Back to Korea

Today is a boring travel day as we have to get back to Korea for our flight home on Tuesday. So we get up early, pack our bags and are the first to arrive at the breakfast buffet at 7.00. It’s a decent buffet and everyone has enough options to eat enough to be satisfied for a while. We walk to Taipei station which is just 2 blocks away and get on the airport express metro.

45 minutes later we are at our terminal and get off. We didn’t charge our cards so we could empty all cards and cash before we leave. This does mean that we have to queue to pay at the window when we want to leave the metro station.

There already is a long queue for the check in and they are still getting ready to get started. So we have to wait 15 minutes, unfortunately Zeno finds the waiting so boring that he falls asleep, instead of doing his nap on the plane like we hopef for. But when the check in starts we get rid of our bags quickly. We have priority customs and bagage check because of Zeno. So ten minutes later we are at the gate, ready to spend our last Taiwanese money. We can buy one lunch which we share and get water bottles with the last coins.

We can also skip the line when boarding and are ready to leave Taiwan behind. Sadly we have an half hour delay and have to spend some extra time in the plane, Cleo plays video games and Zeno climbs and eats.

At 15.30 local time we are back in Korea and Incheon airport. We get to skip the enormous immigration line straight away this time, our luggage is already on the conveyor belt and we can leave the airport behind quickly. Stupidly we forget the Deuter while putting everything on a cart, so just as we are ready to leave we have to get back inside and convince the guards to pick up our left bag. After some paperwork we get the Deuter and get an Uber to our apartment. Not sure if it’s the best choice considering the traffic but the apps still claim this is the fastest option and since the busses are in the same traffic jam we enjoy the comfort of our taxi.

At 18.00 we are dropped of near our apartment which is in the heart of the Hanok village and next to the market. It’s a quaint little apartment with two bedrooms, something we have missed in all the hotels lately. We immediately go out on the hunt for food as we haven’t eaten in a while. We only have to walk several metres when we spot a restaurant at the market that sells Korean pancakes and more, we order three different vegetarian pancakes and a noodle soup. Zeno remains a kimchi fan even though it’s really spicy. We finish all the food (while other tables share one pancake together). After dinner we go for an ice cream, they advertise their cheese flavor, but we stick to more traditional blueberry and strawberry ice creams. We get some Korean cookies from the salesman as we eat the ice cream on his terrace.

We continue our exploration of the neighbourhood by walking to the next door Gyeongbokgung Palace. It’s closed but we walk to the main entrance gate for some sunset photos of the gate and the mountains. We walk back, Zeno with his stick which he won’t part with. At every bush he’s looking for a stick, he even knows the word already. We always want to throw them away after a few meters as his sweeping quite dangerous and annoying, but he’s so happy with sticks that it’s a though call to make. Also tonight, Zeno swings around violently. We have to take care that he doesn’t hit anyone, all goes well and he runs back home as a happy hooligan.