I got up and had my shower and then went down and ate some toast and jam before the toaster got busy. I used the computer a bit and then went back upstairs and packed up. I still had a tin of beans, a packet of noodles and a tin of fish for later and I left it in my suitcase. I sewed up my shorts and then used the computer and a tall girl made the breakfast so I had my 2 eggs and then left soon after. I went to the nearby store where I bought cucumbers and some flat fish cake and walked past Hongik station with not much to see for a while until I got to a Ginseng place which was marked as a museum on the map. I tried to ask if this was a museum but the bouncer on the door didn't understand and maybe thought I wanted the toilet. A lady turned up who spoke English and was probably called by the bouncer and she said it was ok to look around but not to take photos and she showed me where the gift shop. I had a look around and there was only a small museum type section with some ginseng plants growing that reminded me of Pans labyrinth and Harry potter. I left and walked to another museum for Natural history but it cost cost 2,000 so I went and found a hill path upwards which soon became a wooden board walk through the forest. I took some steps up to a pavilion and then carried on to the top and along to a view point which was good but a whole group turned up and spoiled it pretty quickly. I headed down and went to a temple near the bottom which was quite good so I had a look around there. I left and went to the road and missed some other viewpoint which was on my map but I'd done a viewpoint and variety is good. I walked along road which went through a tunnel with glass panes separating pedestrians from the traffic and the road took me to the independence arch. It was in Independence park so I wandered around and had a look at a memorial building there and went to a prison museum but it was 3,000 entry. I headed back to the road and had a bit of a walk to the next bookmark which was an altar and that turned out to be closed to the public as it was fenced in. I carried on East and then north and had a look at a museum which turned out to be an art gallery which looked unusual and was 6k entry so I wasn't interested. I headed North more to a museum which was free and had a section on 100 places to go in Korea, I should have gone to the museum on day 1 for ideas if I had known. Nothing else in the museum was open unfortunately although I did get my name written in traditional Korean script by someone there. I went across to a park with a stone monument and not much else and then tried to go to the Blue palace but was not allowed to cross in one direction so I had to cross more roads to get there and had a look at the Blue house where president is from a distance and took some photos. I went back south to see Geonjeonmun - the big palace and I came to the palace museum and went to have a quick look before going to the palace itself. There was a notice saying that the palace was closed on Tuesdays, so I couldn't go inside as it was a Tuesday, so instead I went round palace museum which was free. It was mainly about the Joseon dynasty as they had moved the capital here and then built the 5 palaces during that period. There was also a bit about the Korean empire when the king had brought in quite a few things from Europe including a British Daimler car for his Queen to drive.
I left and found the subway entrance right outside and then went back to the hostel where I ate the beans and fish which was quite a substantial meal. I used the computer a bit but couldn't get the SD card in the reader to be recognised for data transfer but I had another idea of how I could manage it and instead I updated the blog a bit. I got my things and left the hostel and went to nearby station Hongik and got train towards the airport. I had to change trains as it didn't go all the way, but I arrived on time at the airport and it was raining outside. I went to T'way counter and was told to go along to another queue so I did and was in the Eastar jet queue and hoped it was the right place. They checked me in ok and I went through security as someone had told me it was a long way to the gate, but I made it to my gate area with no problem and looked for somewhere to spend my 2,450 change I didn't want. I found some hot water and filled up my pot noodle and ate it and after some research the Dunkin donuts looked best so I got a donut and small coconut balls to eat. I didn't have much time to charge my electrical things and I got onto the plane and as it was dark outside I sat on the wing 1 row behind where I was supposed to be with 3 seats to myself. It does seem like I always get seats around the wings. Then a mother and daughter came on board late and sat next to me and we took off and went above the clouds where there was a glow of sunset so it would have been nice to sit in front where I could see after all. It was quite a long flight, around 5 hours from 7.30pm to 12.30am but we gained an hour so it was 11.30 there and we landed on time maybe a bit early, but I found passport queue was really long with no barriers to organise people. I finally made it through and went to pick up my bag and from the baggage list it seemed there was at least one other flight from Korea landing around the same time. I left the airport and started walking, then realised I should have got money out and maybe check if there were busses as well. It was quite a walk with no pavement but the road had 2 or 3 lanes and was fairly quiet and then a car stopped and 2 guys offered me a lift which was very nice of them so I accepted and they drove all the way to where I wanted to go but they couldn't see the place so drove around a bit looking for it. After a bit they dropped me off and I found the Mari Jari spa stay where I had booked. The guy there showed me bed, and it was like being in Japan a mattress on the floor and curtains and there was some background music like chimes but I soon fell asleep.
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