Arrived in Incheon pretty late after a series of delays and disasters. Didn't arrive until just before 10 p.m., then got to my motel (the Grand! W50,000 a night, which is a bit on the steep side, but not shockingly so).
I belatedly rediscovered something I had forgotten: the buckle of the leather belt in my Gregory backpack's belt harness (I'm too fat to use the backpack's own native belt harness) is broken. I'd forgotten all about that. Basically, the backpack is currently unusable, which is a shame because I'd packed it full, drinks and all, and weighed it: 12 kg, which is light—about the weight of an infant that's a few months old. Having relearned that I couldn't use the Gregory, I switched to a smaller pack and filled it with half of my stuff, leaving out the camping gear. The result was a 6-kilo pack, which I suppose was better than nothing. So that's what I'm using for this trip, carrying only the necessities.
Another delay happened because I realized I had a few housecleaning chores to take care of. While my apartment never gets roaches and rarely gets mosquitoes, it does get fruit flies, so I had to do all my dishes, rinse out the drain trap, and make sure there was no exposed food waste to attract any pests.
I also had left my portable cell-phone charger at the office, so I had to stop by there to pick the charger up. Now, some motels come equipped with things like WiFi and charger cables, but some don't, so it's always good to be prepared. Hence the need for my charger.
As a result of all these delays, I left for Incheon more than an hour later than I'd wanted to. The subway ride included two transfers, and the final two segments of the ride west were crowded, presumably with holiday people going to Incheon to see family. Upon arrival at Geomam Station, I had a nearly 3K uphill walk to the nearest motel. Every time I've come here, I've stayed at a different motel. I don't know why. They're all generically good; I find them to be a good way to start the Four Rivers journey.
I'll be waking up at 4:15 a.m. and out the door by 4:45. I'm not getting much sleep tonight as I switch to morning-person mode, but I'll do what I usually do in such cases: find a quiet, shady place to take a few naps along the way.
Here are a few random pics taken tonight:
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| A clever bit of graphic design: letters forming a cow's face. |
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| The French says, "A house of rarity." |
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| a Grand Hotel sign... and my pants |
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| bed, backpack, window |
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| humble fridge |
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| At least Gwenyth Paltrow's head isn't in there. |
Righto—more later! Time to sleep a little.
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