way around this time, over the Pacific, and crossing the international date line, but somewhere I lost a day, and despite getting some shut eye on the plane, I was loopy with tiredness. My schedule looked something like this:
10/20 - 5:30 PM - take off from Orlando on a 5 hour flight
10/20 - 8 PM - land at LAX and hangout for 4.5 hours
10/21 - 12:21 AM take off from LAX for a 13.5 hour flight over the Pacific
10/22 - 5:20 AM (This is where I lost my day - what happened to Tuesday?) land in S. Korea ICN
10/22 - 5:20AM-7PM Hang out in S. Korea (now in total walking dead zombie mode)
10/22 - 7 PM take off for another 5 hour flight to BKK, which turned into nearly 6 hours
10/22 - 10:30 PM arrive in Bangkok and catch a taxi to my hotel where I passed the F out
So, yeah, now to give you an idea of where I am at, its now Monday, 3 days after my arrival, and I am finally feeling a hint of normal after an erratic 3 days of falling asleep at 1PM, 5PM, 7PM, and waking some time in the middle of the night with no hopes of falling back asleep. So, cool. Things are looking up!
Now for South Korea. I had these high hopes of arriving and spending my 13 hours exploring the city of Seoul, but, like I said, I was half way to madness with tiredness. Needless to say I didn't get very far. If I had tried to venture into the city I am afraid I would have been swallowed whole, never to be seen again. Instead, with a kind of flailing hope that I could make something of the day I participated in lovely, supervised little outing put on by the airlines called Transit Tours. These are 1-5 hour free tours to the surrounding area for passengers with long layover times. Brilliant idea if you ask me. I ended up missing the tour to Seoul, so instead I went on 2 separate tours to the Incheon area - roughly 40 minutes from the airport.
These tours visited a couple of temples in the hills surrounding the city, and a Korean War Memorial Museum. Not super exciting, but it was quite beautiful, and a nice 3.5 hour escape from the airport. I have to pass through again on my way back home, so I will be sure to drag my butt to Seoul then. By the time I got back to the airport I still had about 6 hours until my flight. I checked back through security with a raging determination to stay awake so that I would sleep on my flight. Bahahha.....snooozzzzzze.... Yep, that is about how it happened. I found a quiet waiting area where for at least 3 hours I experienced the most restless sleep of my life. I woke more tired then when I had started. I was happy to board my flight a half hour late and get on my way. On the flight I met an interesting guy from San Diego! My favorite place I've never been. He had a lot of great things to say about it, so it only further fueled my desire to visit. It ended up that we had a lot to talk about, as he was at the beginning of trip similar to what I did last year. When we got into Bangkok we even shared a taxi to my hotel. Unfortunately, to both of our surprises, my hotel ended up being off the beaten track, in a local area with no other hostels around. I think we were able to get him on track to the right area though. So I sign off now, with well wishes and a good luck to my new friend!
Enjoy some pictures from my transit tour in South Korea and Incheon.
10/20 - 5:30 PM - take off from Orlando on a 5 hour flight
10/20 - 8 PM - land at LAX and hangout for 4.5 hours
10/21 - 12:21 AM take off from LAX for a 13.5 hour flight over the Pacific
10/22 - 5:20 AM (This is where I lost my day - what happened to Tuesday?) land in S. Korea ICN
10/22 - 5:20AM-7PM Hang out in S. Korea (now in total walking dead zombie mode)
10/22 - 7 PM take off for another 5 hour flight to BKK, which turned into nearly 6 hours
10/22 - 10:30 PM arrive in Bangkok and catch a taxi to my hotel where I passed the F out
So, yeah, now to give you an idea of where I am at, its now Monday, 3 days after my arrival, and I am finally feeling a hint of normal after an erratic 3 days of falling asleep at 1PM, 5PM, 7PM, and waking some time in the middle of the night with no hopes of falling back asleep. So, cool. Things are looking up!
Now for South Korea. I had these high hopes of arriving and spending my 13 hours exploring the city of Seoul, but, like I said, I was half way to madness with tiredness. Needless to say I didn't get very far. If I had tried to venture into the city I am afraid I would have been swallowed whole, never to be seen again. Instead, with a kind of flailing hope that I could make something of the day I participated in lovely, supervised little outing put on by the airlines called Transit Tours. These are 1-5 hour free tours to the surrounding area for passengers with long layover times. Brilliant idea if you ask me. I ended up missing the tour to Seoul, so instead I went on 2 separate tours to the Incheon area - roughly 40 minutes from the airport.
These tours visited a couple of temples in the hills surrounding the city, and a Korean War Memorial Museum. Not super exciting, but it was quite beautiful, and a nice 3.5 hour escape from the airport. I have to pass through again on my way back home, so I will be sure to drag my butt to Seoul then. By the time I got back to the airport I still had about 6 hours until my flight. I checked back through security with a raging determination to stay awake so that I would sleep on my flight. Bahahha.....snooozzzzzze.... Yep, that is about how it happened. I found a quiet waiting area where for at least 3 hours I experienced the most restless sleep of my life. I woke more tired then when I had started. I was happy to board my flight a half hour late and get on my way. On the flight I met an interesting guy from San Diego! My favorite place I've never been. He had a lot of great things to say about it, so it only further fueled my desire to visit. It ended up that we had a lot to talk about, as he was at the beginning of trip similar to what I did last year. When we got into Bangkok we even shared a taxi to my hotel. Unfortunately, to both of our surprises, my hotel ended up being off the beaten track, in a local area with no other hostels around. I think we were able to get him on track to the right area though. So I sign off now, with well wishes and a good luck to my new friend!
Enjoy some pictures from my transit tour in South Korea and Incheon.
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