June 26 - 28 On our way to Chiang Mai via Seoul, Korea

Korean Air was our chosen airline because it flies from Seoul directly into Chaing Mai and it allowed for two 50lb bags each. We spent our last day and night in the USA down at our storage unit getting our luggage organized. This meant that the next day, our travel day Sunday, we had a 1 hour drive to the airport, a 14 hour flight during daylight and then a 1 hour bus ride to our hotel. Oh, I forgot to mention the 13 hour time change, and thus the loss of a day as we crossed the International Date Line.

The next day, Tuesday, we dragged ourselves out of the hotel a little after 10am. If you look in the book "1000 Places To See Before You Die" you will note there is nothing mentioned for Korea. In searching online for what to do in Seoul, shopping was the major activity cited. So we saved a few backpacking items to be purchased here. We went to Namdaemun Market and while it had everything you could imagine and many stores, the prices were similar to our favorite REI in the US for the equipment we wanted. We decided not to make our purchases here but support the Thai economy instead by buying there.  Restaurant prices here are also more than in the USA.  We have found the people on the street very helpful and kind in writing down our requested destination in Korean so that we could show the information to a taxi driver.

Gaeseong Dumplings being made

We went to the Insadong area which is a lovely old area of town that is mainly handicrafts and art galleries.  We talked with an information guide and asked for a restaurant for lunch.  He advised us to have lunch at Tteokguk which specialized in Gaeseong dumplings.  We walked into the place and we were the only non-Asians in there.  The waitress pointed to what we should have and we nodded--- everything was delicious and excellent value ($20 for the two of us).

The other thing the guide had suggested we do is go to a tea house which was in a little garden off another alley.  It again was a delightful old tea house with people sitting on mats around low tables.  We picked to sit on low stools and Leslie chose a Chrysanthemum tea and David had a green tea.  The tea leaves/dried flowers were in your cup and you had a thermos of hot water to use to make your tea. ($12).

Loose tea leaves and rice cookies

We enjoyed walking around this area of town.  We had again some help to get a taxi and get ourselves back to the IPBoutique Hotel.  After a rest we walked down to an "antiques street" but as it was mainly imported European antiques we decided to look for a place for dinner.  We left it a little too late as we didn't have much energy so we ended up eating at the hotel's buffet ($100 for 2).