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Indonesian Travel Journal: Best Suggestion Ever
by Orlando 1/15/2010 - 2:01 am
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On my way to Jakarta, I had a nine hour layover in Seoul, Korea. As I was planning my trip, I considered spending that time sight-seeing or finding a restaurant with some excellent bi bim bop. But then I realized I would be tired and grimy, so then I decided to try to find out if there was any place at the Seoul airport where I could take a shower. I was explaining this idea to a friend who frequently travels to India and she made a suggestion that changed my entire trip. She said, “Why don’t you look for a day-rate hotel?” Whichever hotel maven thought up this idea was a genius. I booked a room in a hotel close to the airport for seven hours. Their van picked me up and brought me back. I had a four-hour nap, a long hot bath and then a steam in a shower sauna (How is it that every home is not equipped with one of these?). So today, instead of feeling exhausted and upside down, I feel pretty good. I’m ready to start exploring.
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To find a good hotels with lowest price in all over asia, you may start searching it through www.airasia.com. That is an official site of AirAsia airlines but they also offering a good hotel and travel deals.
Tip: When stuck at an airport for a long layover, check and see how much a day-pass to your airline`s "executive club" is. Some of them have showers and all have food and comfortable seating.
Good point. However, doing that in Seoul would have required spending more time in the company of Koreans. For many reasons, this is unpalatable to me. So my private little room worked wonders!!
For someone supposedly so well travelled and intellegent, you are rather ethnocentric. You´ve got a lot to learn about people and the positive things that they can teach you if you would open up your ears and shut out the babble of preconceptions and generalizations you´ve come to believe in.
Mike
http://thriftingnomad.com
Hi there, Mike. I don't claim to be well traveled or intelligent, so I'm sure where the "supposedly" comes in. I don't believe I've disparaged Korea or Koreans in my comment. I simply said it's unpalatable to me, suggesting that I know it's my own personal issue. It's has nothing to do with being ethnocentric and everything to do with personal experience that comes with having lived in country.
But if it makes you feel better, everyone I encountered while in Korea--customs, airport personnel, the driver, the hotel staff, the waiter--was kind and helpful. So there.
I'm well-traveled and intelligent. Please refer all questions to me if need be.
Dear Mr. Wolfrum, what should I do if my day-rate hotel room is being attacked by rampaging Korean parliamentarians. Urgent - Please respond asap...
If you need to shop around for day-rates for layovers, you probably should be staying home and saving your money. Aside from that, what the pleebs deal with during their time at day-rate hotels is hardly my concern.
Great trip, Orlando!