Korea, Land of the Morning Calm

Day One, The Arrival
Having never traveled out of the US, I was a bit apprehensive about a 15 hour flight. However, Korean Air proved to be a great carrier. One a side note, something I noticed immediately was the amount of effort put into to the uniform look of the flight attendants. It went way beyond their attire. Hairstyle, makeup, even their mannerisms were a mirror image of each other. Was this simply a trait of Korean Air or my first glimpse at Korean culture?

I later found out that it was indeed a mark of Korean culture. Korea's international face is extremely important to Koreans. As Korea becomes more and more present on the global market, so does their desire to be seen as equally efficient as their island counterpart, Japan. Which is somewhat ironic, but more on that later maybe.

Fast-forwarding 13 hours into the flight I started to get a bit "squirrely." By the time I landed and went through customs I was extremely glad to be in Seoul. That was until my friend Joyce, whom I went to visit, informed me that I was actually in Incheon. Seoul was another 2 hour bus ride away...
Don't get motion sickness you say? Have great sea legs? HA! Take a ride on a Korean public bus for more than 30 minutes and see what you think then! I spent most the bus ride looking at the floor wishing the Cran-Raisins I had ran through earlier, were not about to run OUT of me.

2 hours later, SEOUL! ....and into a Taxi...

for the blogging novice, click any of the pics for a larger view


As you can see, the motion sickness was not going to end just yet. Luckily the taxi ride was no more than 15 minutes and my feet were back on solid ground. That night I crashed pretty hard knowing tomorrow was going to be my first real day in a culture completely different than my own. Of course I had no idea just how different...

Day Two, Seoul & Insadong
In anticipation of a full day, we woke the next morning pretty early. We walked a bit through Joyce's neighborhood before heading for the subway. I really dug the look of all the apartments, and shops along the the streets. I didn't get as many pictures of her neighborhood as I'd have liked too, but here's a few.





Our first stop for the day was to see the Jongmyo Royal Shrine. Its actually a series of shrines, here's a brief rundown:

Jongmyo has two shrines, one housing the ancestral tablets for the great kings and one for the not so great kings, queens and others. Jongmyo makes for a nice hour stroll. It was built in 1394 by order of King Taejo and expanded by King Sejong who built the Yeongnyeongjeon Hall. The original buildings were destroyed by the Japanese in the 1590s, then the entire complex was rebuilt in 1601 and still survives today. Jongmyo has 19 chambers for 19 kings and their 30 queens. Two kings are not enshrined here. When constructed, this was thought to be the longest building in Asia, and is still the longest building of Korean traditional construction in existence.

Now on to the pics...





They must have known I was coming, as you can see a readily available fire extinguisher at the door of the shrine.



















After getting a good feel for the lay of the land I decided it was time for a closer look at things...after all, how tight could security be?





OK! So the place was locked down a little tighter than I had expected...



Still, I came, I saw, I...



Well anyway, on to the next stop - The changing of the guards at City Hall. I expected something pretty short and formal....not so much. The changing of the guard in Seoul is a mini parade and a very entertaining thing to witness. Getting more than I expected turned out to be the theme of the trip.

Ahhhh, City Hall.






Across from City Hall was were the changing of the guards took place. I could tell from the looks of the place it was going to be quite authentic.



Er, umm...minus the Dunkin' Donuts of course...



Here's some video of the opening portion.



The whole thing was very entertaining and well done. London could take a few notes from these guys.



Side Note: I'm pretty sure this guy plays bass on the weekends. Just a thought.


























After the parade was over and the guards had took their place, I decided to test their awareness skills...



As I suspected, while these guys are pretty impressive in their appearance, they lack the cat-like reflexes needed to survive in a real battle.



Next on the day's agenda was Insadong. Insadong is a more traditional district/neighborhood of Seoul. Its mostly made up of shops selling antiques, traditional arts, and foods. We did some walking around and stopped in at a Buddhist restaurant for lunch. The traditional food we ate was vegetarian and featured very different textures than what you find state-side. The setting was extremely peaceful and the glass, atrium-like roof was pretty amazing. I would have loved to come back for dinner with the night sky in full view.















As we left, I decided to grab some luck on the way out.



After an interesting meal in Insadong we headed for our last stop of the day, Changdeokgung. Changdeokgung (Changdeok Palace) is a palace set within a large park in Jongno-gu, Seoul. It is one of the "Five Grand Palaces" built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty and because of its location east of Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeokgung is also referred to as the East Palace. I also did some research and found the literal translation to be "Palace of Prospering Virtue."

Over all it was an amazing thing to see and walk through. My favorite part of the palace by far, was the entrance into the Secret Garden. A tall group of stone steps (which are EVERYWHERE in South Korea!) lead to a stone archway. It really felt like something out of a storybook. See for yourself.

















































Entrance to the Secret Garden:




Breath taking, huh? It was simply amazing to see it in person and walk the grounds. It had such a peaceful vibe. I would love to be able to see it at night, and could have stayed there all day, but North Korea was tomorrow and I needed to plot my take over.

[North Korea can be viewed in separate post.]

I got back into Seoul around 6pm. From there we immediately hopped on a bus for a 5 hour bus ride down to Busan(Pusan) in order to see the south coast. Here's map for a visual.



We got in Busan and to our hotel around 1am. A little info on Korean hotels:
1. Koreans traditional sleep on tissue-covered floors. So if you ask for a room with a bed, the mattress is about as hard as a box-spring.
2. Technology such as LCD TVs are readily available as most of the world's LCD crystals are manufactured in South Korea. Its because of this that monitors are everywhere and apparently every room comes with a 50 inch! Sweet!

Although they could have kept the TV and hooked a guy up with a pillow-top. No such luck however, so moving on.





Day Four, Busan and Its Elusive Main Gate
Busan Metropolitan City, is also known as Pusan. Its is the largest port city in the Republic of Korea. It is home to the largest seafood markets in South Korea, the BCFM. With a population of about 3.65 million, Busan is also South Korea's second largest metropolis, after Seoul. The most densely built up areas of the city are situated in a number of narrow valleys between the Nakdong River and Suyeong River, with mountains separating some of the various districts.







After walking around and finding a place for breakfast we got on a bus and headed to the outskirts of Busan to see the Main Gate of an old fortress. What we didn't know is that the fortress was really a wall with four gates. This wall surrounded literately miles and miles of the countryside and the Main Gate turned out to be quite elusive....more on that later...





It was here the journey to the elusive main gate began, on foot.



I don't speak Korean but in retrospect I think this rock said something along the lines of "Big ass mountain, vertical hike from hell, so LOL @ you, foreigner!"



The hike to the Main Gate was something I wish I could have captured better with photos. The scenery along the way was pristine. Small farms where everywhere and the the crops looked as fresh as you will find in nature.







Cabbage anyone?


The wild plantlife was as exotic as the crops where fresh.





After a good vertical hike we reached what we thought was the main gate. It turns out we were quite off. We explored this gate(West) and went looking for the main gate only to never find it. The locals had about as much of an idea to where it was as we did. Some said East, some said West, some said South. I finally concluded this gate is on wheels and the locals just push it around the countryside as a prank to the few foreigners you make the hike up to see it.

West Gate:




















Apparently if you did not have a decorative green roof back in the day, your place just wasn't the spot to be.




This stone pathway is actually the top of a great wall. to the left is grass, but to the right are actually the tops of huge pines, not bushes. The vertical drop was further down than I could see.







After spending the entire day looking for the Main Gate and exploring the West Gate, we turned away feeling accomplished and defeated. However, right as we were leaving we met two (good)demons that whispered directions to the Main Gate in our ears. We decided to save the second journey to the gates for the next day. We still had to get back into the city with enough energy to sight see.



City of Busan at night:




In the shopping district of Busan, the main streets were outlined with alternating, multicolor lights. Quite the "OZ" effect. Check out the video:







Day Five, Seafood Market & The Main Gate
We headed out early as usual to see one of the largest seafood markets in South Korea. It was an outdoor market right on the ports. While the catch was fresh, the air was quite the opposite. Most of the vendors carried live seafood, if not it was sun-dried. The vendors that offered live seafood would also cook and prepare it for you if needed. Over all is was pretty interesting to see.



















MMMMMMM....no?




...I have no idea...and I don't think they do either...


















After all that, a lil slice of Heaven appeared.



After the Seafood market I decided to take the rest of the day off. Joyce was determined to find the Main Gate, so back she went. If you know her, this is typical of Joyce. She is never going to let anything get the best of her, and the Main Gate was no acception.



















Day Six, Temple by the Sea
Joyce had found reference to a temple on the Sea the day before. We decided to go check it out and I'm glad we did. It proved to be something I'll never forget seeing. On the way up to the temple you were greeted by a statue of Buddha and a row of statues symbolizing Asian astrology.





Rooster, checking in!






















Amazing scene isn't it?








Down to the temple we go:


Wishing fountains, easy way to lose five bucks in coins, trust me! Very addictive!


I'd have killed for a Slinky!


At the main house of the temple a woman was praying so peacefully it kind of caught you in the moment. You got the impression she had been their for some time. She looked to be totally at peace and a lot farther away from us than we were to her. It was inspiring to see some one in a pure spiritual moment, apposed to just a religious one.



Got Buddha?


If not they can lend you some, sheesh!


The dragon statue was straight out of a Bruce Lee flick. Worshipers left small dolls and trinkets all over it as tributes.





It probably wasn't good that I spotted this interesting statue on a cliff. But I did and well, you'll see...





Hey, just doing what the statue told me to!


I'm pretty sure this guy had the right idea although mine was more fun.




Buddah were everywhere, even in the bushes!


Worshipers drinking blessed water:










Underground area of worship:


As we were leaving, hours later, guess what we passed by?



As I said before, inspiring.

After we left the temple we headed for the train station to start our way back to Seoul.

Complete side note: Ambulance by Hyundai?


Train Station:


Day Seven, Rest!
After getting back into Seoul we spent day seven of my trip resting up.

Day Eight, The DMZ
Heres is a quick run down on the DMZ and some of it's history:

The 38th parallel north — which cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly in half — was the original boundary between the UN-controlled and Soviet-controlled areas of Korea at the end of World War II. Upon the creation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, informally North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (ROK, informally South Korea) in 1948, it became a de facto international border and one of the most tense fronts in the Cold War.

Both the North and the South remained heavily dependent on their sponsor states from 1948 through to the outbreak of the Korean War. The conflict, which claimed over three million lives and divided the Korean Peninsula along ideological lines, commenced on June 25, 1950, with a Soviet-sponsored DPRK invasion across the DMZ, and ended in 1953 after international intervention pushed the front of the war back to near the 38th parallel. In the ceasefire of July 27, 1953, the DMZ was created as each side agreed in the armistice to move their troops back 2,000 metres (2,200 yd) from the front line, creating a buffer zone 2.5 miles (4 km) wide. The Military Demarcation Line (MDL) goes down the center of the DMZ and indicates exactly where the front was when the agreement was signed. Since the armistice agreement was never followed by a peace treaty, the two Koreas are still technically at war.

Owing to this theoretical stalemate, and genuine hostility between the North and the South, large numbers of troops are still stationed along both sides of the line, each side guarding against potential aggression from the other side. The armistice agreement explains exactly how many military personnel and what kind of weapons are allowed in the DMZ. Soldiers from both sides may patrol inside the DMZ, but they may not cross the MDL. Sporadic outbreaks of violence due to North Korean hostilities killed over 500 South Korean soldiers and 50 U.S. soldiers along the DMZ between 1953 and 1999.

ROK Soldier:


Meeting houses lay on the border fo North and South Korea. The blue ones belong to South Korea and the grey ones belong to North Korea.







North Korean flag pole. At 525ft tall, it is the tallest flag pole in the world.


North Korean countryside:


North Korean watch tower:


South Korean watch tower:


Below is a picture of the Monument dedicated to Captin Bonifas, killed in the "Axe Murder Incident" of 1976.The Axe Murder Incident was the killing of two United States Army officers by North Korean soldiers on August 18, 1976 in the Joint Security Area (JSA) located in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which forms the de facto border between North and South Korea. The killings and the response three days later (Operation Paul Bunyan) heightened tensions between North and South Korea as well as their respective allies, China and the United States.The incident is also known as the Hatchet Incident and the Poplar Tree Incident because the object of the conflict was a poplar tree standing in the JSA.



Below is the Bridge of No Return. Located in the Joint Security Area (JSA), the so-called "Bridge of No Return" crosses the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) between North Korea and South Korea. It was used for prisoner exchanges at the end of the Korean War in 1953. The name originates from the fact that prisoners were given the choice to remain in the country of their captivity or cross over to the other country. But if they chose to cross the bridge, they would never be allowed to return.



After a pretty full day at the DMZ we hung out in Itaewon(Foreign District of Seoul) and went for a night walk in Joyce's neighborhood.







Day Nine, Visiting Joyce's School & Traditional Korean Play
On my last full day in Korea I went to visit the elementary school where Joyce teaches English. Its located in Gunpo, a suburb of Seoul. She had four classes that day and all were pretty energetic. I enjoyed helping out a little and getting to know the kids there.

Early morning on the subway, the quietest I ever saw Seoul:


Joyce's School




Like I said, the classes where energetic:


Joyce and I discussing modern American culture with the classs:






Helping grade some papers:




Saying goodbye:




After spending the day at the school we went to see a traditional Korean play. I don't know what I as expecting but I got way more than I thought; which by then I should have been used too by then. It was one of the most interesting and talented performances I had seen. The actors played traditional instruments, sang, and acted...sometimes all at once! I was really blown away at the whole performance.

The Theater it was held at had an extremely tranquil setting. There was a courtyard, pond, eating houses, and enough wooded area to make you feel like you were really in the time period.











Pictures wouldn't have done the play justice, so here's some video:















Pretty amazing right? After the show was over some of the performers were nice enough to take pictures with us.



After the play we hit the club scene had a great time in Seoul. Our stops included a place called Bungalows where most of the floor was covered in sand, An ice bar where the entire place is made of blocks of ice and sub-0 jackets are needed to party, a Hookah club that at times has water running in canals along the floor, and a place called Bricks that had real trees growing inside of it. Needless to say it was a great way to spend my last night in Korea.

Day Ten, Flying Home.
The trip back sucked! I'll take Korean Air over Delta any day. It was 13 hours of Turbulence so bad my drinks where spilling. I almost kissed the ground when I was finally back in the States. Of course it was all worth it!



It was hard to say good-bye to Korea after having such amazing adventures there, but it was even harder to say goodbye to the wonderful person that made it all possible. Thanks again Joyce and I can't wait for the next big adventure!