Blogs from South Korea, Asia - page 3

We seem to manage to hit the hot spots wherever we travel. Like the morning we cruised into Inchon, Korea. Dennis Rodman’s friend, Kim Jong Un, mentioned that he was going to attack South Korea and for good measure maybe the United States also. Our tour guide told us that we were very brave to be visiting at this time of heightened tensions between the two Koreas. It all seemed pretty calm to me as we went about our business of touring. There is a huge statue of General MacArthur towering over Inchon to commemorate his successful landing there during the Korean War. He probably wouldn’t mind another go at it. Korea calls its wind-chill factor the “feeling temperature.” Today it was feeling pretty cold at -4C but we trudged on and fortunately the predicted rain/sleet ... read more

We left from Suwon Station around 8 am, doing a couple of pick ups at different stops in Seoul, and another one in Incheon. The drive to the ferry wasn't too long, and we got there just after ten. We had just missed a ferry so had to wait twenty minutes for it to return. Whilst waiting there was a lot of war talk about North Korea, maybe the West Sea Islands weren't the best place for a day trip in the current climate. Also the islands are right next to Incheon airport, so we constantly heard planes taking off. The journey on the ferry was very quick. It only took about ten minutes. We arrived in Sin-do and split into two groups hikers and bikers. We set off on our hike, stopping at a massive ... read more

BUSAN, KOREA - Yesterday was a sea day and I spent it going to lectures about our last two ports of call and organizing some of my pictures on the computer. Dinner dress was for the final formal night and I decided to wear my tux shirt and my black suit since I didn’t want to carry them all the way to Asia without using them. After dinner was the “Black and White Ball” where all the ships officers, male and female, dance with guests and, after each dance, an officer identifies their self as a “mystery officer” and the dance partner wins a prize. I’m sitting at the bar with my bar buddies when the last dance is announced and a beautiful, young lady officer (if I had a granddaughter, she would be that age) ... read more

Today I'm leaving for South Korea! I am leaving at 8:04 AM on Sunday, June 9th at the Denver International Airport. I should get to Seoul, South Korea at 3:05 PM. I have a layover in San Fransisco for an hour. I'll probably find something to eat there. When I get there it will be the next day which is going to really confuse me. The flight costs $1,329 and I don't have to pay anything to check a bag in. The flight is supposed to be sixteen hours.. I don't know what I'm going to do for that long, probably sleep. I have my passport and I don't need a visa because I'm not staying there for more than 90 days. The passport costs $135. In order to get into South Korea I got four ... read more