South Korea - Seoul

After a cozy start to the morning, we have to fight through the rush hour in Shanghai. It actually works quite well, but some sweat outbreaks are pre-programmed when you want to bring 20kg of luggage into a crowded metro. It is necessary to change trains twice to get to the airport and especially to catch the maglev train, which is a MUST for Stef. I can understand it well because the train (called Maglev) reaches speeds of up to 430 km/h! In just a few minutes, we are at Pudong Airport with it.

Exiting China proves to be just as difficult as entering, it takes some nerves. The flight is not exactly smooth (thanks to some Chinese travelers) but okay. We are looking forward to a new country, a new language that we hardly speak, but somehow gives the false hope that it could be easier than Chinese.

After landing, we quickly get our luggage. For the first time in a long time, I am in a public toilet where I have a choice between a toilet bowl and a toilet bowl with bidet and where I could explicitly throw the toilet paper into the bowl instead of the trash. After almost 4 weeks in China, this is almost worth a tear of happiness (I am still European after all...). Almost every person at the airport speaks English, so it's pretty easy to buy a ticket for the airport shuttle to our apartment. So we are very optimistic about Seoul in no time. The airport bus is also luxuriously large - but after more than 1 hour of driving without ventilation, we are almost passing out. After a short rest in the apartment, we go to dinner. However, we first have to get money because cash is still widely used in Korea. Not that easy! After trying 4 different ATMs, we can finally go and enjoy the long-awaited Korean BBQ.

There is pork belly, many restaurants here specialize exclusively in it. If you think of offal, you are mistaken: pork belly consists of parts of the pig's rib cage, which are interlaced with a lot of fat and ribs. Add to that the obligatory small side dishes in Korea (kimchi, kimchi, and similar things like kimchi) - okay, we don't know most of it, but it is delicious.

Seoul makes a very likable impression on us. Of course, as expected, there are plenty of high-rise buildings, but in between, there are many residential areas that almost feel cozy. Restaurants alternate with supermarkets, and in between, there is a car repair shop, a laundromat, or a hair salon. What we didn't realize until today: Seoul is hilly, so the restaurant hunt in the neighborhood goes up and down!