Blogs from Insadong, Seoul, South Korea, Asia - page 5

Here are some photos from June 2008 that I recently received from Tim Lentz. Iemke ... read more

Entering the unknown The lonely planet warned us already: “Almost everything you’ll experience in Korea is going to be different.” For once, they were right. It might have been our mindset coming from Nepal, it might have been our luck in meeting Korean friends who took us to visit their country, it might just be the country and its people themselves, but Korea has been different from everything we experienced so far. It is seven months ago that we ‘hit the road’. We are seven months, four countries, eight flights, three beaches, seven languages, thirteen ho(s)tels, a few trains, one car, three scooters, several buses and numerous metro’s, many new friends, and endless thoughts later. What does that do? How does that feel? It feels like perspectives are changing. Finally I’m starting to let go of ... read more

This past Saturday Daniel and I went to Insadong and met up with some friends to do some shopping. Along the way we stopped at the coolest tea shop ever. It was upstairs in a back alley, and really small! When you walked in the door you had to maneuver yourself around pillows, small tables and half walls. Anyone without good balance, in a wheelchair, or slightly overweight would be unable to come here. We sat at a little round table in the back and were given little tea menus. I ordered cold Pear Tea, Dan got cold Citrus Tea, and some of the others in our group got Chrysanthemum, Lilac and Fruit Punch teas. They were all sooo good! The neatest part about this tea shop was the birds. There were probably a dozen little ... read more

Hey all! This was one hell of a Birthday party!!!! Buddha's birthday was actually 12th May, but the celebrations started a week before on the night of Saturday 3rd with the Lantern Eve parade, this was to celebrate the eve of the Lantern parade the following day. This first night consisted of some lanterns, traditional dancers, singing and general merriment!! The costumes were great - my favorite was the lotus flowers, they each resembled a petal and carried the lotus flower lantersn but when combined made one huge flower which flickered by the candle light it was incredible! Bear in mind however we thought this was maybe the main parade and we had understood the dates wrong!!! At the end everybody was dancing in the streets, the atmosphere was amazing :) Can't resist a little bit ... read more

Arriving in Korea was much more similar to Japan than China... although Suk-In might stop being my friend for comparing her country to Japan. But they are also very westernised in many ways, and a lot of people either speak some english or at least try to understand and explain themselves. This time we did have some booked accommodation, and pretty much knew how to get there. We stayed in a cheap little hostel in Insadong, which is in the centre, but quite near to most of the palaces and also in a very lively area full of art galleries and nice tea houses and restaurants... although after walking around, it seems like most places are full of nice art galleries, tea houses and restaurants. I think Seoul is art gallery city. After sleeping for two ... read more