South Korea Day 3: So the Plan Was ...

If you’ve read this blog before, you know a post that starts with “So the plan was …” is going to lead somewhere quite different from the plan.

Here we are.

The grand plan for today was …

Step 1: Depart our hotel in Seoul.

Step 2: Head to Incheon Airport.

Step 3: Pick up rental car.

Step 4: Drive to Busan and explore the south coast of South Korea.

I learned yesterday that this plan would fail at step 3.

See, I made a little boo-boo when packing. I forgot to pack my International Driving Permit, which I had obtained (turns out, unnecessarily) for my trip to Australia earlier this year.

In South Korea, however, an IDP is essential for foreign drivers. My wife kindly found my IDP, which I cleverly had left at home, and sent photos of it to me. Yesterday I asked the rental car company if they could accept that.

Turns out that in South Korea, there is no acceptable substitute for the real paper document that is an Internationl Drivers Permit.

Also … there was no alternative means of transportation to Busan. Flights: sold out. Trains: sold out, despite there being a train every 30 minutes around the clock.

So … Busan was simply not going to happen.

Also, have I mentioned that it’s crazy cold in Seoul?

I know. I was warned. They have real winters in South Korea, but it’s been cold even by their standards. The former Minnesotan in me is reticent to admit this, but … I’ve been craving some warmth.

We want to (and still plan to) enjoy the New Years’ celebration in Seoul, but I wasn’t keen on staying in the city for the remainder of this trip. So, when looking for alternative plans,, I asked: Where could we get to with a direct flight from Incheon airport?

Answer in a moment, but first … a bit of retail therapy occurred this morning near our hotel for the first two nights.

Myeongdong Shopping Area, Seoul, South Korea

Myeongdong Shopping Area, Seoul, South Korea

When seeking a substitute venue for these next few days, the selection criteria were:

• Where is it warmer than in Seoul?
• Where have I not been to before?
• And can we get there by a relatively inexpensive and short direct flight?

And that is how it came to be that today’s journey ends in Guam, which has been a long-standing curiousity of mine.

Guam is not easy to reach from the US mainland. There are no direct flights, and most of the connections that exist route through far-flung major airports in southeast Asia. Turns out Seoul/Incheon is one of those connecting points.

I’ve contemplated that trip a time or two, but it always seemed like a crazy long trip for an island I’d probably only want to spend a couple of days visiting.

But, hey, since we’re already “in the neighborhood” and we have a couple of days to spare …

This post comes to you from our beachfront hotel in Guam. It’s so much warmer here.

I’m excited to explore Guam for a couple of days. We’ll head back to Seoul for New Year’s as previously planned, and then home.

Today’s flight was not at all full, which meant that – despite booking at the last minute (yesterday!) – it was easy to get a window seat. Here are some of the views along the way:

Incheon International Airport, Incheon, South Korea

above Incheon, South Korea

above the Pacific Ocean, south of Japan

above the Pacific Ocean, northwest of the Northern Mariana Islands