Although my tour does not begin until April 21 I prefer to arrive a day early to allow my aging body to acclimatize to the new time zone. By leaving on the 19th I actually arrive in Seoul late in the afternoon of the 20th- date line comes into play here. The flight time from Seattle to Seoul is a bit over 12 hours and I selected a flight that leaves in the late morning so I could leave our home earlier that morning rather than spending the night in Seattle. Korean Airlines is the obvious major airline that flies from here to there, but it is in partnership with Delta who actually does the flight I am on. I am trying something new on this trip. Normally when we fly internationally we fly business class so Yvonne has the maximum amount of space and sleep potential. Since I am flying alone and the flight is mostly a day time flight I decided to try their “premium economy” sector, saving a ton of money over what they wanted for business class seats. I will have to let you know if that is/is not a good decision! Coming home after the tour I chose to fly business class on Asiana, since it is an overnight flight and I favor foreign airline over US based airlines as their services are usually better.

Geography & history lesson for the day:  South Korea is officially called the Republic of Korea (ROK). It has a population of 51.75 million people, of which about half reside in/around Seoul, which is the 4th most populated metropolitan area in the world! Its land area is about the same as that as Portugal. It is surrounded on three sides by water and its northern border is with North Korea. I was surprised to learn there are 3400 islands considered to be part of South Korea.

Written history shows occupation back in the 7th century (BCE- before common era- which is the politically correct designation for what we used to refer to as BC, before Christ). After a succession for several kingdoms that each lasted centuries, the Kingdom of Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910, which lasted until the end of WWII. After the war  Korea was divided into a southern sector overseen by the US while the northern sector was under the control of Russia. Sound familiar?

Northern Korea invaded the south in 1950, resulting in the Korean War which lasted until 1953. Since that time South Korea has grown dramatically and has become a global manufacturing & financial global force with the likes of Samsung, Hyundai, LG Electronics and many large financial institutions.

End of lesson for the day.

My flight left on time. Originally slated for 12 hours we were told it would be a bit over 10 hours today. Shortcut or tail winds? The flight was completely filled which surprised me as this is not the peak travel time to Korea.

The “Premium Select” seats and service was a bit of a disappointment. Yes, the seats were wider and reclined a bit more but the supposed foot rest could not really be extended enough to offer any benefit. Also the meal service was what one typically expects to get in coach, again a bit of a disappointment. However, I saved over $800 on the fare by downgrading from business class so I am not complaining.

We did arrive over an hour early in Seoul. The Seoul airport is visually impressive,  as was being cleared by immigration and customs. Luggage delivery was also fast and I was free to go within 20 minutes of leaving the plane. I had to wait for the Suntransfer car I had booked to take me to the hotel. At least I was able to use the local ATM while waiting.

My initial impressions of Seoul are it is huge, it is modern and it is clean! There were blooming azaleas along the highway and even in the downtown area. Major streets downtown were often 4 lanes in each direction! Drivers seemed courteous as I never heard a horn blown in anger. I did not see trash or graffiti. There are pieces of art located on many street corners, adding the the visual beauty of the city. There are coffee shops everywhere, often right next to each other. My driver said Koreans are coffee, not tea drinkers.  After being in China and other Asian countries this is not what I expected.

Tomorrow morning I am doing a walking food tour before meeting with our tour group in the evening.