seoul

i’m back on the road and finally out of china!! the day before yesterday was a tough one... i’d been watching the typhoon develop over the last few days and it finally made landfall south of qingdao. the rain started a couple of days ago and the next morning, it was really lashing down. i was up early to phone the ferry company and see if the ferry had even sailed from incheon to china. i was nervous... my visa for china was only valid up to the day after, so i really had to get out of the country. nobody had a clue as to where the ferry was.

dorothy came to the hostel and we ran over the options: i) take a flight – however, maybe the flights could be cancelled too, even though qingdao airport website was reporting flights were taking off after being delayed for a time; ii) wait for the ferry – however, not sure where the ferry was or even if it did get into qingdao, it wasn’t sure if it would leave again; iii) go to the police and extend the visa – dorothy had phoned them up and asked about the procedure - problem was they needed to see a lot of money in the bank account which i didn’t have. and probably no special dispensation just ‘cos a typhoon may have made me overstay my visa. and the whole idea of dealing with chinese bureaucrats just made me sick. still, it would be worse if i overstayed.

so i was getting more and more nervous and with no hard information from the ferry company, it was getting difficult to make a decision. it was spoiling to say goodbyes to everyone at the hostel, so i just tried to relax, reminding myself not to worry about things which i cannot directly control.

dorothy phoned the ferry company again and found out that the ferry was outside qingdao but couldn’t dock because the swell was too high. wow, at least it had left korea. i phoned max with a view to get some information about getting a visa extension from his contacts in laizhou. he said he could talk to his boss, but said that i should plead my case with the police office in qingdao. dorothy also said the same before she left to go home.

after waiting a hour or so, i said goodbye to wendy and luke and grabbing my pack, headed off to the ferry port. it was around 1 in the afternoon. i met a chinese guy there waiting outside and got talking with him. his english wasn’t good but i found out that they would start letting us through at around 5pm. so good news, at least there was a good chance that the ferry would sail tonight.

‘dragon’ was a guide, he was part of a group touring with a large group of kids. he took me to get my ticket changed for a boarding pass, and it was there that i met nathan, an english lad travelling from the uk to japan by bicycle. i had seen him before at the hostel a couple of weeks ago, and he had been couchsurfing since. we waited together and were amongst the last to get through chinese immigration as he let the crowds get pass before pushing his bike and gear through. a shuttle bus took us to the ferry and we were both overjoyed to get on that boat and out of china.

he also had stories to tell about visa extensions and chinese bureaucrats and it was not a happy tale, and i was extremely lucky not to have fallen foul of them too. the ferry finally left around 8pm, a few hours later than planned. better late than never! we went on deck and the winds and the sea were not as bad as i had expected;  there was a little rolling but the crossing was going to be a pleasant one.

after a nice korean buffet dinner, and watching the olympics on the widescreen tv in the lobby, i went to my bunk bed in the 70-person dormitory. i slept long and deep, and the sounds of kids aroused me from my slumber in the morning and made me remember the dream i was having.... of meeting old friends in europe. there was a sauna on board the ship and i was lucky to have it all to myself.... although as far as saunas on board a moving ship, nothing can beat the one on the hurtigruten ship from tromso to bodo in norway which even had a porthole to see the stars in the night. ( i remember also the sauna i took on the ‘estelle’, a boat moored at turku in finland, which was also a great experience... it also had a skylight to watch the stars!)

after a buffet breakfast, i stayed out on the deck and watched the sea and islands approaching the korean peninsula. it was a gloriously sunny day, and the seagulls were going apeshit as the young chinese kids threw them bread and biscuits. a shuttle bus took us to korean immigration and it was an absolutely stress-free process to get through. the girl at the desk took digital fingerprints of the index fingers and a digital photograph, asked why i was coming to korea and how long i would be staying and stamped my passport. customs asked if i had any of the foodstuffs shown as photographs on a poster. no food, i told him, and he waved me through. a final x-ray of my pack and i was through to a hot and muggy korea.

nathan and i parted company there, and after getting the girl at the information desk to get me hooked on the wifi and net, i looked to see if i had any messages from potential couchsurfing hosts. bad luck! ok, plan b: base camp hostel. i walked from incheon ferry port to the metro station. it was only a 20 minute walk but i was absolutely drenched in sweat. i took out my towel at the station and dried myself. it was crazy hot and humid! fortunately, the metro ride was air-con and about an hour to downtown seoul so i could cool off a bit.

base camp hostel is fairly basic and not so cheap. the beds are like ‘capsules’... imagine a 5 by 2 ikea wall unit, one human length deep. the hostel is in hapjeong, close to the hongik university area and the happening night scene there. i took a walk around there last night and chanced by a korean djembe drum circle – 2 minutes later, two cops came and told them to stop! isn’t that just so typical! with the complimentary ear-plugs, i slept long and deep. sunday today, and the couchsurfing site is down. start thinking of another plan b!