South Korea: Seoul far, Seoul good...

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Hello there!!! How’s it going?..I quite like to start with the greeting from the country I am in, however I have no idea to pronounce “anneoung haseyo”…doesn’t roll off the tongue as much as others?

(05/11/09) So, you might recall I took an overnight boat to Korea from Qingdao in the very brilliant China? The boat was ok. It was delayed three hours but was ok as I had a pretty decent cabin which I only shared with one other (a weird pessimistic old American guy) and I met an English guy called Greg who seemed nice enough so I was far from bored… At the end of my China trip I felt quite fluey with a fever and cold type thing. I was certainly feeling better but no where near cured so I had hesitations when going through quarantine, however I breezed through there, as well as the not so strict passport control. Greg and I were both heading to central Seoul from the ferry terminal in Incheon (some time out of Seoul) and after given advice, we searched a taxi to the subway for our journey in. The cabbie seemed very confident when we said “Metro” and pointed to our metro map. We were impressed by his two SatNavs (one had live stream of the traffic) but started to question his knowledge after he kept driving pass signs for stations. We again told him to take us to a Metro or Subway or Train and pointed out those words in Korean. After much more driving we saw a sign for Metro and we were well glad to be out of that morons vehicle …until we realised he dropped us outside of the Head Office to the Metro company??!! We couldn’t believe it! What was he thinking?..Two scruffy haired, backpack carrying, combat wearing, smelly business men are hopping off a ferry and want to go straight to the Metro HQ??? Really? Unreal. We were shouting “Subway!” a lot so a bit surprised he didn’t take us to a fastfood chain.. We had to find the funny side of it and after getting directions we hiked to the actual station where some crazy Korean lady managed to sort out the ticket machine for us and we were on our way…Is this a taste of things to come?… Despite the initial shock of the huge Metro map it was fairly easy to navigate around. Greg and I went our separate ways and I headed for my prebooked hostel near the Hyehwa Metro station. I followed the hostel owners instructions which were all correct apart from the first line, which is a bit like saying you are a pilot but can’t do take-offs…Whilst staring at my instructions, an English teacher checked that I was ok and walked me half way there. Nice lady. I was expecting this hostel to be not quite near anything but it was in a really cool busy area with lots of neon lights, shops, cafes and donut shops (think the Koreans have a sweet tooth). My hostel was called Bong House, in reference to Mr Bong (the owner, rather than any drug smoking activities they housed) who I met and seemed like a cool guy indeed. Within seconds of being there I was pounced on (not literally) by two Californian sisters who seemed pleasant enough. We ended up going for a Korean barbeque which I enjoyed a lot.

(06/11/09) I was up early today as I was booked on a tour of the DMZ (DeMilitarised Zone) which is the stretch of land that splits South and North Korea. I had read in the guidebook that this is where you can look over to the North and also see rival soldiers stand metres apart, in the most fortified border in the world. Well, I was a tad disappointed all in all. I was no expert on the whole situation here but I hoped to have learned something, but I still wasn’t quite sure what was going on. The tour guide was nice but when I asked relatively straight forward questions I got random answers. The weather was moody with mist so seeing the blocked off Freedom Bridge made eerie viewing, as did the very random theme park that was in grenade distance. From here we drove to some tunnels that had been discovered that the North had been constructing to sneak in. On the way we drove through lots of blockades and passed tanks on the road and had to show our passports. This bit did feel a bit like a war zone. Banging my head a few times (turns out I am lankier than a standard Korean) we went about 400metres down one of the tunnels which was a few kilometres long. Next up we went to the observation deck but it was fairly misty so couldn’t see the enemy checking us out (apparently on clear days you can) and when I took a photo I had a soldier tell me off and made me delete it (the picture was of mist). We were then taken to a spanking new train station that doesn’t actually go anywhere yet as the borders are closed for both sides but its in preparation for when people are allowed to cross over. If that ever happens. I asked if people wanted to be reunited and the guide said that the older generations are keen as many families were displaced during the Korean War 50 years ago, but the younger generation are quite happy as it is…Other than the fact that the North were backed by the Communist Soviet Union and South by the US, I can’t tell you much more…Another annoying thing was that we kept stopping at various shops to buy tat which obviously tour guide was getting a cut on. Wasted my time. We got back to Seoul and Lauren (Hawaiian/Japanese girl who is staying at my hostel and was also on the DMZ tour) strolled around the Insadong area which has plenty of galleries. Lauren was nice enough but was hard work as she was so quiet. We went to one of the many palaces that are in Seoul, this one called Gyeongbokgung (no idea how to pronounce that) and it reminded me of the Forbiddon City in Beijing, but this one had more trees and parkland, and I think I preferred it. I couldn’t be bothered with the joined on Folk Museum as none of it was in English and managed to shake off dull Lauren and headed back to the hostel. Back at the ranch I met another Yank, this one called Richard who was living in Japan. He reminded me of Beavis/Butthead, Chris from Family Guy, and Billy-Bob Thornton in one. Nice guy. Along with the Californians, we went for a Korean hotpot, that was quite different to the one in China, but tasty all the same. The plan was to have a beer back at the hostel and the head out (it was a Friday night), but after one watery beer I got pretty tired and had an early night. Did you know I have met more Americans in Seoul than in my last nine months of travelling? Fact.

(07/11/09) My plan of getting up early didn’t work. When I did finally wake up, Mr Bong got out a bank note (currency is Won here) and enquired if the few of us would like to go for a minutes walk to see where the picture on the note was. We jumped at the chance, and Mr Bong took us to the university next door and we saw the traditional courtyard from the picture on the note, and a bit of a wedding was going on. He then took us on a further walk, and we took in some of the 18km fortress wall used to surround the city. It is surprising how in a busy buzzing city (of 10 million people) that forest and hills pop up. Yank Richard and I then grabbed some lunch (chicken escalope - again, it was good) and headed to the World Cup Stadium. It’s a neat stadium, that now has a shopping mall, Tesco style supermarket and swimming pool. In summer 2002 I saw a lot of the games when South Korea shared the greatest tournament around with neighbours Japan. I remember the stadiums being all smart and the fans mental. We took a tour of the stadium that took in the pitch, dugout, changing rooms and also a really cool museum that had a bit of the history of football (apparently invented in 2500BC?) and all about the aforementioned World Cup. I really enjoyed it, especially watching the nostalgic videos of the Korean football team beat Poland, Portugal, Spain and Italy on their way to the Semi Finals, which is an impressive show and something England haven‘t managed in almost 20 years. The summer of 2002 was also my last before I entered the big world of work and grown up life, so it was nice to be taken back to a time with little worries, other than organising football matches in the park.. In the evening Richard and I took a metro for what felt like years to a “great” area full of bars that the Americans (one was called Veronica, but the other name was a weird one that I can not recall) went to previously but it was crap, hardly anywhere to go…we decided to metro it ALL the way back to our area where we ended up in a cocktail bar, after we grabbed a drink on the street that looked like a colostomy bag (was in fact a Long Island Iced Tea). The cocktail barmen were impressive with all their tricks (although they dropped plenty) but it was a pricey joint, and they were so into the juggling of liquor that they forgot my order, so I ended up leaving in the rain and a bit disappointed.

(08/11/09) Most people had left the hostel today, so after a bit of consultation with Mr Bong, I decided to go on a bit of a stroll. There’s a stream that runs through the centre of downtown, so I followed that for a lot of the way taking in the sights including some weird sculptures and markets. I decided to check out the Olympic Park which housed the 1988 competition, not that I remember any of it. It took a while but I got to the Olympic Park, which clearly said “Olympic Stadium” on map…but the fecking stadium wasn’t there!! I walked about past the very nice park (Koreans love the outdoors) and cycling place, swimming pool etc but no fecking stadium!! After some more research it turns out it’s a few neighbourhoods away, which seems a bit silly to me. Oh well. Back at the hostel, Mr Bong had me writing up rules on the notice board and then I had food with him and his mate. All free. Nice huh? Despite Greg (dude from boat that was now at my hostel) wanting to go watch the Chelsea vs. Manu game, I opted for an early night.

(09/11/09) This morning I headed to the bus terminal and was off out of Seoul. I liked the capital. If I had more time I could had stayed here longer as plenty to do. There doesn’t seem to be any bins anywhere but it’s a clean place. Metro system seems to go everywhere and the Koreans I met seemed very nice. It’s a buzzing, busy city with plenty of spots to go out at night. I also really like the fact that amongst the busy city is lots of outdoor stuff to do such as hiking…I jumped on the bus and headed east to the Gyeongsangbuk-do province to a town called Gyeongju (pronounced “Ge-ong-joo“) and I met another cool hostel owner like Mr Bong. This one was called Clint (real name Mr Kong) and he spoke excellent English in a deep (almost like Darf Vader) voice, and gave me lots of info on the local area (lots to see) and he even helped me sort out my ferry to Japan which was causing me some agro to date. The bus across the country took much of the day, which just left me with time to get some food and speak with some Swiss who were staying here also.

(10/11/09) So Gyeongju is popular as it has lots of mounds surrounding the town which have tombs of former emperors dating back to Julias Cesar time (that’s a bit before year 0 by the way). The plan was to hike around the surrounding hills and take in the sights but the weather was so crap (think England on a wet weekend). I didn’t want some rain beating me so I ventured out and checked out the hilly tombed grassed mounds (looks like the Teletubbies live here). I also poked about the museum but cancelled the idea of hiking in the hills as the weather got even worse. Shame. It really was pissing it down, with high winds to match. In the evening I found a little Korean place and thought I was ordering a small meal, but got eight side dishes with it. Nice.

(11/11/09) So in the news today South and North Korean warships have been exchanging fire…two days before I jump in the ocean. How very rude of them? The rain looked to have eased off, but the wind still bitter and twisted. Dressed in my woolly hat (I actually looked like that odd kid from the About A Boy film), I jumped on a local bus and somehow ended up in my intended destination of Bulguksa about 16km away. This houses a World Heritage (seen waay too many of these this year) listed Buddhist temple, so thought I would have a butchers. It was almost like every other temple I had seen in Asia but I noticed that it had a few swastikas which I thought was a bit random. I know from my Da Vinci Code reading that a similar symbol is used in the Hindu religion I think? The temple was ok, but I am sooo templed out now. Must had seen a few hundred this year, which is a lot for an atheist. I caught a bus nearby to the Seokguram Grotto (also on the WH List) which has a big Buddha (not allowed to take pictures) up a mountain overlooking the land. It’s actually quite a feat of engineering as it was built in 8th century and would had involved carrying huge granite 740metres above sea level without roads. I decided to walk down the 3km route, and the beautiful autumnal colours of reds and browns really were pretty nice to see. After waiting around in the cold, I got back to town and then boarded the hour long bus to Busan (pronounced and spelt locally as “Pusan”) which is in the South East and is Koreas second biggest city after the capital. After finally finding my hotel (nice local chap helped me despite him not speaking a word of English) I just about hunted somewhere to eat (everything is in Korean here), and had a barbeque on my own (with about a hundred side dishes). Busan is busy port city and first impressions were not amazing to be honest. Windy as hell also. Mosquitos have been nibbling me a lot, which is quite annoying for November.

(12/11/09) So the rain has stopped but its still pretty gloomy out. I checked out my guidebook and the best it listed were some temples, and I just can not be bothered. Actually, I am in one of those “can’t really be bothered” kinda moods that I often got when the weather is crap outside at home. I ventured out to a park (average) and then to a fish market, that sold lots of fish (shock). I was staying downtown so got the metro to the centre, but its just full of lots of shops, and I wasn’t looking to buy anything. Think my highlight was finding a Turkish kebab place. I think I am done here. Take me to Japan please?..In the evening I strolled to a busier part of town and had some nice food which was pretty similar to a turkey escalope, only it was pork and sweet potato inside.

(13/11/09) Today I headed to the ferry terminal and boarded my speedy boat to Japan, my last country.

So that’s South Korea, my penultimate country. It was never a definite on the list, and its hard to give a full opinion on the place as I was only here for a week. I really liked Seoul. It was busy and buzzing, the things I enjoy about cities. By day it was not a pretty place, despite plenty of trees around, but by night the lights turn on and the whole place is like a big Christmas tree!..Food was pretty tasty too. What I have learned is that Korea is a great place if you like the outdoors. Even Seoul has hills and hiking in the centre of the city. Sadly, the weather was crap and even though I did venture out, the rain made it less enjoyable. I reckon in the right weather you could have a good 2-3 weeks exploring all the mountains and islands around this country. Another thing is I was under the impression that English was commonly spoken, but other than Seoul, this was not true.

Its unlikely that I will be in this neighbourhood for a while, but I its not a bad place.

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