Rainbow's Rest

10 August, 2022

Seoul to Ulaanbaatar - Fly over China

Flying from Incheon Korea, to Ulaanbaatar Mongolia is 3 hours 40minutes.

We flew over Beijing, China.

Flew over one of the huge dams

I don't know if this wasteland was in China or Mongolia.

No trees in Mongolia, only 11% is forested.

The Mongolian pasture land goes on to the horizon.

Ulaanbaatar International airport is surrounded by pasture land and mountains in the distance.

I noticed the elevation 1,300m on arrival. My heart was working harder, and I got a headache. The transfer bus from the airport to the hotel was decorated in purple.

Fortunately ALL the bikes and luggage arrived with us, and it all fitted in the bus. . Transfer drive to the hotel took 1 hour. The speed limit on the high is 50 kph as there are no fences, and lots of wandering stock.

I was not really hungry and so I had crepes and ice-cream for dinner at the hotel restaurant, and Erik had soup.

In Transit - Incheon Airport, Seoul, South Korea

Slept until late. Checked out of the transit hotel, and found breakfast along the concourse. Hot chocolate, yummy pastries. We've got until 4.30pm for flight, so we need to spend the day in transit.

Every hour there is a performance by a classical singer or traditional musical instrument.

Walked a lot today, as there wasn't anything else to do. Plenty of windows to look at aeroplanes, and luggage being loaded.

Was I brave enough to have fried octopus for lunch?

I think this is the city of Incheon in the distance.

Yay, the Mongolian flight to Ulaanbaatar is on time. We have a 430pm departure, 3 hours 40 minutes flight.

We fly over China.

09 August, 2022

Incheon Airport, Seoul, South Korea

Our body clocks were still on NZ time, so the early morning flight to Incheon Seoul, didn't impact too much, and the hotel was only 180 steps from the airport. We did have a bit of confusion finding the departure check-ins. They are on the first floor, and off course the Asean Airline check-in was the furthest one away

Our in-flight meals were Korean, and came with instructions. They were nice.

We could see some serious flooding when we started our descent into Incheon International Airport, Seoul, South Korea. Torrential rain pounded the plane as we landed. As there are Covid-19 protocols in place, we had to transit at the airport overnight.

Apart from the usual duty free type shops, there were luxury brands and jewellery shops dotted along the concourse. The airport is huge, and we were only in Terminal 2. So there are robots to help.

This was the charging bay for the robots. If you wanted food, you could purchase it electronically from one of the airport shops, and the robot would go and get it, and then deliver it to you at your Gate.

Don't feel like carrying your bags, this robot will take your luggage to the departure gate for you.

I don't know what this robot did, but there were plenty of them about, they spoke Korean.

We stayed the night at the Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 Transit hotel. It's on the 4th floor, and we took a while to find it. The rooms were small, the shower had good water pressure. We could hear the rain though the air conditioning. The hotel provided us with these slippers.

The hotel restaurant was closed. There was limited choice for food late in the evening around the airport concourse. We found a small restaurant block that had Burger King, Taco Bell, and some Korean offerings.

We had the Tang soup, (beef). Came with noodles and bean sprouts too.

08 August, 2022

Praying to the travel Gods...

Erik and I are off on an adventure. Today we fly to Sydney Australia, tomorrow to Seoul, Korea, and the next day, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Oh, and the mountain bike is coming too. Hope nothing gets lost in transit.

First obstacle. FOG! Our morning flight to Auckland has been cancelled, so we had to drive up, and leave the car in the long stay carpark. It's going to cost a fortune.

Second obstacle. Flight to Sydney has been delayed. so we will arrive about 9:30pm.

Fortunately the hotel is only 180 steps from the arrival doors.

Our hotel view.

31 July, 2022

Christchurch Catch up

Took the opportunity to spend some time with Gina and Quinn in Christchurch. Anneke flew in from Wellington, and I flew down from Rotorua. So much fun!