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Blogs from South Korea, Asia - page 344
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August 16th 2006
Just when i thought i got it all figured out...bang...welcome to Korea. Let me backtrack a bit. Left Chaing Mai on Monday nite train...thought i'd be ok with just a fan...mistake. Not as great a train ride as the first time. Oh well..i slept most of the trip. Get into BKK. and i feel like a pro..I know exactly where i'm going to stay for the next several hrs., how to get there, how much the taxis and tuk tuks should charge me...ya...i'm cool. After a nice cold shower i head out for a coffee and a bite to eat..a bit of window shopping then back to to guesthouse for yet another shower before going to pick up my luggage at the train station. Get a taxi to the airport...and the waiting begins. First off...i used ... read more
August 16th 2006
Well, we had another tour today. The funny thing was that it was the same tour guide, the same bus driver, and most of the same people as yesterday, including the four young Koreans who offered us tangerines (or Mandarin oranges) and made me laugh. The tour started off with a shopping expedition at a very pricey store. I didn't buy anything, but Erika got a mask to hang on her apt. wall. It was actually a pretty good price. Then we headed to Elephant Town where we were told that to get in to see the show, it would be another 12 000 won each. (That's about $15.) We decided to opt out and then the guide handed us free tickets. Strange but nice!!!! The guide had also asked the four young Koreans (who had ... read more
From the bowels of a place unbeknownst to most...
Published: August 16th 2006Asia » South Korea » Suwon
August 16th 2006
And thus it begins again... the walk down the slime-covered, demon infested path to one's current location. Little has come to pass, yet feeling the urge to write, one has come to give birth to abomination once more. Since the last chapter there has been a few meetings, greetings, gushings and splatterings. It all began with an arranged walk down a stream in Seoul (one mentioned a few times in this blog, previously known as "The Homestead") with the one and only Mengyu. Friday night took us there in the discernibly cooler, yet still hot, muggy weather we've been despotised with recently. Beginning with a short walk we moved down the stream until finding a place to sit and eat a few nibbles. We then moved a little further down and found a place to dip ... read more
August 16th 2006
Sooooooooooooo i'll give you the latest installment of carla the waygook in korea. It's been nearly five months since I ventured over here which is scary considering how quickly it has gone, time just disappears here. Last weekend I finally got my hiney up to Seoul. Like London, big smelly and concrete and far too many foreigners ahah didnt feel like KOrea at all. We took beth and travis for a leaving do surprise day out and spent a few hours water rafting, it was hilarious esp with the raft guide being very slight built trying to pull us all back into the raft when we fell out. We all had life jackets on which had straps for around your waist and between your legs ( sweaty gusset string) I spenmt the next day gettting ... read more
August 15th 2006
Seoul (population: 10 297 004) Coming from Japan, it was interesting to hear history told from the Korean side. For those who are a little rusty, Japan invaded Korea in 1910 and made the Koreans learn Japanese language and culture until World War 2 ended in 1945. During this time, Korean culture was suppressed as Korean temple and shrines were burned down. Korea has since been divided into the free, democratic North and the communist South. The Korean War began in 1950 where the North invaded the South until an armistice agreement was signed in 1953. As a result Korean’s post-war reconstruction efforts promote a keen sense of nationalism. This sense of pride was consolidated with Seoul hosting the Olympics in 1991 and then of course they were the first Asian team to make it to ... read more
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August 15th 2006
Well, Erika and I took our first of two tours of Jeju Island today. As expected, the tour was conducted completely in Korean. Fortunately our tour guide could give us the most important details, which were, when do we need to be back on the bus? We started off at a famous rock in Jeju City (not sure why it's famous?) and then proceeded to Happy Town. Happy Town turned out to be a gymnastic/stunt show that featured death-defying trapeze-like acts, gymnastic feats, and motorcycles in a great big sphere, going around and around. Made me wish I had a better camera! The next stop was a bonsai tree growing place. A "thinking garden" or something like that. After that we had lunch at the Miniature World. Many sites from Korea, quite a few from other ... read more
August 14th 2006
So we made it! The flight was fine and quite short. They checked my bags though and wondered if I had any spray bottles. Why, I'm not sure, since my two backpacks were sent through checked luggage, not carry on! Oh well. I didn't have to throw anything away and I wasn't arrested, so all is good. :) We stayed in a little place last night that, believe it or not, got too COLD during the night! It was the first time that I had gotten cold sleeping since I'd been here! The owners of the place were sweet and didn't care if we paid up front or at the end and tried hard to communicate with us even though they spoke so little English. We had another hotel booked for tonight, tomorrow and the next ... read more
August 14th 2006
This weekend, I went to Seoraksan National Park (in the northeast corner of South Korea) with about six other Fulbrighters for a day hike. We had a fabulous time. It was a beautiful place, and the hike was nice and relaxing. It started out with a very bumpy ride, though. We almost missed our 7:30AM bus out of Chuncheon, but fortunately we caught it right in time. However, we were stuck in the back of bus, and it was very bouncy and windy as we made our way through the mountains. So, needless to say, we had a case or two of motion sickness. We wondered if the journey would ever end. But it did, eventually. We transfered buses in a city called Sokcho, and once we got to the national park, it was smooth sailing. ... read more
August 13th 2006
Seoul Arrived safe and sound in Seoul on Sunday night. We went out to find something for dinner which proved hazardous as Carol spent the next 24hrs very ill. Anyways, she ok now. I wandered around a little and went to the tourist office (about the only place anyone speaks english) and booked some places around the country to stay. Seoul doesn't feel like a city of 10 million. It is extremely safe, women and children wander down small alley ways at all hours. I was approached by a few middle school girls one afternoon, they wanted to interview me for their english homework. Can't imagine a teacher in Vancouver getting away with assigning a project that involves approaching strangers on the street. Gangchon We took the train north east to Ganchon, about 1.5hr, were we ... read more
August 13th 2006
Well, Erika and I spent the last two days in hot, sticky Busan, where we were crammed into one little room that had 3 sets of bunk beds, 12 people using the bathroom and no a/c. A little cramped and hot! We were not that impressed by Busan, and are looking forward to our next few days in Jeju City on Jeju Island. We have a room in a motel tonight, but then move to a 3rd class hotel (or motel?) tomorrow for 3 nights that actually looks pretty good! Yesterday we went down by the coast to see a lighthouse. I think that the distances that they indicate are wrong; they say 1km but actually it's more like 4km, especially since most of it is uphill and hot. We got out to the lighthouse, climbed ... read more
