We arrive at Incheon Airport in Seoul
Incheon Airport is a stunning introduction to this hi-tech country, all curves, stainless steel and glass….
the transit system into Seoul is slick..
The trains are spotless….
we travelled all day, over 100Km for around $10!
South Korea appartments
South Korea has a population of over 51 million people, so its no suprise I guess that appartment blocks are built in the cities to house this number of people….
These appartment blocks are stacked in groups with numbers on the side…all seem very well cared for ….
……this is a small development, the ones on the edge of Seoul are new and vast, housing hundreds of thousands of people…….(just could not stop anywhere to get a picture) this place really feels like the future…..
Customs clearance….Mr Kim
Wendy has issued detailed instructions via email, we are to make contact with Mr Kim….this Airport is huge, after many blank faces a information desk directs us
to Gate 3 in terminal 1, down to Level B1 which is an admin area and office number 7 is the customs office.
We meet with Mr Kim…..(not sure if you can take pictures so just the top of his head) there seems to be a lot of activity, an hour goes by, suddenly a uniformed customs officer approaches and we both get Temporary Import Forms….
and a big yellow sticker….
…….these are the key documents to get our motorcycles, now for the cargo warehouse KAS.
Customs clearance….KAS Warehouse
We are directed back to Terminal 1 and the service bus, which is located outside Gate 3 on the 2nd floor. The service bus is free and goes all around the vast airport and cargo areas…the KAS building is clearly marked….
….we find the entrance on the far left, we introduce ourselves and hand over the documents from Mr Kim, shortly afterwards more documents arrive from Wendy Choi….
……however its near lunchtime now and they will not be rushed. We wait an hour, then all of a sudden……..the bikes are delivered by fork truck…..
……we soon have the covers off……. 
……and we start to unpack,…Fork Truck drivers are circulating constantly, without us even asking our steel and packaging is taken away and disposed of…..how easy was that, soon we are ready to leave…….
……..and we are off…
into the street on our bikes, the first time we have ridden them for weeks and it feels great…almost all road signs have Korean and English place names thank goodness.
Mongolian Visa
With the bikes secured at the hotel, we attempt to get our Mongolian Visa the following day…….we make the mistake of going to the Mongolian Embassy, this wastes time but its not long before we are at the Mongolian Visa Centre (very near the Yongsan station)
……the graphic is actually acurate, just look for the blue building next to the crossing….
……the Visa centre is busy but well organised, you pick up a deli style ticket and wait for your number to be called, whilst waiting you get to fill out the forms, there are example forms below the glass on the table (nice touch)
all quite straightforward except questions 13 and 14 address in Mongolia….bugger!
We think it will be hours before we get to the top of the queue, so nip out for a coffee and some Internet, whilst there we choose a random but plausible Hotel and make a note of its address.
We return and our number 126 is still way off as the staff are at lunch, they seem re-energised on their return and it soon gets to our turn. I am told to approach station 1, there is a young girl behind the glass (Bank style)
“Where are your flight details” eh i say…..”your flight details where are they, you need a return flight?” “No I am on a Motorcycle, I will cross a land border” I tell them and do the International sign for a motorcycle, which is some handlebars and a twist grip…..if they don’t get that stage 2 is the same but with sound effects Anyway thankfully we don’t have to get past stage 1 and they all look at one another and shrug……phew, we move on!
Its 30GBP if we are OK to wait until next Monday ( NO!) or 68GBP and we can have the Visa today at 4pm…well its a no brainer….today please!
We return at 4pm and are passports are returned including the Visa….
what a result….i did not expect us to get that in one day….so happy
…….now we have Visa’s in place in Russia and Mongolia, right into Kazakhstan….
Wendy Choi
With the Visa in the bag we have another coffee at our now local coffee shop…killing time before meeting up with Wendy Choi, Wendy has arranged the import and export of our motorcycles in South Korea
……using the underground we move to the University station and wait for Wendy at 18:30….there is free street WiFi in most places in central Seoul…
…..I log onto Whatsapp and let Wendy know we have arrived.
….is great to meet after all these months of planning, 
if you indeed plan to do a temporary import into South Korea I would recommend Wendy every time.
Time to leave Incheon
So the Airport hotels have been our home for three days now…
…..great links into the city but also I guess we have been putting off riding here…
….there is an impressive bridge that leaves the Incheon area, but we must catch the ferry as Motorcycles of any capacity are not allowed on the highway off the Airport Island…
Traffic misery
Up until today I have been very impressed with everything in South Korea, however this is about to be tarnished……it tuns out Motorcycles are banned from ALL highways, we have to get right across the country, and with this daft rule we have only covered 50 very hot miles after 4 hours….we stop the first day at 8pm thats 10 hours riding to cover just 100 miles…. Grrrrrr
Its always better in the morning…
We complete our jouney to the ferry port Donghae the following day, its raining hard on the mountains…
….but nothing can dampen our spirits as even in the wet…
….this is 10 times better than the horrendous Seoul traffic….
and its warm rain anyway, the mountains are beautiful and there is a lot of rural areas for such a highly populated country…
we arrive in Donghae, a few miles from our ferry port and this will be our base until we leave…
The streets transform at night…
…..am i the first Bristol Rovers fan in Donghae?
Eating Out…
Look I am no expert, this is just an observation, eating out in South Korea is simple for two reasons….1. Menu choices are all pictured so you can see what your eating. 2. Korean people seem to eat the same food at Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner….
…….and with some dishes you get to cook it yourself on a gas stove on your table….
Soju
Then we discover Soju..a clear, colorless distilled drink, you drink it in a shot glass…..I can tell you it hits the spot.
Donghae Caves
We have some time to spare, so visit the caves at Donghae…..
it costs 3000 Won (4 pounds) and at the entrance you are issued with neat yellow hard hats…
…really!!!…..actually you do need them, as its very low and narrow in parts (we are tall people here)…the caves themselves they are quite good, walkways navigate you through the caves and as you might expect now the LED lighting …
….is very dramatic. These caves are small but worth a visit…
DBS ferry to Vladivostok
We arrive at the DBS office….
…..and are greeted by DBS staff, our paperwork is waiting for us, we are told to remove cabin items, and once directed you take your bike and hold luggage toward the ship for customs checks, this is airport style security.
Once the bikes are repacked they are loaded onto the ship…
the guys strap them down and you then leave the ship, go back through more airport style security and can wait with your hand luggage in the relative comfort of the DBS office, away from the mayhem at the passenger terminal.
We have our cabin luggage scanned again and we are on the ship via a long gangway….
……its quite a nice experience as all the staff are lined up at the top waiting for passengers to board.
Korean’s like to party and are soon drinking on deck
they invite us for a cheeky one…
all trying out there English on us (very few Western people here) 
We get to our cabin, this is arranged as 8 beds in two rows, four top and bottom, with little curtains in between…..this is going to be interesting with my snoring..
Korean food is served throughout the 22hr crossing at set times…
……it does not matter if you miss dinner, breakfast is the same! I return to the cabin, my new Russian and Korean cabin mates talk, eat and slowly get drunk on Soju below me…..at first we don’t speak but their English improves the more they drink……
Next morning Vladivostok comes into view….my cabin mates have lost their English, funny that!!
it feels like our journey will change dramatically now as we pass under the famous bridge at the port entrance and enter Russia.
