Day 21 Mongolia / Day 1 South Korea

Day 21 Mongolia / Day 1 Korea
16 August (updated - previously said 15 August)

Easy start to the day.  Get up, shower, pack, breakfast and then get ripped off by a taxi driver taking to the airport.

Seriously.  Was supposed to be a fixed price of MNT25,000 but the driver would not take a fixed fare and insisted on the meter.  I can understand why.  He got nearly 3 times the cash for the ride ... MNT65,000.

When we told everyone going later as a warning JoJo rang the taxi company and ripped them a new one apparently.  Those still in UB got a free lunch on the refund.  We were still out of pocket though.

My first time seeing the UB airport since I came in via the train. TINY.  Kind of reminds me of the Canberra airport.  4 gates total.

There was supposed to be some sort of exit fee we had to pay ($12 US) but nobody had to do that so no idea where that thought came from.

The whole airport process was pretty simple.  Mongolian security guys were very confused by the portable battery pack in my bag.  Made me unpack my back and show it to them.  Maybe they haven't reached Mongolia yet?

Oddly all gates had to pass through the same door to board the plane.  So you have everyone for all gates sitting in the same waiting room til the planes are ready for boarding then they open the doors and you have to try to figure out which queue is yours.  Which is stupid because it's the same staff checking your boarding pass anyway.  Whatever.

Got on the plane and had a great exit row seat with heaps of legroom.  I got through 90% of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (GRR!) because the exit row seat can't have the TV thing up for takeoff or landing.  Very annoying.

Good flight with some turbulence.  Korean airways is a good airline.  Attractive cabin staff, good food, pleasant colour scheme.  Silke and I were on the same plane.  She was 1 row behind me.  Was nice to keep the tour going for just a little bit longer with a familiar face.

SOUTH KOREA!

Arrived in South Korea pretty well on time.  Incheon is a pretty nice airport.  Clean, orderly, well signed and very modern.  Customs and whatnot was quick and painless.  I managed to get myself a SIM card (unlimited data and 4g everywhere!) and a transport card for the time I'm here before leaving the airport.  MUCH NICER THAN BEIJING AT 3 AM.

I got the train from the airport to downtown Seoul, checked into my hostel and had a quick shower.

Hostel is nice.  More a hotel than a hostel really as it's all private rooms.  Apparently the same people run a standard hostel down the road and this is their private room one.  Only downside is that it' sat the top of a god damn hill.  Mental note: look at topographical maps next time.

Went out for a wander and some dinner.  Totally by accident I ran into a craft beer joint so I stopped in there and had a drink and some food.  No idea what it was called but the beer was OK and the spicy snails with noodle I had was good.

I'm glad to be back in a city and I'm glad to have a private room with a bathroom for a few days.