A Day to Forget

 The bag spoke to me, but I think she that I was a perv.

Good luck reading this subway map above the door.

Tuesday, June 26^th.

Woke up early this morning and headed down to the lobby for my 7 am pick up for the DMZ tour. As predicted it was raining. The pick up never showed. I phoned the company at 7:20 and they apologized and told me to grab a cab to take me to the station where the tour commences, and they’d pay for it. A woman at the hotel talked to him, got the directions, hailed a cab and talked to the cabby. All good right? Wrong, I had a half hour to get there, the cab took almost an hour and a half. It was an incredibly long way away, on a freeway in rush hour traffic and through a very long tunnel that must have gone from one end of the city to the other. I was really upset but had no idea what to do about it. I couldn’t get out because I had no idea where I was. The cabby spoken no English and talked to me in Korean or pointed somewhere when I asked when we were going to get there. He dropped my off supposedly at the station, but I saw no sign of it or the company who was supposed to take me. I paid 21100 won ($21.16) and made sure I got a receipt.

I wandered about in the rain for a few minutes before finding the entrance to a subway. I decided to head back to the hotel. Luckily, I remembered the station I got on near my hotel, so I bought a ticket from here to there, on only two lines and made my way back to the hotel. When I got on the first train, I saw a guy carrying a bag that said, ‘Everything is going to be alright’. What a weird thing to say on a bag and in English. That kind of spoke to me and calmed me down and I just went with the flow. 

When I got to the hotel I phoned the company and gave them a piece of my mind. I wound up talking to the lady I booked through and she admitted that she forgot to book the pickup. She told me there was another tour in the afternoon and I should take either a taxi or the subway to that pickup point. I told her there was no way I was going out to do that again, either they pick me up or forget it. She said there was not enough time to send a driver to me. So, at that point I decided to stay put and hide from the heavy rain and booked the DMZ tour for the morning of the 28^th, the day I leave (my flight is in the evening). I confirmed the pickup time for both tomorrow and the next day, we’ll see what happens.

I spent the rest of the day trying to catch up on the blog, which was a few days behind, and sorting photos. Late in the day I went out looking for food but got nowhere. The restaurants in this neighbourhood have no English menus and they speak precious little of it. I don’t really like sitting in a restaurant by myself and not knowing what I am getting or how spicy it is going to be, so, I went to the local grocery store and bought some fruit, yogurt, cereal and milk. That way I can have a better breakfast too.

All of this just goes to show why I much prefer organized tours where the transport and where to eat are all taken care of. I know when I was younger this was all part of the adventure, but I am past that. I want to see the world without having to figure out how to do it on a daily basis. Maybe it also shows that I am getting tired and looking forward to going home where there is less mystery and I know the routines.

Actually, this is the first day that was a total rain out all year (which probably accounts for my mood), so I really have no reason to complain. And missing the trip in such weather was probably a good thing. I'll reschedule.