With the Muths at work all day, Joylani and I went out to explore Busan on our own today. We headed down to Nampo-dong, where there were a couple of sights that sounded pretty interesting. The first was Yongdu-san Park and Busan Tower, which sat atop of its hills. Rather than hike up hill, there was a series of covered escalators leading up, which was nice given that it was pretty hot out. The main park area was small, but pretty interesting. The first group of people we came across was old men. Dozens of old men filled the shaded area of the park, talking in pairs, playing board games, or huddled over watching one. Then there were the families out for a stroll. We also passed a group of Mormons talking and preparing to go out to hassle people- I’ve seen them all over the country. And then on our walk towards Busan Tower, a huge field trip of school children crossed our path. Perhaps it wasn’t the park that was that interesting, just the cross-section of the Busan population that we glimpsed.

Busan Tower was nothing more than a caf and observation deck balanced on a really, really tall tower. Although simple, I quite enjoyed being up there, if not just for the surrounding views of the city. The observation deck was cylindrical and thus we could walk all the way around and, on a clear day like today, have unlimited visibility in every direction. Well not the parts of the city that were bound in by mountains, but we could see the sprawling city rolling over the nearby hills and extending right up to the ocean and harbor. Busan is a crowded and compact city, for buildings are all tall and packed together, but its orderly and clean. The grid of streets and blocks was clear from up there and things below looked orderly. I’ve said it a couple times in this blog, but I feel like you can really learn a lot about city by viewing it from above.

After Busan tower, we headed to the waterfront to check out the several-blocks-long Jagalchi Fish Market. One section was super busy and crowded, which was outdoors in some back alleys. Old ladies had tables full of fish, octopus, rays, sharks, you name it. Beyond the delicious-looking tables piled high with fish, this part of the market was most interesting because of its people. The peddlers yelling and bargaining, constantly shifting their umbrellas to adjust to the moving sun, and the descaling, gutting, and chopping of fish. The second part of the market was indoors and pretty mellow, but there were way more interesting seafoods; plenty of eels and worms, all kinds of shellfish, huge cuts of sashimi-grade meat, and the biggest crabs I’ve ever seen in my life. Between Busan Tower and the fish market, I think we saw two of Busan’s best sights. Although I’m a bit biased because I love seafood and seafood markets and Joylani says I’m a nerd for going up tall towers. One last thing to mention and will hopefully get a gasp or chuckle from our readers is this: I woke up with a mosquito bite on my eyelid which swelled my eye shut.

En route to Busan (aka Pusan), our bus stopped for a short break.  While the driver took his lunch, the other passengers milled about the rest stop, buying snack and chatting on their phones.  Matt bought an ice-cream cone, and I found a bag of Sun Chips.  We noticed a group of travelers milling about the parking lot, each with a waffle in hand.  I could see the nun through the bus window, and she had one.  Matt and I decided to get one as well.  The closer we stepped toward the waffle booth, the stronger we could smell its toasty malted waffle goodness.  Matt handed over a thousand won and the woman pulled a fresh waffle off the iron.  She smothered it in butter, then drizzled amber colored honey over the whole thing before folding it in half, wrapping it in paper and handing it to Matt.  He took a bite and smiled.  I took one too and savored the warm and crispy flavor of the waffle, complemented by the sweetness of the honey and butter, now dripping onto the paper.  We ended up getting two.

I didn’t get a shot of the waffles (they were eaten too fast), but here is another snack we had one day—a corndog and French fries all in one.

 

After yesterday’s rain-soaked hike and the forecast unlikely to change for at least a day or two, we decided to head down to Busan today. We caught the 10:30 bus for the seven-hour journey. Although longish, the ride was really cool. Although it was raining and the visibility was poor for the first part of the ride, the rain eventually let up. Under the grey skies, we were able to see Korea’s beautiful mountain landscape. While not very tall, the green mountain ranges were steep and many had sharp ridges. Small villages and rice paddies vied for space on the valley bottoms. The road also wound curvily along the coast, which reminded me a lot of the Northern Californian coastline- steep mountains/cliffs, rocky, and rough. The coastal drive here had nicer colors though, as the water was shallower and had a light blue hue and the mountains were noticeably more verdant than anywhere in California. All in all, it was great seven hour drive with scenic rest stops and everything.

As for Busan, we had three reasons to visit. One reason was utilitarian, as ferries to Japan leave from Busan. Secondly, it is Koreaç—´ second largest city and we figured it has a good amount of things to see. And thirdly, but most importantly, we were going to see our friends the Muths. Longtime readers of this blog may recall the story of our long jeep journey from Manali to Leh, Ladakh. Well, its such a trying experience that it really bonds people together. Maybe not, but we did hang out with the Muths a couple more times in Leh and have corresponded a bit by e-mail since. At the time of our meeting, they had been traveling for a year already. A few months after we met, they headed to Busan to teach English for a while. Stories of their travel and teaching adventures can be found at their very cool blog at www.themuths.blogspot.com. Enough background for now. After the bus ride, a subway ride, and a taxi ride, we found Liz waiting for us outside a McDonalds close to their apartment.
They each had to work a couple more hours, so Joylani and showered off and rested at their apartment before they came home and we all went out to eat and catch up. They took us to a nice place with excellent food, I think we got something called pork spine in English, although none of us knows the Korean name. It was really good and they also ordered a bottle of Soju, a Korean sweet-potato liquor. While Joylani is pretty good about having us try new things and everything, nothing’s better than going out with locals who already know the good dishes and places. But better than the food, of course, was seeing the Muths again and catching up with them. I’m glad we enjoy their company and have fun with them, because we’re gonna be staying with them for a few days. It should be good.

Yesterday was bright and sunny.  But since we arrived mid-afternoon, I reasoned with Matt to forget going into the park yesterday in favor of exploring Sokcho, the northern-most town in South Korea, and where we are staying.  So we wandered around for a few hours, nothing too exciting.  Then today we woke up early to head out to Seorak-san National Park in hopes of fitting in lots of hiking and nature.  On our way out down the dimly lit hall I remembered seeing a few clouds around the mountains yesterday.  “Let’s get the rain cover for the pack, just in case.”  We turned around and headed back to the room.

“Should we bring the raincoats too?” Matt asked.  I opened the [frosted] window in our room to get a look at the weather.  It was pouring rain.  The jump in our step came to a halt as we both stood in front of the window looking at the rain, which showed no sign of letting up.  I regretted not going to the park the day before, but there was nothing that could be done now except to carry on as planned.  Matt traded his sneakers for sandals, I rolled up my pants, and we both grabbed our rain jackets.  Heading out to the street, we quickly realized this was a cold rain and not one of the tropical storms we’d grown accustomed to.

After watching cars slide through puddles on the road for 10 minutes, bus number seven came, and we climbed aboard the fogged up bus for the half-hour drive into the park.  We passed by rice paddies and small towns on the way, picking up drenched passengers along the way.  Each closed umbrella dripped its dewy contents onto the floor of the bus, creating tiny streams that led to a wide puddle in the middle of the vehicle.  The last passengers on the bus, we were the only ones who got off as the bus reached its terminus at the Seorak-san National Park entrance.

Rain was falling down steadily, and I knew that we would soon be soaked.  The temperature was actually a little chilly; it felt strange to be in cold rain again.  We huddled under our one small but trusty umbrella and began walking towards the entrance.  I tried my best to avoid deep puddles, my efforts proved unnecessary as soon my shoes were soaked from the water coming from above.  Matt purchased our entry tickets while I contemplated buying a hot coffee from a vending machine, then we walked through the entrance gate and into the park.  The place was practically void of people.  In fact, we probably saw just as many if not more park employees than visitors throughout the day (which I preferred).  The surrounding mountains seemed beautiful, from what I could see.  However, much of the view was blocked by misty rain clouds hugging the hills.

Already soggy, Matt and I trudged along the path toward the start of our desired trail.  Along the way we passed a great Buddha.  It stood about three-stories high, and sat solemnly in the rain.  For a few minutes we watched as water streamed down the Buddah’s face before gathering in streams at the base of its feet.  Not having achieved the same state of contentment as the Buddah, we continued on to our destination: a rock named Heundeul-Bawi, or “rocking boulder.”  This large boulder sits atop an even grander rock, surrounded by many other huge boulders and the Gyejo-am hermitage (a place used by monks for meditation and study for the last 1000+ years).  This particular rock stands out from the rest by its ability to be rocked by visitors without being rolled from its perch near the ledge of the larger stone.  Many puddles and stairs later we realized that we’d actually passed the rock in our hurry to get to it, and not wanting to hike further than we needed, promptly turned back around to head back.  Luckily it was easy to spot coming from the opposite direction.  Matt and I climbed up the first boulder and admired the carvings on the rock before I tried (unsuccessfully) to move Heundeul-Bawi.  It wouldn’t budge.

Happy to have reached our desired objective, Matt and I continued back down the trail to our new destination: our hotel.  It was a soggy but good day.

eves of a temple inside the park

We took a cross-country bus today from Seoul to Sokcho. It took about 3.5 hours to reach our destination; a large portion of the drive seemed to be on bridges and tunnels as we made our way across the mountainous country. The first thing we did when we arrived was make a quick stop at the tourism desk to pick up a map, then we went off in search for a hotel. Passing by the one that looked like a castle, we followed the waving lady wearing a white bucket hat into the hotel across the street. She took us up a flight of stairs, down a hallway past a Shawshank Redemption movie poster, and into room 207. A quick look at the wallpaper and circular bed was all it took. “We’ll take it!” Matt told the lady in not so few words via the help of a translator over the lady’s phone. And so we plopped down our packs and settled into our room for the next couple nights. It is reminiscent of the Darjeeling Limited, minus color-coordinated bathrobes, guys in turbans, and then there’s our luggage, which sadly does not match. Matt asked me, “Have you ever slept on a circle bed before?” “When would I have had a circle bed to sleep on?” I asked back. Matt shrugged and responded, ”It’s like Austin Powers. This,” laying on the bed and demonstrating, “is a circle: you can sleep any direction on this bed and it wouldn’t matter.” So you can. And the hairdryer is pink too. Upon further reflection later in the day, we came to the conclusion that this is not some take-off of the Madonna Inn (San Luis Obispo) but rather most likely a “Love hotel.” Oh well. What’s not to love about this:

 

Today, we saw Seoul’s most famous attraction, the Gyeongbok-gung Palace. I don’t know too much about the palace or its history (it does have a long history though and has been destroyed and rebuilt several times), but it was an interesting place to walk around. The first unique thing about it was the guards posted all around the entrances with fire extinguishers handy in their utility belts.  Spare extinguishers were also readily available at various locations throughout the palace grounds.  Good thing though, as the palace is the largest wooden structure in Korea and the most famous landmark in Seoul (a gate whose name currently escapes me) recently burned down from arson. The complex was comprised of a huge wooden gate and surrounding wall enclosing dozens of buildings. We saw throne rooms, large halls, and living quarters, but the perhaps the coolest thing were the natural features of the palace. Several large ponds were inside, with plenty of shady foliages around and pagodas in the center. Also pretty interesting was the juxtaposition of the palaces and the surrounding environs. Looking back towards the front of the palace, Seoul’s modern skyline loomed. Looking in the opposite direction, the mountains rose even higher. We spent a couple hours there exploring the large grounds. Reading back over this, I realize that this post isn’t too exciting, but that’s because it wasn’t. I mean it was an interesting morning excursion, but it just was a bit anti-climatic given that it was one of Korea’s most famous attractions.

palace garden
As far as national Museums go, I found Korea’s to be very well curated and in a beautiful building.  The exhibits were informative and the artifacts interesting to look at.  Not knowing much about Korean culture or history, I found the one about Hangeul, the masterfully created Korean writing system which is said to be the most logical in the world, particularly intriguing.  I’m not exactly sure how it all works, but apparently it is just very systematic and makes sense–you know, in a way that ”ph” sounding like ”f” doesn’t.  It was developed under the direction of King Sejong of the Joseon dynasty in the 1440s.  He felt there was a need for Koreans to express their words in writing effectively, and the traditional Chinese characters weren’t cutting it.  Hangeul was the answer, this new script successfully expressed the sounds and true meanings of Korean words, though it was not widely used until after 1945.  Even so, October 9, or Hangeul Day, is still celebrated as a national holiday.    

One aspect that makes the museum unique from others is the abundance of sitting lounges placed throughout the museum in various configurations and near windows, offering a peaceful view of the park below.  Many museums do not have so many windows.  The windows were like a display case, creating an exhibit of the outside.  It was almost as if to say, “We have many national treasures inside our museum; nature is a treasure as well.”  (Given the ammount of hiking Koreas partake in, I believe it is true they treasure their surroundings.)  On an even grander scale of outdoor curation is a display above walkway connecting the two sections of the museum.  It is flanked on either side by the buildings, below by a wide staircase, and above by a roofline.  These edges create a massive frame for one of the ultimate open-air artworks: the sky.

The palace was simple, but it was also very beautiful.  Rather than one monstrously huge building, there were dozens of smaller structures spread throughout the grounds.  Beautiful mountains provided a regal backdrop to the compound, to which no man-made garden could compete.  The palace itself is located on the upward part of a hill that slowly slopes up from the city.  Looking out from the buildings, I could see a view of the city from over the palace walls and I imagined the old emperors looking out over their capital.  The grounds were very neatly landscaped.  It wasn’t overdone with loads of flowers and trees; just simple and beautiful grassy areas, old trees, and a couple of peaceful ponds.  The grounds were not crowded and I enjoyed walking around the maze of buildings and walls in search of something exciting.  Like Matt mentioned, there wasn’t anything crazy or extravagant about the palace, but I didn’t come to Korea expecting Peterhoff Palace, and I am glad we had the chance to see how the Korea rulers pimped out their cribs in their own style.

roof decor

 While this is not entirely true, it is a fact that much of my exposure to Korean culture has been through the Korean dramas I watch with my grandma when I visit Hawaii.  Not that that it is representative or anything.  Imagine if someone took General Hospital to be a good representation of American life.  I did, however, mention to Matt that I did recall a good deal of bowing in the shows.  Not sure if this was true to life, I brought it up so that he could be prepared to expect it, just in case.  Sure enough, before we left the airport we had received our first bow.  It was awkward as I don’t think either of us quite knew how to respond.  Now we’ve begun to sprinkle our thank you’s with slight leans forward, as we’re not really sure what entails a bow or how low of a bow when. 
 There are a couple other things I’ve quickly noticed about Koreans: three main components of style.  Grey suits, shiny, and stripes, and any combination there of.

We kicked off our first full day in Seoul with visits to two things we often see in capital cities: national museums and stock markets. We went to the National Museum first, which moved to a new location just a couple of years ago. It’s a really huge building and very-well laid out, as far as museums go. Like many national museums, this one began with Korea’s Neolithic history and once again, we spent way to much time looking at fossilized rice and arrowheads. We did learn a lot about Korean history, which is basically a series of kingdoms, which were split, combined, and attacked by China and Japan. Obviously much space was given to the Joseon Dynasty, which ruled from the 14th century until the Japanese occupation in the 20th. It wouldn’t be very interesting to recount the details here, but it was a somewhat interesting museum, especially since I previously knew very little about Korea or its history. The most interesting galleries for me were the mapmaking/history of Korean contact with the outside world and the Hangul (Korean script which was invented in the 16th century) gallery. But after eight galleries of probably 100 meters each, we were pretty tired. We ate at the museum café, just a simple udong meal. From the museum, we took the subway a few stops to Yeouido Island, a small island in the river. It’s the financial district of Seoul, kind of the Wall Street of Korea. We quickly found the Korean Exchange, where I read there was a small museum dedicated to the securities industry and a viewing room from where visitors could look down on the trading floor. Once past security, we were led to a large cavernous room with many displays and ticker symbols and prices on large LED boards on the walls. The sign said that this room was the exchange. One of the exhibits explained that the KRX (Korean Exchange) went to all electronic trading a few years ago- guess my guidebook was out of date. Although I wasn’t able to see a real live trading floor, the place was interesting and their information displays were interesting: history of the Korean market, old stocks and bonds, synopsis of other large exchanges around the world, etc. It was unique addition to my circuit of Asia’s exchanges.

After all my stressing about arriving in Seoul, it actually wasn’t too bad. Immigration and customs were a breeze. The airport had an internet café, which we hopped on for a few minutes to get the names, addresses, and directions for a couple of possible guesthouses in the city. Then we took a bus from Incheon into Seoul. It was a really nice bus- big plush leather seats and even seatbelts! The drive took about an hour, but it was nice to relax for our first glimpses of Korea. Korea immediately reminded me of the US. It seems to be about the equal with the US infrastructure wise, although Joylani said that Korea looks a little nicer. But unlike other really developed Asian places (like Singapore, Hong Kong, or the huge Chinese metropolises), Korea was not crazy. It seems pretty mellow, especially given that Seoul-proper has over 10 million people (20 in the metro area). Once at our stop, we got of the bus and started looking for a place to stay. We started walking one direction and then the other…and then in the original direction again. Readers have probably long since recognized that Joylani and I aren’t the best navigators. When we finally found the road we were supposed to turn on, we walked down it and then back up it and then back down it, before coming back up it again. We just couldn’t find the next street to turn on. We asked some directions and got some bad ones, but in our wandering, a nice old man asked if we needed help. Well, he didn’t speak English, but he said something in Korea, so I walked over and showed him the hotel info we had written down. He didn’t know the place or location, but he called the number, got directions, and then proceeded to walk with us for two blocks until we found it. After thanking him, we walked into the lobby of Yim’s House (name of hotel) and asked if there were any rooms available. Luckily, there was a cancellation for that night and the proprietor said we could probably stay for two nights. Tired of walking around, we just took it and figured we’d worry about where to stay the other nights later. We spent the rest of the afternoon resting and exploring the surrounding area. Overall it was a pretty easy transition back to travel, made easier by the fact that Korea is a developed country and the help of a few kind people.