The Collingwood six footers view on the subway
The Korean Folk Village all-stars.
Old fashioned kimchee pots, pickeled cabbage which accompanies every meal and the Koreans love it. Not bad at first but you quickly tire of it...
I went for a walk along the Han River, Seouls main one. As with their traffic it was not as peaceful as the picture suggests, rollerbladers and bikes weave in and about padestrians at breakneck speeds.
So.. I thought i'd vis it the rich part of town. I got off the subway, stopped for a coffee, looked up and check out the signs. I hope you can see them, very funny. Also there are some very inappropriate t-shirts going around on unsuspecting wearers. English slogans are the rage but their knowledge of the language allows exploitation. Just today I saw one of the kids mum's wearing one which said "I love morning glory", mmm i'm happy for her. I'd appreciate any glory!
Brave....Protesting isn't quite illegal... but brave...
Temple in Seoul centre and a happy dude with his water.
These are stick on beards, I sometimes feel like a gorrilla over here. The locals of all ages are facinated with my arm face and leg folicles.
Well at some point you have to play the snap happy tourist, I stick out like dogs balls anyway so here's me in the centre of Seoul.
Thankfully, as of the 10th of September i'll be cashed up for the first time since my arrival. The cost of living over here is very low and even though i've hardly cooked, probably once a week, since my arrival and been out and about at every opportunity I will have spent just over 600 bucks for the month which is awesome. Once winter kicks in and its too cold or dark when I get home from work i'll probably spend less and less.
I'm beginning to feel Korea will be a starting point for future travels as it's really untouched by tourism to any real degree due mainly to the high population and ecanomic growth it must maintain, the disinterest of the locals to get out of their homes, restaurants, work or shops; plus the closeness of beautiful beaches and scenery in places like Thailand and other SEAsian countries on its doorstep. I think i'll bide my time here and go to the next place nicely cashed up which will be a pleasant change.
Caroline and I are booked on a tour of the border DMZ on the 16th and are off to Seoul lookout tower this weekend if its a clear day. Apparently there is a bungee there and I hope to have a crack at it if I can. Its only a baby, 21m and I read in Lonely planet that i'll have to get my fighting weight down to 90 kg which should be ok. I weighed myself the other day; thought I would be a bit lighter with the long hours, hot days, rice lunches and a bit of reoccuring illness, but no, still haven't changed.
Last weekend Caroline and I went to the Korean Folk village about 60k south of Seoul. It took almost 3 hours from our apartment. 10min wait for the bus to the subway, 20 min bus ride. Had to then go north on the subway and then interchange to go south for hours stopping every 5 min. 20/20 vision hindsight would be a wonderful thing as we managed to get back in just over 2. Caught an express bus north to Seoul centre and an express bus back to our suburb which we knew takes only about 50 minutes.
Should mention the traffic... there is no policed speed limit on the express way and busses are the biggest fangers. They have a lane all to themselves and just gun it, I sat behind the driver and saw the speedo flash past 150 on more than a few occasions. It seems as soon as they get up to speed though they are stopped to a walking pace again once they loose the bus lane and have to battle the regular traffic. There is also a special taxi service which gets its passengers from point A to point B as quickly as the car can go, these guys just hammer it in all conditions regardless. Oh, and the traffic lights are merely decoration for all commuters. Not surprisingly I have not yet seen one Korean J walker yet and have raised a few eyebrows myself when I dart across a completely deserted road on a dont walk signal... Early next month the Koreans celebrate Chusok, which is their version of thanksgiving. Every family member travels to their ancestral home and the country shuts down for about three days. The roads are allegedly like a parking lot and all public transport booked well in advance by the locals so I don't know what i'll do for that long weekend. Days off are few and far between so it will be a pain to waste them...
Anyway's the folk village was ok, it tried to be pleasant and authentic but it was all a bit kitch really. I reckon David and Margaret would give them two stars and send it straight to video. Here's some photo's of central Seoul the week before and the village.
