I am en route to Seoul for a conference and will have Monday as free time and don't leave Tuesday until about 1600 from ICN. I was planning to read the book that I borrowed on the plane (yay - upgraded to J!), but left it at home
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I would love any suggestions on what to do on my first visit to Korea. I will be staying at the Grand Hilton (Hilton Grand?)
I will be doing a tour organized by the conference on Sunday afternoon to Gyeongbokgung Palace, National Folk museum and Insadong.
I would love the chance for a nice run somewhere, but given my jetlag and very tight schedule (I teach a few hours after I get back to Canada), I don't want to do anything more than a couple of hours. I love walking around neighbourhoods and local markets and trying to get a feel for a place rather than seeing sites per se.
I must eat great food on this trip! We have a dinner scheduled on Saturday at Korea House which is supposed to be very nice, but given the time change I may well sleep through it
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Finally a (potentially) strange question... Are the food and water 'safe'? When I booked the trip I just assume that they would be. The guide that I bought did talk about being careful with tap water and street food, though. Can I drink water out of the tap? Eat at random greasy spoons in back alleys? I've travelled a fair bit and would have put South Korea in the same category (safety wise) as the US or Europe, but is it closer to India or Pakistan (where I've never gotten sick except en route from FRA)?
Boarding call!
Dr. PITUK