I left from Jeonju train station around 11:30 AM on Wednesday. I had my ticket from the day before, but unfortunately never thought to ask for a window seat going or coming home! It worked out fine, as I was still able to have a great view! The trains run like clockwork here! I wasn't sure where to board the train, so pretty much followed the crowd. I was able to figure out from my ticket the track, car and the seat. And everything went perfectly.
The train seats had much more room than airplanes, were more comfortable, and laid down much further with still a lot of leg room for the person behind me AND had feet risers as well. The trip took about 4 hours which went really fast. Needless to say, the station in Seoul was huge. Again, not sure what to do, but followed the crowds going up several sets of escalators and coming to a turn style that took my ticket and let me walk through into the main station. All I could think of was Thank God I kept my ticket with me. Otherwise, I would have been sunk to get in.
I only had a tote bag and suitcase, so I was set.
There were tons of taxis outside and was at my hotel in less than 20 minutes which was pretty good given the fact that I got there at rush hour. My hotel, The Hamilton, is located right in the middle of the Foreigner part of Seoul, called Itaewon. If you ever wanted a steak or almost any American food, this would be the area. The stores are packed with knock-off items, especially purses and other name brand shoes, clothes, etc. I saw the amazing War Memorial on my way into town. The Korean people are so grateful to the Americans for everything they did for Korea during the Korean War.
It was truly dumb luck that I found my hotel on-line, as I learned later that it is a big place for Foreigners to stay as well as military personnel and business types. With the exception of a few General-looking military people, I saw lots of really young soldiers. Two of them told me that they had just arrived in the country and were still on their leave before heading to their base. I may have said before that there are 16 US military bases here. The two "kids" I spoke to were so young. One was from Texas and he was with a buddy from South Carolina.
Will leave you for now. Thanks for reading and for your emails! Have a great weekend!!
