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Published: March 6th 2023
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Having left the island of Bali, I was heading back to another familiar land, this time the setting of a career move I made back in the mid-1990's, if you permit, a short-term career in Korea as a language instructor. First up was the nation's largest airport, Seoul Incheon, and a great introduction to hi-tech South Korea, with its all mod cons features, and after the PCR test requirement had been satisfied, it was onto the city of Incheon itself in order to spend a night and condense the sights and sounds of Incheon city into just a half-day time frame. As it stands, it essentially amounted to not a great deal else beyond a trip to the colourful and animated Chinatown, where an evening meal revealed some of the delights (food culture!) which were set to be enjoyed as the 17-night stay in South Korea progressed. A short hop from Incheon brought me to a guest house in MyeongDong in central Seoul, the nation's capital city, and one of the world's most enormous urban zones. Of course, there had been numerous changes afoot since the days of spending random weekends in Seoul in the mid 90s, but Seoul is best
described as a city of interconnecting districts, all of which have their own individual character, from the funky Insa Dong, to the commercial zone of Itaewon, the electronics hub that is Yongsan, and, by far the most well-known, Gangnam, a sleek and urban powerhouse of a district immortalized in the techno-pop hit of recent years. As far as day trips go, options are pretty plentiful, though for sheer uniqueness and excitement, be sure to look into the rail bikes tour which departs from a purpose-built station at Gimyujeong, and takes the rider on a terrific journey past countryside, through tunnels with various lighting effects, and more besides. Does life get much sweeter than this? Well, if you have ever been curious to know what life might be like on the 'other side of the fence', then be sure to go on the DMZ North Korea border tour, where a guide will take you to various points of interest, and even enable you to view a border village in North Korea from afar, alongside a trip down a tunnel which terminates a mere 130 metres from the North Korean border - eerie! Next up was Daejeon, my home for around 10
months in the mid 1990s, and a city known as the Silicon Valley of Asia due to its science and technology foundations, and all the city features in support of this. The Daejeon sky road covered arcade lighting extravaganza would give the Freemont Street experience in Vegas a run for its money, as much as a trip to Yusong spa district to enjoy the (free) outdoor spa bathing areas will provide much-needed variety in a city which appears to have urbanized more and more as time has elapsed. Following hot on its heels was a short stop in the city of Daegu, which has a wide variety of shopping, dining and entertainment options, along with a multi-line subway network, one line of which happens to be the nation's only monorail. Gyeongsang-Gamyeong park is a haven of peace in the midst of an otherwise bustling urban zone, and if you should seek more Vegas-style entertainment, look nor further than the fountain show at Suseong Lake, for a few moments of admission-free entertaining visuals. Moving onto the nation's 2nd largest city of Busan was a sizeable surprise, mainly to witness the extent to which the city had altered since the mid 1990s,
and to revel in the multiple delights of this urban zone which has outclassed itself substantially when you consider the path of progress it had set itself on. This is Korea's bona fide film city, so the museum of cinema and a few other streets and landmarks will reveal a few vital traces of the location of Busan in a few feature length films over the course of film history. For an experience of a bohemian and colourful nature, look no further than Gamcheon cultural village, where residents, artists and local traders have effectively created an area where houses of various sizes and colours dot the landscape in an area which gives an impression very comparable to Valparaiso in Chile. An easy day trip from Busan is to the golden city of Gyeongju, where various hillocks form burial grounds in a sacred area with various tourist attractions and traditional houses, adding up to a cultural experience perhaps comparable, on a Korean scale, to a visit to Japan's cultural hub of Kyoto. A little-known fact is that the world's most flown air route is from Seoul to Jeju island, Korea's so-called take on Hawaii, where traditionally, Korean newlyweds honeymooned to a backdrop of nature, well-supplied cities, and a few museums and attractions thrown in for good measure. The island's southernmost city, Seogwip'o appears to be surrounded by waterfalls, all of which are worth a look-in, yet this is mostly a port city with a significant amount of urban development to call it a 'one of everything' kind of place, for its size. Somewhat bigger is the island's capital city of Jeju city, and though similar features are to be found here (shops and eateries galore, arcades, and monuments), the city itself does have a significantly different feel to set it apart from its southern counterpart. One curiosity which comes highly recommended is the surprise theme park, located a short bus ride out of town, where you can revel in a theme park consisting of life-sized structures (mostly robots of the transformers variety) all made out of recycled car parts - impressive, and well worth checking out, I would suspect, on an evening time when illuminations light the way. So, this was South Korea 25 years on, and the Korean work ethic in reality makes this nation what it is, an economic powerhouse where ideas and innovations are put into practice to create a country which appears to refuse to slacken the pace when it comes to moving with the times. There has to be a crowning glory involved in all of these steps taken to constantly improve and develop, and for my money, the food culture of South Korea took its place right at the very top of the tree among the sum total of all 19 nations visited en route, proving that a world-class food culture alone can just about validate the airfare to get to and from!
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