Chuseok part 2

So, I think I had just finished talking about dodgy Russians in "Texas St". Having made it through the night, we decided that we would continue on the tourist trail and visit a Buddhist temple. We chose Beomosa as it was quite close to where we were staying and is described by Lonely Planet (cheers Stewartie) as being "magnificent". So, we took a taxi up a long and winding road (overtaking EVERYTHING) and arrived at said temple. It was certainly impressive, but maybe the LP writers had had a few too many iced coffees when they visited. We walked around, took lots of photos whilst at the same time wondering if we should be, and absorbed the peace of our surroundings. I think that was the thing that I noticed more than the buildings, was a feeling of peace and calm. It was amazing, so quiet and peaceful. We saw a monk praying, and also went for a walk into the nearby forest and played about at a stream, as all 23 year olds should do. Here are some piccies:

One of the main temple buildings (there were lots) and a stone statue. Very aptmospheric I think.

One of the "guards" at the main temple entrance.

Some of the designs painted onto one of the buildings. It is so intricate. There were some guys re-painting a part of one the buildings when we were there. It makes our idea of decorating seem pretty easy!

Boys on a bridge!

After exploring the temple we headed back down the hill and caught the subway back into town to visit Asia's largest jjimjilbang (bath house) called "Hurshimchung". Now, I had been told about bath houses in Korea by Gordie who is a regular up in Incheon, but I dont think any of us were really prepared for this one. It was Chuseok, so the place was mobbed. We paid, put our shoes in wee lockers and headed in (it was segregated I should point out at this point). You are immediately confronted by lots of naked men in the changing rooms. Fine, you see that a bit in swimming pools in the UK and getting changed for football etc. Only difference here was that you stay naked. Clothes off, and out into a massive domed area ( when you looked up it looked like the main staircase area from "Titanic".) And everyone is naked. And you are the only Westerners in the whole place. You can picture the scene....maybe.

We tried out a few of the different pools (hot ones, cold ones, red ones (cherry), green ones (citrus) and an outdoor one.) but because we were all suffering from sunburn due to over-exposure on the beach 2 days previously we were really confined to the warm/tepid pools only. We also went for a sauna which was good, I jumped into a cold pool right after I came out.....ahhhhh!

All in all it was a surreal, but enjoyable experience. Obviously I didnt take any photos inside but here is one of the sign that greets you when you go in.

In case you can't make it out, it says: "Welcome to Hurshimchung - the best spa in the world" Enough said.

That night we planned to go out again but ended up falling asleep in our room. We woke at about 2am, went out for dinner then went back to sleep. Classic Korea.

The train back up to Seoul was at 10am, it followed the same route and was very similar to the journey down, only we were all feeling much better and, funnily enough, we were going in the opposite direction.

Upon our arrival in Seoul we spent some time looking for somewhere to stay. We tried lots of nice hotels, but a combination of very casual dress and not phoning ahead meant we were not being offered good deals. So, we checked into a love motel. Now, horrendous as it may sound, for £15 each we got two rooms with double beds, massive TV's and the usual hotel stuff, plus some other things I won't go into. If you block out their main purpose they are actually ok to stay in.

We then headed over the river to the "63 Building", the 3rd highest building in Seoul, which unbeliveably has 63 floors. it houses a Imax cinema, aquariam and a observation deck on the 60th floor. We bought tickets for that and the aquariam, which was Ok, they had a turtle, some penguins, seals, otters, snakes and lots of fish but we all agreed that we had enjoyed the fish in the markets more than the ones in the 63 building. Maybe we were just fished out, I don't know. Here is a photo of me with a plastic polar bear (?) and a video of some penguins. (for you mum)

Some of the penguins had been confined to little cages. I think they were the naughty ones. Maybe they had been out drinking too late the night before and were caught, or I think they were maybe taunting the turtle in the tank opposite.

After the aquarium we headed up in the lift (I was all up for the stairs....... :) to the 60th floor. The views were amazing. You could see the Han river (the big river that flows through Seoul) and a good amount of Seoul itself too. Over towards Incheon was a bit hazy but I most enjoyed getting an idea of the sheer scale of Seoul itself. It really is huge. Here are a couple of photos though it is difficuilt to gauge from them just how big it really is.

The view down......not great for someone like me who doesnt like heights!

Looking up the Han river.

We had a beer, then headed down and back to the motel. It was at this point that my camera died, so I have no more photos, though to be honest that was the sightseeing over anyway. We headed out that night in Seoul, and then back to Incheon the next day.

I am now back teaching, although tomorrow is Friday, and then it's the weekend! We have another day off next week (wednesday) so I think I will head into Incheon proper and have a look around. For now though, I hope you have enjoyed seeing what I've been up to over Chuseok and i'll keep blogging in future. Let me know if you think there's too much writing or photos or whatever, i've never done this before so I need to know how i'm doing!

Neilx

Chuseok part 1

Hi,

We are nearly finished a three day holiday here in Korea called Chuseok, a time which Koreans traditionally use to go back to their home town and get together with all the family. We used it to head down to Busan, Korea's second largest city which is down on the South-East coast.

The adventure began on Friday night after work when myself, Neil and Gordie (a boy from Stirling uni who has been out here for 9 months now) met up and headed into Seoul for a night out. Our train was at 7am so we packed light and just stayed out on the town until then. It made for a rather hungover train ride down, but saved us getting a room for the night!

The train that we caught to Busan is called the KTX, and is the Korean equivelant of the TGV in France. It puts Virgin and GNER to shame. Punctual to the second, quiet, clean and very fast (300+km/hr at some points) it got us down to Busan in around 3 hours. I managed to stay awake almost the whole way and watched the countryside whizz by. Koreans seem to enjoy erecting massive apartment blocks pretty much anywhere, and to be honest a lot of the scenery on the way down was a repetetive procession of roads, apartment blocks, rice fields and densely forested hills. Interesting, but very similar. Here's a few pictures of the journey.

Off we go!

<- A typical sight on the train...lots of apartments

Gordie on the KTX! ->

We also knew a few other folk who were going to be in Busan that night so we got a taxi to where they were staying and managed to get a room there as well. It was called the Arpina Youth Hostel, but it may as well have been called the Arpina Hotel. For £15 a night we got a 3 bed room with balcony, Sky TV, en-suite bathroom, mini fridge and all the other usual hotel like stuff. The "hostel" itself had a swimming pool, golf driving range, sauna and gym. Ridiculous!

After we unpacked and had a wee sleep we headed down to the nearby Hae-Undae beach, which is reckoned to be Busan's best (there are 7 others I think). It was pretty quiet, but apparantly in July it is wall-to-wall parasols. We had a swim in the warmish water and got very burnt. With a bit of a breeze blowing it creeps up on you!

Thought I'd give you all a laugh. I think that was pre-burning.

That night we sampled the Busan nightlife (very good) and had a steak dinner at Vips (Vips anyone?) which was actually pretty good. The Koreans aren't the best at steaks but mine was very tasty.

On Sunday we took a boat ride from near Hae-Undae beach under the Gwangandaegyo bridge, a big bridge (really?) that connects different bits of Busan. It was rather surreal, the tour was interspersed by bits of Korean pop music and also a smooth talking captain presumably pointing out the sights (all in Korean). We also had the pleasure of being accompanied by a suit and sunglasses-wearing Korean man who basically abandoned his own family to come and stand (very close) to us. Gordie has some photos of him which I will steal from Bebo and post here when he puts them up. Here are some of my photos and a video (thanks to Neil Munro for the Die Hard 4 commentary) of us going under the bridge.

Hae-Undae beach from the sea.

the bridge.

I also saw what I think is the Korean equivalent of Tobermory.

After the boat ride we caught a taxi to the Jagalachi fish market (Korea's largest). It was amazing. Thousands of stalls selling live fish of all kinds, dead fish, dried fish, squid and octopus, shellfish, massive crabs, and lots of other things. Combine this with the smell, lots of people shouting and trying to get you to buy from them, and it was almost too much. We wandered around, I took hundreds of photos, here are a couple plus a video of something horrible......we now think it might have been an eel that had been skinned alive (yeah i know).

We then proceeded to try some of things we had just seen. First up was what we think was a sea worm. It was cut up into chunks and served in a spicy sauce, it was very rubbery. I had a few bits but couldnt really handle the texture, and we didnt come close to finishing the plate. The second dish, a whole grilled fish (something a bit like a snapper I think) was much better. We had it with the usual assortment of side dishes and it was a very tasty meal, the fish tasted very fresh and was full of flavour. In the picture below the fish is furthest plate away, the closest is a bowl of soup with tofu in it. The red stuff is Kimchi (which I am becoming addicted to).

After dinner we headed back to the hostel for a rest and then tried to go out and watch the Man U vs Chelsea game, but got a bit lost and couldnt find anywhere. We ended up in an area called "Texas St" which was full of Russian sailors and prostitutes. It was the most uncomfortable I have felt since arriving in Korea, but we made a swift exit and moved elsewhere. And on that happy note........... :) I will finish this installment. The rest of our time in Busan and our day in Seoul will follow shortly, until then, I hope everyone back home is well.

Lots of love, Neil

Address

Hello,

I now know my address in Korea so if anyone is around these parts and wants to drop by for a cup of tea and some rice please do.
It's:

Ganseok Il Dong
508-141 Tae Yang Joo Tack
102 Ho
Nam Gu
Incheon City
SOUTH KOREA

My flat number is the 3rd line down.........bizarre.

Things here are fine, there is a typhoon passing between us and Japan that is causing some rain, I am going to buy an umbrella, but a man let me hide under his yesterday, people are so nice here!

Love to all,
Neil

Rocking!

Hello everyone!

2 and a half weeks in, and a wee update. We went to a rock concert in Seoul yesterday, it was all Korean bands, but they did some covers of some western songs too (snow patrol Korean style anyone?). We got there at about 3 (it started at 1) after a mammoth subway journey from Incheon. The concert was on what I think was a playing field at Seoul university, which had a beautiful campus, it reminded me a bit of Stirling. The buildings looked deceptively old, but I'm sure they are pretty new (as most buildings in Korea seem to be!)

I had a great time, even managed to get down the front later on and mosh with all the Koreans! It was the Scotland vs Lithuania game yesterday too (as some of you may know......3-1, yes!) so I had my "see you Jimmy" hat on. Here's a couple of photos of the concert itself and a video I took when I was up on the terrace watching, and trying to sing along to songs that I had no idea what the words were (must have looked like John Redwood).

After the concert we went into Itaweon and watched the game in a PC "bang" (like an internet cafe but mainly used by Korean hardcore online gamers) and then had a night out in Seoul. Another morning trip back on the subway!

The teaching is still going well, I start phone conversations next week (where I call some of my students and have a chat) so that will mean some later finishes but I've been told its pretty easy.

I now have some speakers for my computer, Neil and I went to E mart (bit like John Lewis), he bought lots of stuff for his flat and I bought a subwoofer and 2 wee speakers! the flat is starting to feel more homely! We had dinner in Emart too, and I think we'll go back because its cheap and they have plastic replicas of all the food so you can point and say in a Little Britain Andy style "I want that one!" It will certainly be useful for learning food types.

Ok i'm off for a jog, need to work off last nights excess. Hope everyone is weel back home.

Lots of Love,

Neil