Korea Journey Day 4 - Monday, August 18th

First full day in Seoul! The city is known for two main palaces, centuries-old structures that new Seoul has grown up and around in. We visit one of these palaces in the morning. At the gate, there are guards in period attire that are sort of like the guards at Buckinham Palace - they don't move a muscle when tourists come stand by them for pictures. So of course we had to get pics with them:




We toured the rest of the palace. It had all been restored in the last, um, several years. There was also a nice museum on the grounds. We were going to get our pictures taken in a hanbok (traditional dress), but it cost more than we thought, plus we ran out of time and it was starting to rain!





Next, the bus took us to Itaewan, the most "international" district, where expats usually hang out. We were supposed to have lunch at McDonald's (the vegetarians protested, and they gave us money to use somewhere else), then we had FOUR HOURS to spend in this shopping district. What?! It was so typical. The cool things we never had enough time at (hello, Busan?!) and other things they gave us waaaayyyy too much time. Anyway, I went up and down the street looking in all the shops for hours.


After Itaewan, we went to one of the coolest things yet - the Seoul Tower. It reminded me of the Space Needle in Seattle. We went up in the tower, and had a 360 degree view of Seoul, and let me just tell you, Seoul is HUGE, with so many people. On the wall were the names of cities you were facing, and how far they were from where we stood. I took my picture by one of Chicago :-)





The Seoul Tower had an awesome gift shop, too. I bought this super angel's wings necklace, since I felt like I was floating in the sky like an angel at the top of the tower :-)

That night, we ate at a Chinese restaurant! What? Oh well. The food was great. They kept bringing out dish after dish. Which is weird, because when you don't know about all the separate dishes, you eat as much as you can of the first one, not knowing if there will be more! It was pretty delish.

After that, a few of us went to the "biggest book store in Seoul," or so our guide, Ms. Park, kept telling us. It was on the way back to our hotel, so we walked there instead of taking the bus back. It pretty much looked like a normal bookstore, but it was super cool. They had the jelly watches!! And a store with crazy panda stuff. I bought a crazy panda umbrella there (finally broke down and got one). We did lose Shelly, and then Kathy, so maybe it was a really big store! Jaime, Shelly and I decided to leave from a different exit than we came in, and kind of got lost on the way back. Oh well. We found one of the temple gates and took some photos:


We finally found the river walk type thing that would lead us back to our hotel. It was neat - kind of like brush creek at the plaza, except cooler! They had lights set up in the water, and little stone bridges to walk across. It was so pretty, especially at night!



This was the last night for most of our group! My roommate Christina was leaving the next morning, and we decided to make a night out of it! We're in SEOUL, dammit! When were we going to be in SEOUL ever again?!?!?! We dressed up, and met Amanda, Melanie and Jeff downstairs at the Koreana and headed for the subway. The plan was to get a drink at the super-swank W Hotel first, then...

We bought beers at the convenience store down in the subway, then rode a LONG ways out to the W.

Christina, Melanie and Jeff on the subway

Once off the subway, we had quite a hike up to the W. I had some tall wedges on, but had some kind of superhuman strength and hoofed it right up there. The hotel and bar area were AMAZING. Super-posh, spaceship-like, with egg-pod chairs, blue lighting, and incredible views. After schmoozing ourselves into the bar, telling them we were friends with someone that was staying there, we slid into some egg chairs and ordered drinks. Well, instead of drinks, we got a set of shots that came in test tubes. Carolina, Jesse and Matt ended up meeting us there! We didn't stay too long. The drinks were REALLY expensive, about $15 each. So after our test tube shots, we moved on. But I did take pics inside the bathrooms, they were THAT COOL.








The subways were closed by then, so we cabbed it back downtown. We got some beers and drank on the sidewalk, which is more common and accepted than you'd think. Then we went to the late night market! Wow, what an experience. We went to Nam-Dae-Mun, which I think is a wholesale clothing market. Meaning, stores and vendors come here to buy clothes on the cheap, then resell them in their stores. So, so, so many clothes of every kind and type. Where did it all come from? It was a little magical, walking around this market, buzzed, in the wee hours of the night. We heard it didn't even open until 2 am, but I wonder if this was really the case. Anyway...So there are fake designer bag-sellers everywhere. We came upon this one stand of a guy selling fakes. Not knowing anything about fakes myself, Jeff, the guy in our group, said that these were really amazing fakes! Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior, etc. He knew the styles, and this vendor had THE LATEST style of LV bags. I was eyeing a wallet for Nicholas...he does love his wallets. And while he's certainly not a fake label carrier, what a great story it would have! So Jeff and I made a deal with the guy - we both bought wallets, and got a discount. I treasured my fake Louis Vuitton wallet...until I got back to the US and actually looked at it closely, in the daytime, not drunk :-) Oh well, it's still a great story!!!!!

We wandered around some more, got some food, then (I think) made our way back to the hotel. But there was no way I was getting to sleep. I hadn't been sleeping well anyway, and getting back at 5 am after being out in Seoul, it wasn't happening that night. Oh, and we had a plan to get on the bus for an added tour to the DMZ the next (well, actually, that same) morning! My plan was to stay up...and skip the tour. Stay tuned for the next installment of Kelly in Seoul!

Korea Journey Day 3 - Sunday, August 17th

We woke up to a fabulous buffet breakfast in the slightly strange educational center "hotel". Great food, and amusing music - "Going to the Chapel" and Elvis songs stand out in my mind. And then it's...you guessed it...back on the bus!

We toured two temples that day. When we got to the first, I seriously did not want to get out of the bus and look at another temple. I got out though, and, wanting to get away from the group, I got way behind as they followed the guide on a trail. It was a stunning morning. This path was so breathtaking, with lush green mountains with a misty fog hanging in the air.





Next we went to another temple! This one was bigger, and we spent more time learning about different Buddhist traditions. For example, did you know that the swastika is a Buddhist symbol for reincarnation? Yup. Hitler took it and twisted it for his insane mind. Now you know.





After the temples and a strange lunch in a restaurant with questionable smells, we moved on to SEOUL!!! It was a five hour bus ride, so we settled in to our seats for the trip. On the way we watched the extraordinary film The Butterfly Effect 2 (betcha didn't know there was a sequel!) and Rocky. We got to stop at some of Korea's amazing rest stops (have I talked about them before?). They are great. They are big and clean and neon-y, with a cafeteria-type restaurant inside selling all sorts of foods, and a convenience store with packaged food and drinks. They blow our rest stops out of the water.

Getting in to Seoul wasn't as exciting as the drive in to Busan for some reason. Maybe we took the way with less neon. But the huge high-rises started out sparsely then got more and more dense as we drove in. And before we knew it, we were, in Seoul, I guess! What did we do when we got in to Seoul...According to our itinerary, we were to visit "the most biggest ordinaly market Nam-Dai-Moon Shy-Zhang", then "cheak in hotel and take a rest." But we didn't visit the market...what did we do?? Ah. Yes. First we ate at a tourist restaurant. They had excellent tourist. Ha ha just kidding, we had another bibimbap in a stone bowl. It wasn't as cool as the first time. Then we did just go straight to the hotel, the Koreana!! The good news - Christina and I had our own room. The bad news - this was the worst hotel yet. The outside was super nice, great lobby, plush, great doormen, etc. But the rooms were a bit shabby, stained carpet and furniture, etc. Oh well. We'd be here for two nights!

After we checked in, we met up with some folks and hit a Hof. I was with mostly other folks from my Damyang camp, so we chatted about camp. I was tired after that. They kept on going, and Shelly and I walked home! And that was the first day in Seoul.

Korea Journey Day 2 - Saturday, August 16th

So after a good night's sleep in our super swank hotel, we wake up to a slightly overcast morning in Busan. This is our free day at the beach! Except...it's only 2 hours. From...9 am to 11 am. Wow. We don't make it up in time to catch the bus to the beach at 8:40, so Christina and I walk. It takes about 20 minutes, and we get a feel for the city on foot. It's a pretty neat beach town! Once there, the beach activities are just getting started for the day. There are lots of people swimming in the ocean already. We take a long walk on the edge of the ocean. Koreans like to go swim fully clothed.





The beach was very beautiful, and even though we only had a short time, it was a very relaxing morning! On the way back, we wandered through the alleys next to the beach which in a few hours would be packed with people eating lunch. There was booth after booth set up with live fish, that you would presumably pick out and have prepared for you on the spot.




After the beach, we had lunch at this AMAZING restaurant in Busan. We were up on the second floor, and we could look out the big windows and see the ocean. It was a restaurant where we sat on the floor. They had a great meal for us veggies: bibimbap served in a smoking hot stone bowl. The rice was on the bottom, and it was still cooking when presented to us. So we let it sizzle for a few more minutes, then when we stirred everything up, the rice was brown and crispy and delicious! Mmmm.

We left Busan after that. I would really like to come back to that city someday! It reminded me of the pictures I've seen of Rio or other cities in South America - ocean surrounded by mountains, crowded with high rises and the hills overflowing with homes and buildings on the mountains, that look like they could all fall over any minute.

Lunch in Busan

Leaving Busan


After lunch it was back on the bus! It was turning out to be a gray rainy day! And cold. And of course the bus was FREEZING!! I had my fab pashmina with me though, so I snuggled in that.

We headed to Gyeong-Ju, an historical city with lots of ancient artifacts. First we toured the Gyeong-Ju International Museum. It was pretty neat - but what I mos remember now is that I found a soda machine, and enjoyed a can of Pepsi and watched the rain from underneath the museum roof. That was very pleasant. The museum was made up of several buildings with different objects and art in each. Another feature, like at every temple, was the big bell.

I was really moved by this Buddha statue:

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but this weekend in Korea was their Independence holiday, so these historical sites and temples that we visited over the weekend were crowded with people celebrating the holiday!

From the museum we moved on to the burial site. We drove by all of these beautiful, perfectly shaped mounds. We got out to tour one of them. On the way there, it was barely sprinkling. We went inside one of the mounds, and our guide told us the history and meaning. When we got outside, it was actually raining. I'd gone this whole time resisting buying an umbrella, and really wishing I had one now! I clomped back to the bus and got back in, soaking and cold. I dried off with my towel, as best as I could.



We went to dinner after that. The bus driver had some trouble finding the entrance to the restaurant. He pulled some pretty crazy moves in our huge tour bus. But we had a great dinner that night - one where more dishes kept coming out, it seemed like it would never end! Then we checked into our hotel, the Gyeong-Ju Educational Center. The hotel wasn't as nice as before. It was very old-fashioned, almost 60's style (?), but it was very clean. But tiny. And there were three of us again. And two beds. What!? We did get another roll-away bed. And, like it says on our itinerary, we "cheak in hotel and take a rest."

After Mokpo - Friday, August 15th

So I left off in Mokpo, where I had my own room at the Shangria Hotel. We had an amazing dinner with the Governor, and saw Batman at a theater.

The next morning, we boarded our two buses and headed for Busan! We had a late start for some reason. Then, after we'd only gone a few blocks, we pull over because a guy on our bus feels sick. We wait for a taxi to come to take him to the hospital, later finding out that he has a kidney stone! Oooh. So, we had an even later start. We are supposed to visit a tea farm, but instead skip that and go straight on to our second "experience," Nak-An Castle. This is a traditional village that people visit to get a sense of what it was like centuries ago. We tour around the village. Then we had an experience making a traditional fan by gluing strips of paper onto a pre-made fan. Next we had an experience dyeing cloth with pigments made from nature - green tea, gardenia flower, clay, etc. That was actually pretty fun! It got us in the shade for awhile at least - it was sooo hot that day.


My cloth drying - I tried a little tie-dye!

Scenes from the village.





After a sweet-potato-heavy lunch, we went to the Sun-Chen Bey bird place. Here, we walked along wooden decks over a reed-grass area looking at nature. Amongst the reeds, we could see little crabs all over the place! The weather had turned cooler, and it was quite nice walking in the area with a cool breeze blowing.


See the crabs?

Next we drove on to Busan! Busan is a port city, known for shipbuilding and fish markets. We were scheduled to go to what our itinerary says is "the most bigest fish market in east northern Asia", then eat dinner then go to our hotel. After our long day we were wishing we could just go straight to the hotel, but alas. We got to the fish market around 7:30 pm (late). When we got off the bus, the fish smell was immediately overwhelming - it hit you in the face, oh! It was a crowded market, and all 60 of us were supposed to walk down this narrow street together. I wasn't enthusiastic about this at first, but the fish market was really amazing. Stall after stall was stacked with fish, some in tanks, most layed out on tables. Every fish imaginable. Then we went through what was I guess a restaurant area, where you could pick out your fish and have it prepared right there.








We didn't eat dinner at the fish market though, and instead went to this tourist restaurant. Then we checked into our hotel. But this time, instead of getting my own room, I had TWO roomates! Christina, Tori and I checked into our room on the 17th floor. The room was actually very swank - modern, the kitchen hidden behind a smooth wall, very nice bathroom - except that it was a little cramped with three of us. Oh well.

Stay tuned for the next episode!