Around the World 2014: A Week in Seoul

We spent eight busy days in Seoul, a vibrant and clean city. I mentioned in a previous post that we had to change our plans because the Papal visit to Korea. Our sightseeing plans that day were derailed due to the 800,000 to one million people clogging the center city attending an open air mass.

The next day we bought bus tickets for a city tour. We were able to score two of the front seats on the upper level of the double-decker and had a great view as we rolled through the capital city for 90 minutes in the light rain. Seoul is a very attractive and clean city that beckons a re-visit in the future.

On Monday (8-18) we traded the Center Mark Hotel for Hotel Sky near the airport. There we met up with Jean ,Ross, and Doug; Dave, the sixth rider in our group flew to Korea two weeks before we did and was out touring the country on his bike.

Tuesday was a pivotal day on this adventure: the retrieval of the bikes from Koran customs. Wendy Choi, our agent in Seoul, met us at the airport at 1000 and walked us through customs and helped us board the airport shuttle bus to get to the proper freight terminals (the bikes shipped from Vancouver were in a different location than the ones shipped from Germany). It took about three hours for us to restore the bikes to operating condition (remove the shrink wrap and unload from the metal pallet, connect the battery, mount the winshield and mirrors, and air up the tires) and reassemble the group prior to filling the bikes with gas and riding to the hotel. All of the bikes arrived without damage putting us one step closer to the real beginning of the ride across Russia.

The next day we moved the bikes from the airport area to the Center Mark downtown Seoul. Motorcycles are not allowed on toll roads or the equivalent of the interstate highways in the USA. The Incheon Airport (ICN) is located on an island so we had planned to take the short ferry ride to the mainland. We made a wrong turn and ended up on the toll road off the island which resulted in being directed to pullover to the side of the road at the toll booth. After about 20 minutes a Korwan Highway Patrol car with lights flashing showed up and we were wondering what our fate would be. The officer in charge spoke good English, lectured us nicely how dangerous the toll road was for motorcycles and sent us on our way without even having to pay the toll! Two hours later we arrived at the hotel soaking wet from perspiration from the 80° temps and humidity to match. The hotel had two underground parking levels which were reached by vehicle elevators on the backside of the hotel.

Thursday was a good day to have set aside as a rest day as there were off and on heavy rain throughout most ofvthe morning. We spent the day reorganizing luggage and paperwork and tweaking a few things on the bikes.

Friday morning a shuttle picked us up at 0645 for the beginning of our day long tour to the DMZ. We reached the US military base after about a 90 minute bus ride and picked up our guide (a 2013 graduate of West High from Green Bay!). In one of the buildings where talks between North and South Koea have taken place we crossed into North Korea! The idea of the DMZ being a barren wasteland between the two countries was soon quashed as we saw that the no man's land is heavy wooded and green with vegetation. It was a very interesting outing.

On Saturday, August 23rd, we finally got to do some motorcycling as we rode across the peninsula from a Seoul to the port citybof Donghae. It took about three hours in the heat and humidity to finally free ourselves of Seoul and it's environs. The roads were excellent, especially the last bit of twisties over the coastal range.

Here are few photos from our time in Seoul: