No food, no money and due to check out of the Hotel Paradise today. So we crossed the road to the bank which was now open and a friendly staff man pointed us in the direction of the Korean Exchange Bank which was a 25 minute walk. There we found two "Global" ATMs and walked out with 700,000KRW ($560) which may last till we get on the ship. Nearby we found another French Bakery outlet called Tous Les Jours (every day). This was very similar to Paris Baguette so we loaded up a tray with breakfast, morning tea and lunch. Malcolm ordered a Red Bean Flaked Ice which turned out to be a supersize version of the Ice Kachings we enjoyed in Malaysia. Too much temptation here.
On the way back we became acquainted with a sculpture outside an art gallery.
There wer several small shops specialising in fishing nets and gear.
We managed to make a little progress on the internet before leaving the hotel at noon. We had used booking.com to reserve a room for 5 nights at the Mercure Ambassador Hotel. We recognised that Incheon Station was actually a terminus for a Seoul metro line, so we planned a transfer along the line to take us to Gangnam Station, which we hoped was near the hotel. As usual we messed up the plastic ticket procedure, but the trains were quite easy to use; probably the best metro we have used. All stations have a number displayed as well as the name in English and Korean script. Video screens show the stations and a recorded voice announces in both languages. The carriage are clean, quiet and fast. We emerged from the station and wandered back and forth looking for the name of the street on the hotel address without success. We were in the Business Area, surrounded by skyscrapers with no evidence of a hotel. We asked some young men who pointed us along the main street. After walking about a kilometer we came to a taxi rank so gave up and showed the driver our hotel's address. He drove us through traffic for over 10 minutes before we asked him to check the address again. He made two phone calls and realised he was taking us to the wrong Ambassador Hotel. There seems to be at least three in Seoul. When he dropped us off we were only about 200 meters from where he started, so he just charged us $25. The hotel was huge but only 5 months old and in a side street so awkward to find. Check-in was done very efficiently, the room is great and the wifi is excellent. We found that the hotel is right next to the Metro station after the one we used to get off. Happy here.
We managed to make a little progress on the internet before leaving the hotel at noon. We had used booking.com to reserve a room for 5 nights at the Mercure Ambassador Hotel. We recognised that Incheon Station was actually a terminus for a Seoul metro line, so we planned a transfer along the line to take us to Gangnam Station, which we hoped was near the hotel. As usual we messed up the plastic ticket procedure, but the trains were quite easy to use; probably the best metro we have used. All stations have a number displayed as well as the name in English and Korean script. Video screens show the stations and a recorded voice announces in both languages. The carriage are clean, quiet and fast. We emerged from the station and wandered back and forth looking for the name of the street on the hotel address without success. We were in the Business Area, surrounded by skyscrapers with no evidence of a hotel. We asked some young men who pointed us along the main street. After walking about a kilometer we came to a taxi rank so gave up and showed the driver our hotel's address. He drove us through traffic for over 10 minutes before we asked him to check the address again. He made two phone calls and realised he was taking us to the wrong Ambassador Hotel. There seems to be at least three in Seoul. When he dropped us off we were only about 200 meters from where he started, so he just charged us $25. The hotel was huge but only 5 months old and in a side street so awkward to find. Check-in was done very efficiently, the room is great and the wifi is excellent. We found that the hotel is right next to the Metro station after the one we used to get off. Happy here.
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