China, Korea and a little bit (of Japan) on the side

[Justinf]

After that it was time to head back to the room and rest and a nap.
I was pretty proud of myself for getting out there today.
Tomorrow I definitely want to do the JT Tower.
Tuesday is a full day tour to the DMZ.

 

[I love to travel]

After that it was time to head back to the room and rest and a nap.
I was pretty proud of myself for getting out there today.
Tomorrow I definitely want to do the JT Tower.
Tuesday is a full day tour to the DMZ.

I had a holiday where I was sick for most of the time and I feel your pain

 

[VPS]

After that it was time to head back to the room and rest and a nap.
I was pretty proud of myself for getting out there today.
Tomorrow I definitely want to do the JT Tower.
Tuesday is a full day tour to the DMZ.

You're amazing that you're still doing things. I think I'd just take to my bed if I was that unwell (or invoke TI and come home)

 

[Justinf]

You're amazing that you're still doing things. I think I'd just take to my bed if I was that unwell (or invoke TI and come home)

Believe me the thought has crossed my mind.

 

[Justinf]

I had a holiday where I was sick for most of the time and I feel your pain

It sucks.
It drains the enjoyment out of everything.

 

[Justinf]

Went to a pharmac_ and got something that isn’t Chinese herbal medicine.

Otherwise I might scout the subway stations and find the guy who can get me into this game.
At least it would be a quick ending to my misery.

 

[Black Duck]

Sorry you are feeling so rough and hope it improves quickly. Naver -and also Kakao maps are really good. Naver is the best for the subway. Papago is an excellent translator app. Way better than Google but I guess you haven't got that much longer in Korea, so probably not worth it for now. A lot of Koreans have at least some English anyway now and they are really helpful people.


.

 

[Justinf]

Sorry you are feeling so rough and hope it improves quickly. Naver -and also Kakao maps are really good. Naver is the best for the subway. Papago is an excellent translator app. Way better than Google but I guess you haven't got that much longer in Korea, so probably not worth it for now. A lot of Koreans have at least some English anyway now and they are really helpful people.


.

I’ve found that a lot of Koreans have some grasp of English.
Kakao hasn’t done it for me at all.

 

[JackMiles]

I’ve found that a lot of Koreans have some grasp of English.
Kakao hasn’t done it for me at all.

Man, sorry to read about how sick you've been. Hope you wake up feeling better today.

 

[Justinf]

Man, sorry to read about how sick you've been. Hope you wake up feeling better today.

I may have turned the corner.
Feeling much better today although it tends to ebb and flow during the course of the day.
Staggered I managed 10,500 steps yesterday.
I’m putting no pressure on myself to to do anything today as I really want to enjoy the DMZ tour tomorrow.

 

[Justinf]

Happy to report that i have definitely gone through the worst of this virus and seem to be on the mend.
Still not 100% by any means, but feeling human again.
It’s quite funny. I got a severe heat warning on my Apple Watch from back home and then a few minutes later got this from Korea.


As far as I can tell, it’s not going to be monstrously cold. It will get down to -12 tonight and tomorrow it’s expected to be around -6.
It’s 12.30pm and I haven’t been outside yet. Not taking any chances.
I’ll rug up a bit later and venture out. Don’t want to stay in bed all day, but relieved to be seemingly on the mend.

 

[Justinf]

Had a couple of naps which I obviously needed.
Finally woke up properly at 1pm and headed out.
Man it was cold.
Wind chill ripped right through me.
I was feeling heaps better although any sort of physical activity sent my respiratory system into overdrive and moving around was tough.
Still, I managed to clock up 12,500 steps.
I took the metro to Seoul station and wandered around a bit and then made the walk to the cable car for the JT Tower.

 

[Justinf]

The views from the small mountain were good but not mind blowing.
What was blowing, however, was that wind.
It was too cold stay up there very long.
So the day tour I was going to do today, but cancelled, took in this sight, plus the two sights I saw yesterday.
So I saved myself some money and did it over two days.

 

[Justinf]

I’m back in the room and am spent.
I’m not sure I can even head out to eat.
It’s 6.45pm so I’ll see how I go in half an hour or so.

 

[Justinf]

I’m really sorry that this trip report has turned out to be so boring.

 

[VPS]

I’m really sorry that this trip report has turned out to be so boring.

It's not boring - you are just not your normal sparky self but it's still interesting. Don't be so hard on yourself. That is what others on the forum are for

 

[Justinf]

And just like that I feel like I am right back to square one.
It’s a sad day when I don’t feel like a beer on holiday and I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday.
I think I’ll just stop mentioning my condition.
Supposed to be -11 at 10am tomorrow when I am getting picked up for the DMZ tour and creeping up to -7.
I probably should have just had a rest day today, but oh well.

 

[bPeteb]

Upon reading reviews, the main thing that concerned me was that a lot of hotels have the climate control set at a certain temperature. They switch off the air-con at the start of winter so it only blows out heat. A lot of reviews said that the room temp was at 27 degrees with no way of turning it down or being able to open a window. Many requested fans from reception. This bothers me. I HATE sleeping in a warm room. In fact I can barely sleep at all. I’ll deal with that when I get to it.
I always like to stay at an Air B&B with a washing machine mid-trip so I can travel with less clothes and do a wash. I scored a ripper right next to Hongik University station for $416 for four nights. This would come in handy.

so glad that each one of our four hotels in Korea had the ability to turn off the heat and open a window

 

[bPeteb]

All up I spent about an hour and a quarter at the Wall itself, which was enough for me.
Cable car back down where Joe was waiting for me.
Nice trip back with some hair raising freeway moments, but made it back in one piece.
Had some good chats with Joe about China and the way it is being run. He talked, I listened. I don’t want to get him into trouble, so I’ll leave it at that.
Back at the hotel at 2pm.
So was $280 worth it? No.
Was it worth it for me? Yes.
Completely hassle free and I got to see the Great Wall.
So how was it?
It was good. Absolutely amazing that they could build something like that at such a scale hundreds and hundreds of years ago with no machinery.
It didn’t take my breath away and that’s OK.
Would I go back? No.
Would I go to another section of the Wall?
Maybe, but unlikely.
I’m super glad I did it, though.

Just looked back at our trip in 2018. We went to Jinshanling. Private driver. David actually walkedsome of it with us and it was USD150 each! Lunch was included but somehow we ended up paying for it. Ah well

 

[bPeteb]

Had a couple of naps which I obviously needed.
Finally woke up properly at 1pm and headed out.
Man it was cold.
Wind chill ripped right through me.
I was feeling heaps better although any sort of physical activity sent my respiratory system into overdrive and moving around was tough.
Still, I managed to clock up 12,500 steps.
I took the metro to Seoul station and wandered around a bit and then made the walk to the cable car for the JT Tower.
View attachment 430144View attachment 430145View attachment 430146View attachment 430147View attachment 430148View attachment 430149

This all seems strangely familiar