Going downunder

Despite going on multiple smaller trips throughout the year - mostly due to runs - I still try to at least once a year to go on a longer trip that isn't (only) about running. These past years it has been South Korea, Japan and India and I was hoping to do a similar trip this year. And indeed I found a new destination - albeit not completely free from running, which probably shouldn't surprise anyone at this point.

I would have loved to do another big wildlife tour, but my two short trips this year to Spain has to satiate my hunger for that for now.

 

22nd - 27th of August

On the Saturday I fly to Sydney via Singapore where on arrival late Sunday afternoon I'll check into the domestic airport hotel. The following morning (well, midday, I am on vacation after all) I take flight to Launceston on Tasmania where I'll stay before flying back on the Thursday. While there I plan on driving around and checking out the environment, and taking the opportunity to visit a friend I met back in Peru who now runs a truffle farm with her husband. 

 
27th of August - 1st of September

Coming back to Sydney I'll check into a hotel centrally located, not far from the Opera House. This is fortunate because that means it won't be far to get back to the hotel after the marathon. The marathon is on the Sunday (the 30th) and I plan on just doing a bit of basic sightseeing in the city until then - and hopefully meet up with a few friends along the way. The marathon starts at St. Leonard's Park with an almost straight line down to the bridge and across it with the opera house on our left. From there we will cross through Pyrmont, return and run back under the bridge, past Circular Quay and along Pitt Street, past St. Mary's Cathedral and through Hyde Park and all the way south to Kingsford before returning the same way we came, circle around Centennial Park before heading all the way to the Royal Botanical Garden where we'll do a bit of back and forth before finishing in front of the opera house. That evening and following day will be full of relaxing and doing very little.

 
1st - 5th of September

As I have visited Australia on previous occasions in 2009 and 2012 I don't need spending much more time here, instead I will then fly out to Wellington, New Zealand. I will be spending a couple of days here dedicated to sightseeing. Priority will be a Weta workshop tour but other than that I am open for what may show up. Being the capital of New Zealand there will be a bit of interesting stuff but time will tell - apparently the cable car going from the quay to Kelburn suburb is quite popular and should give quite the view of the city at the top. From here I will fly to Auckland where I have a single night before joining a tour in the evening. Before that, though, I've planned to do a whale/dolphin safari in the morning.

 
6th - 15th of September

I'm joining a 10-day tour taking me from Auckland all the way down to Christchurch hitting a line of  spots along the way. Starting off by going along the Coromandel Peninsula, reaching Matamata which includes a tour of Hobbiton and following that Rotorua. Here we'll have a day to explore Maori culture, do rafting, kayaking or ziplining through the forests. From here on we will continue to Murupara, Taupo and one night in Wellington before crossing to the south island. Reaching the south island we'll pass through Kaikoura before reaching our destination in Christchurch. 

 
15th - 19th of September

I'll have 5 days by myself in Christchurch before any other plans so there will be time to explore. From what I understand 5 days is more than plenty for the city so I might end up looking into options of exploring outside the city and seeing if there are any day tours out available. 

 
20th of September -  1st of October

After the break and in the early morning of the 20th I'll join a second tour, this time a 12-day tour, starting in Christchurch and ending in Queenstown. We'll cross over to the west coast through Reefton and follow it down along Westport, Kumara and Fox Glacier. The coastline is stunning and we will have plenty of beautiful views of mountainous shore, rainforests and gorges. From here we will go a bit inland through Wanaka and Te Anau where we will do a quick detour to Milford Sound before crossing down south to The Catlins where we will cross to Stewart Island where we will stay a couple of days. With almost the entire island being a national park there will be plenty of opportunities exploring the environment including forests, rugged landscape and plenty of bird spotting. From here we return to Queenstown and end the tour.

 
1st -  6th of October

After arriving in Queenstown I have a few days on my own to explore. I have the impression that the town is fairly small so it is probably a bit limited how much there is to do, but I hope that 3 nights there won't be overdoing it. In any case I will probably need to decompress from the last tour so a bit of relaxation and not having much to do will probably be good. From here I'll fly out to Sydney where I have a single night before flying back home.

 

Talking about wanting to do one long trip a year this will definitely be it. The longest I have been gone previously is less than 5 weeks, and at that point I usually feel ready to get back home, so I'm looking forward to seeing how I'm going to deal with this significantly longer trip. The schedule does feel pretty packed when doing the tours so I doubt I'll even have time to worry about such things. I guess I'll find out!

 

In any case I am very excited for this one. When traveling to the other side of the world you might as well go all in! 

Returns to Spain

With the trips in recent years tend to prioritize runs of various kinds I have had to down prioritize wildlife tours which I try to find opportunities to do something about. A colleague who is an avid photographer mentioned a professional photographer who guides tours mostly around Europe which sounded fairly small and manageable among my running trips so I jumped onto the site and took a look.

 

Immediately there were a few trips that piqued my interest and considering they were all including 2 professionals they were quite affordable, too. And I had just splurged on a new camera body for wildlife photography so I had to find a justification for the expense, so it came easy to me to book two trips to Spain.

 

20th - 24th of May

We'll be flying out to Madrid where we'll be picked up and go to Villacañas where we will be staying during the trip. The following three days will have a similar schedule; leave in the morning for a large private property and get settled into a bird hide before sunrise, leave midday for lunch and return in the afternoon until sundown. There are plenty of hides places on the property so with some rotation there will be plenty - and new - opportunities throughout the days. On the last day we have another photo session in the morning before leaving for the airport in the morning and return home.

 

10th - 14th of December

Once again we'll be flying out to Madrid and checking in at a hotel near by. The following three days will consist of us leaving before sunrise to a nearby property (a different one than the previous trip) and occupying the hides from sunrise to sunset. During that time the hope is to get an opportunity to photograph the Iberian lynx. Yes, that one again - I do tend to be a cat person when it comes to wildlife. The last day we may or may not be able to do a morning session in the hides before returning to Madrid and flying back home.

 

Being Spain it's easy to get back and forth (and therefore not a long flight) and not a huge expense for what I get from it. And while wildlife is never guaranteed, even if what we are hoping for doesn't show up I expect there will still be plenty to look at during the wait. In any case I think this will be two enjoyable small tours to do.

19th - 22nd of November - Seoul pt. 3 and home

The day after saying goodbye to the group I had a flight out of Jeju back to Seoul midday. I took a taxi to the airport, a drive of only 10-ish minutes, and easily checked in and went through security. Unfortunately it turned out the lounge was located outside security but not wanting to chance anything with risking getting in a slow queue when leaving for the departure I settled with wandering the fairly manageable airport before finding a place to get lunch. 

 

The flight to Seoul was an uneventful 1 hour before arriving in Seoul, and from there I grabbed the train to my hotel - the same place I stayed at during the start of my trip. Checking in my brain managed to BSOD for a second or two; the receptionist spoke perfect English without a hint of accent and started a bit of small talk - my experience was that the average South Korean are so-so at English and/or heavily accented so it took a short moment to adjust to the perfect delivery. I spent the evening walking around in Seoul enjoying the evening before ending up at the usual night market and spending one of my last opportunities to raid the food stalls. 

 

I talked with one of the people in the first part of the tour after she had left and she recommended a walk around in Bukhansan National Park, a large park in Seoul with plenty of trails. So after sleeping in I made my way to one of the entrances to the park. Having had lunch on the way I arrived at the entrance to the park where I started getting confused by the many stylized maps that seemed more confusing than necessary - especially considering nothing was in English. Despite of this I found a path that wasn't the most difficult so I headed into the park and upwards. I was surprised how easy the path was; even ground and lamp posts along the way made it more like a stroll than a trek - until I reached a sign pointing me off the main path and onto something I would not have spotted if it hadn't been for the sign. From then on the path was at times a narrow pathway that barely let two people pass each other, installed stairs if it got too steep, and otherwise just rocks you at times had to scramble across to keep going. At times you came out on exposed ledges where you could see Seoul, which would have been easier if visibility not not been as poor as it was. 

  

Walking in  Bukhansan National Park. 

 

After a few hours I arrived at Daeseongmun Gate, 400 meters above my starting point, one of many gates in the 12,7km wall that was built as part of the Bukhansanseong fortress built in what is now the national park. It's amazing looking at the wall cutting through the trees in this inaccessible area and one can only wonder the work required to carry up the stones and build it. Trying to follow the wall east wards you quickly ended up at a tower that was cordoned off due to the structure not being stable. Going the opposite way I couldn't walk along the wall but instead had follow paths crossing through the forest, moments later bringing me to Bukhansanseong gate. At this point I considered going down from this gate, seeing where the path would bring me, but as you had to leave the park at 1700 at the latest due to sunset (no lighting apart from right after the park entrance), the maps being as stylized as they were and hard to read, and it was 1530, I decided to return the same way down as I went up. The walk down was unsurprisingly easier than going up, and within the hour I was approaching the park entrance - now exit - again. 

 

Daeseongmun Gate.

 

 You can see the wall wind itself through the forest along the ridge.

 

Had I know how the park was I would have left earlier so I wouldn't arrive past noon, but also checked out the paths so that I could have found the one that would have brought me to the peak in the center - even if the limited visibility would have put a damper on the experience. But the walk had been nice and I didn't feel particularly disappointed despite the missed opportunity, so I grabbed some snacks and returned to near the night market to eat at a BBQ restaurant with individual booths and a screen to order on when needed. The food was good, ordering more (and more) was way too easy and I walked away full and happy.

 

 

The following day I checked out from the hotel, stored my main bag and had lunch at last night's place (more delicious self-cooked BBQ meat is never a bad thing) before heading towards the National Museum of Korea where I wandered around most of the afternoon. A large collection of cultural artifacts and artworks on display in a modern building - what you'd expect from a museum of the kind. It closed when it had gotten dark and I found out that the area outside is a very popular place to go if you want a shot of Seoul Tower when it's illuminated - people were lined up with tripods and whatnot to get a shot. Before returning to the hotel I took a quick detour to the floating islands, basically three floating platforms holding various restaurants and venues that are lit in the evening. Had it not been for the lighting (and a view of the city on the opposite side of the river) I didn't see the attraction, though it and the surrounding area is used quite a bit by locals for hanging out.

 

Cheongjajeong, a small pagoda outside the National Museum of Korea. 

 

The view of Seoul Tower outside the National Museum of Korea. 

 

From here I returned to my hotel, got my bag and left for the airport where I checked in without any issues. I was surprised to see, when settling in the lounge, that my flight at around 2345 was the last of the day and until then there were only 2 other flights. Considering the size of Seoul I would have expected many more departures. That also meant that the large lounge was mostly empty and the staff looked (professionally) bored but I did what I could to keep the chefs and bartenders occupied with orders.

 

The floating islands. 

 

 

 

Boarding and flying home went without a hitch and we arrived at around 0500 on a Saturday. And let me tell you - there are not many people at the airport on an early Saturday morning which meant that we got through quickly and luggage was already coming out when we got to the carousels. Only setback this morning was that due to the early arrival I had a 1+ hour layover at the central station until the day's first train home departed. 
 
And so ends another trip. Was it a good trip? Yes! Was it amazing? ...eh. Having visited Japan some time ago and having had an absolute blast there I had high expectations for this trip. So high, that I a few days into the trip had to look myself in the mirror and tell myself to maybe cut back a bit on the expectations because if I didn't it would be 3-4 very rough weeks. Having had that pep talk things did get much better. I mentioned this to some of the other people in the groups and they agreed; while this was a very good trip it had a hard time keeping up with Japan. It's hard to put my finger on something specific that made Japan such a better experience than this, but I believe the expectations and food (Japanese food just seemed more... interesting - but I am probably biased as a big fan of sushi) is a huge factor. But I'm not disappointed I went and in the end that's what counts, right?

 

Full album can be seen here. 

17th - 18th of November - Jeju island

We had an early start to catch a flight out from Yeosu to Jeju, Korea's biggest island just south of the mainland. The flight was uneventful - a short domestic flight; less than 5 minutes after the spiel about staying seated with the seat belt fastened even if the fasten seat belt light was off, the cabin crew was asked to ready the cabin for landing. 

 

The first day was spent focusing on north and east, whereas the second day was primarily west and south. 

 

Arriving in Jeju city around 0930 the weather had changed dramatically from when we were on the mainland. Overcast, windy and cold - and with the occasional drizzle to mix it up. The weather could change quite fast, and despite the limited size of the island it could vary quite a lot depending on where you are. Being exposed and the tallest point in South Korea, Hallasan mountain, located in the middle of Jeju, certainly had a say in the weather conditions. 

 

Hamdeok beach. 

 

We headed first towards the popular Hamdeok beach and the next door cafe Del Moondo. The weather being as it was there were obviously not anyone out swimming in the waves, and the beach was covered by a tarp-like material to prevent the sand from blowing away. We all retreated to the cafe before returning to the bus. From here we continued to Seongsan Sunrise Peak where, after we had our lunch break, climbed to the top of the volcano crater where we had an excellent view of the surrounding area. Despite of the overcast-ness of the situation visibility was still good. It was a nice walk up - from sea level to around 180 meters the view was unobstructed for quite a bit. We were supposed to also see the local woman pearl divers do their thing while here, but due to the weather conditions it had unfortunately been canceled. 

 

 View of Seongsan-ri from the summit of Seongsan Sunrise Peak.

 

 Looking into the crater of Seongsan Sunrise Peak.

 

We then continued on to Seongeub folk village, a small town (well, village) that primarily still consisted of old traditional houses as they were built centuries ago. It was weird walking past the buildings, getting a open air museum-feel, and turning a corner and seeing modern cars parked outside a house. We were also told that when they in the past went to the toilet they always brought a stick; as they did their business into the pigsty they needed a stick to keep the pigs away long enough to be able to finish their business (obviously they use modern tech these days and do not have to rely on their pig-bonking skills). Apparently they have a local breed of pig on Jeju island; black pork. One can only wonder how they ended up being considered superior to normal pork.

 

Seongeub folk village.

 

A demonstration of how it goes when you lack proper pig-bonking skills.

 

Before getting to our hotel and checking in we had an hour to walk around the Dongmun market in Jeju city - not much different than any other market we have been through, but apart from black pork Jeju is very known for - and proud of - their tangerines. A lot of stalls sold them and/or goods that involved tangerines and chocolate in different shapes and sizes. And if you're looking for a tangerine-colored hat, ear warmer, buff or similar this is the place to be! 

 

Outside Dongmun market.

Statues representing the woman pearl divers on Jeju island. 

The one to the right is clearly fighting the strong winds.

The next day we left for Hallim park, a large area that was more than just a park; lava tunnels, botanical gardens including palms (Jeju is the only place in Korea that has palms) and a bonsai garden, birds and a folk village with Korea's largest Dolhareubang in Jeju. A Dolhareubang is basically a Jeju statue that is placed in a village or gates to project power and as guardians against evil spirits. The first ones were made more than 500 years ago. We had close to 1½ hours to walk around which I at first thought was a lot of time, but I found myself rushing through most of it, including the bonsai garden. They had surprisingly many bonsai, it felt endless, but due to the season (I assume) many of them were bare trunks with no leaves, leaving a slight less impressive impression. Some of them were very nice, but overall the average quality seemed significantly higher in the bonsai museum I visited in Tokyo. 

 

 Lots of bonsai.

 

 Careful you don't trip on the way out of the building.

 

Dolhareubang. 

 

From here we went to visit the Soesokkak to see the Estuary. Honestly; there wasn't much to it - we arrived at local tour boat company where we were introduced to life jackets and then spent an hour or so on a small flat-bottomed barge (with a roof) and benches along the sides together with a bunch of other people. Our guide then pulled us all the way down to the end of a small canyon where we had plenty of time for selfies and photos. He also handed out tangerines (of course) and talked a lot about the area and geological features (most of it is lava rock) - unfortunately we depended on our tour guide translating for us - and while I can't say for sure we didn't get half of what was said, our tour guide talked way less than our local boat guide.

 

Soesokkak estuary. 

 

Having had lunch coming back to land we continued on to Cheonjiyeon waterfall - a waterfall hidden 20 minutes' walk away from the road. It was a nice walk along paths in a wooded area but while the waterfall was nice to look at it was just a waterfall. 

 

Cheonjiyeon waterfall. 

 

Following this we visited Sanbangsan Bomusa temple located at the foot of Sanbang mountain. The temple had a nice view south of Yongmeori coast and the sea. It was admittedly a temple like the many other we had seen on the way, but they had a lot of small buddha statues and figurines placed everywhere, and even seemingly gilded quite a few. With the weather being heavily clouded, the few times when the sun got through the layer of clouds the light really made the gilded statues shine. 

 

Sanbangsan Bomusa temple.

 

 Looking out from Sanbangsan Bomusa temple south at Yongmeory coast.

Someone seems to have been good. 

 

From here we returned to the hotel and our guide to the entire group out for a final dinner together - which of course was barbecue with black pork. This was the last day of the tour of the 6 of us who had been doing the 2 week tour, while the 9 "new" people would return to Seoul and have a few days there before going their separate ways. 

 

Big thanks to Robert for being an excellent guide throughout the tour. Big thanks to Lisa, Anne, Bebe, Ailie, Vivian, Christine, Laurence, Kathryn, Miranda, Colette, Sarah, Nikky, Mary and Mandy for being awesome people - at least for the time we were traveling together in South Korea. It was nice meeting you all and I hope we one day get to meet again somewhere.

14th - 16th of November - Jeonju & Yeosu

With the start of the western part of the tour the 6 of us from the eastern part of the tour joined the 9 new people and had a late start at at 1100 when we took a train south to Jeonju where we arrived at 1400. We got taxis to a fancy hotel from where we walked a few minutes into the old part of town and checked in for the night's hanok stay. This is a traditional house so we were put into rooms with mattresses on the floor - but otherwise "normal" as in with power and in suite bathrooms. There was also heating in the floor, but it seemed that most people struggled with the controller as most kept their doors wide open whenever they were around to try and lower the temperature inside. There was a lower and upper floor, with one mattress each place, and one would assume that the upper one would be in the warmest place. That was not the case - due to the floor heating whoever was below would have the feeling of getting fried. I couldn't be bothered conquering the steep ladder so I stayed down - but being alone I used both mattresses and that seemed to keep me from the worst of the floor heating. But the room was still warm enough to be able to sleep without covers and a window slightly open despite the temperatures outside dropped to 5-ish degrees. 

 

Our hanok stay in Jeonju. 

 

View of the old part of town. 

 

In the afternoon we were introduced to the Gyeonggijeon Shrine, another temple on our way. The old part of town was fairly small so everything was within walking distance. It was similar to many other temples, but this also had (replicas off) paintings of former kings, and there was a small exhibit showing the techniques they used to copy the originals (or rather the remains of them) as faithfully as possible. From there we had free time to roam before meeting again at 1830 to go to a local restaurant that served a hanjeongsik dinner - a traditional full-course meal with pork, fish and numerous side dishes (rice, vegetables, broths etc.). With the seemingly endless dishes being presented on the tables it felt like a insurmountable task, but we got through most of it and it ended up being a very tasty experience. 

 

Main street in Jeonju.

 

The following morning we left around 1000 and drove towards Yeosu where we arrived in the early evening around 1800. Along the way we stopped in two locations; the Damyang bamboo forest where we also had lunch and the Boseong green tea field. Arriving in Damyang we started going our separate ways for lunch - apparently a street along the river was called noodle street as it was known for the endless noodle eateries along the bank. We found a place and got one of the benches outside and enjoyed a tasty round of noodles. It felt very local as only very few of the signs were also in English - luckily they have a habit of putting photos of the dishes on the menu (and Google translate also helped). The bamboo forest felt like a bit of a letdown as while there was a large area with bamboo, the combination of them putting a lot of paths in and the ground being broken up by varying height differences and rocks it never really felt dense but rather like rather thick fencing between different paths and areas. The hour we had to walk around was nice but it never felt as forest-like like what we experienced in Japan. 

 

Plenty of small statues and oddities spread out in the bamboo forest.

This cube was one of the weirder things. 

 

An hour's drive later we arrived at the Boseong green tea field were we also got an hour to walk around; here we were able to walk through the field and up to a lookout point we're we could see the entire field and also see the see. Once again the great weather and visibility made it a climb very much worth while. 

 

Walking in the green tea field.

 

Arriving in Yeosu we checked in and we all (or at least most of us) got a room with a view. The main part of the city is on one side of the river and our hotel was on the other side, looking out over the river and the city and it's waterfront. Most of us got rooms having this view, which only go better during night with all the lights turning on. A couple of us went down to a chicken restaurant next door for dinner, and while sitting there most of the group came trickling down for dinner. Our guide had recommended it, and the only other option was the hotel's restaurant or a supermarket meal unless you wanted to walk across the bridge to the city. While the chicken to our disappointment wasn't fried it was still very good. Though awfully difficult to eat a wing that's greased in sauce and all you have is a fork and a tong. 

View from the hotel room in Yeosu.

 

At 0900 the following morning we drove off to Art Land, a building with various activities where our guide took us to the open air sculpture exhibition where the was a giant hand you could walk up into that overlooked the sea and nearby islands. We had almost 1½ hours free time here, but it seemed like most people weren't interested in the other activities (a Ferris wheel, media - and trick art exhibitions and go carts). It seemed to be a resort of some sort where there were rental houses surrounding the establishment and it honestly felt a bit out of place. The time we had seemed to be spent by most by just hanging out and relaxing until we'd continue the day's schedule. 

 

Reaching out (big enough that 6-7 people could comfortably stand in the palm).

 

There were some very weird statues at the sculpture exhibition. 

 

 Stairs to... Nowhere.

 

From here we drove to the maritime cable car ride across the river into the city which gave a great view of the city and it's waterfront - though having the view we had from the hotel it wasn't much different - especially considering part of our view from the hotel is the cable cars going by outside! Though if you did get a room overlooking the main road instead this would definitely be a nice ride. It was also an easy way to get to the other side (not figuratively). We were then brought to Yisunsin Square in central Yeosu where we had time to go for lunch. 

 

The afternoon was free but we had the opportunity to return to our bus which would take those interested to the ARTE museum. This is basically a visual exhibition which is very instagramable; dark rooms with mirrors and projections which give an almost surreal and at times slightly disorienting experience. A room could be covered in animated roses, endlessly in all directions due to mirrors, and in the middle there could be small box, covered in mirrors but with a door into a small room with a completely different visual. Like walking around in roses and seeing an opening in nothing into a completely different world. It was quite the experience and quite fun in a way, and despite it being Sunday there were very few people there which enhanced the experience. This is not something that would work very well if it was crowded. 

 

 

 

From there we walked out to and around Ogongdo island before walking back to the hotel and arriving in the late afternoon. After a short walk back out onto the bridge to see the sunset we gathered a few people and left for the city waterfront where we sat down and had a round of delicious seafood and pork. They do seafood very well here and pork seems to be universal in the entire country. 

 

 Sunset from the bridge. 

 

 The bridge seen from opposite the hotel (which can be seen on the right of the bridge).

 

Eateries in the tents underneath the bridge (and further on to the right). 

They all had almost the same menu and prices so in the end it (probably) wouldn't matter where you ended up sitting down. 

13th of November - DMZ

Today was an early start - we found ourselves ready to go in the lobby at 0600, and on time we trotted out to the bus and headed north. An hour later in light traffic (while the southbound traffic towards Seoul wasn't nearly as light) we arrived at the main entry to the DMZ, the Imjingak Tourist Information Center. The point of getting there so early was that our guide could get in line to convert his permission to tickets as the first group so we wouldn't have to wait longer than necessary - and it succeeded; there were no other tourists around than us. The parking lot was completely empty. We were placed into one of the restaurants that was already open and had breakfast served while he went down to stand in line.

We had our breakfast, he got our tickets, and at 0940 we got on to the first (of 11 during the day) shuttle busses that would take us around to the different places. Though not before our guide led us around the area where we got to see the freedom bridge (where the North and South exchanged POWs after the Korean war), destroyed train line and various monuments. The destroyed train line was technically a short bit of train tracks with a destroyed locomotive placed onto it; it was the last train to cross the border bringing supplies to the US soldiers in what now is North Korea, and trying to get back to safety they had to abandon it and destroy it to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

 

Freedom bridge.

 

Train used for bringing supplies to US troops.

From here we went to the first stop on the tour; the 3rd tunnel; a tunnel that the South had found the North had been digging in an attempt to mount a surprise attack. The reason for the name is that it was the 3rd tunnel the South found (you didn't expect that, did you?) out of 4 that the North had been digging, theory being they wanted to get to Seoul unnoticed (tunnel no. 3 is less than 50km from Seoul). There is an expectation that there may be more - even many more - tunnels around, but as the North changed tactics with the introduction of nuclear armory the South saw no reason to continue using resources on finding these tunnels. The first 3-400 meters was a steady steep 10-ish % decline, the South's intercept tunnel, reaching the bottom where you then walked app. 300 meters in a low tunnel, reaching the end - the 1st of 3 blockades preventing you from reaching the border (the blockade is basically a concrete wall with a small window letting you see the other walls). Standing at the blockade we were only 179 meter from the border - the closest you'd ever get. Then you returned the same way back and up again. Before starting the walk you had to put bags, phones and empty your pockets and put everything in a locker as photography was not allowed in the tunnel (and anything the metal detector reacted on was also deemed not bring-able). Then you donned a hard hat before starting the descent - and while it seemed silly on the way down as there was a high ceiling and plenty of space, the horizontal tunnel was a different story; you could constantly hear throughout heavy donks when people didn't bend enough and therefore hit their heads on the low rocky ceiling.

Bridge to the north.

Apart from the tunnel there was a small building where we were shown an 8 minute documentary about the ordeal and it was like no documentary I had ever seen. Heavy thumping music for soundtrack as taken from a military propaganda video while exposing the viewer to short flashing videos showing the history behind the DMZ. Then it could switch to calm visuals showing how wildlife flourished in the DMZ without humans around with nice quiet classical music in the background and BAM - back to hard heavy thumping music and more conflict heavy imagery. That happened a couple of times and it felt so surreal. The contrast was so drastic and out of the blue it almost gave you whiplash.

Statue showing a halved globe where North and South Korea are indented on opposite sides,
making the two sides fit perfectly together.

From here we were brought to the Dorasan Observatory where you could look out and into North Korea - both from a large theater with huge panoramic windows and from the roof where they had lined up telescopes. From here you could see the fake villages the North had build, the famous (?) flagpole with the large North Korean flag waving, among other things. Unfortunately visibility today wasn't the best so seeing anything across the border posed a bit of a challenge. Unfortunately this was also a place where photography was forbidden, though I couldn't help think that it was a great - and in a way slightly surreal - view that easily could carry a few photos. But I wasn't up for testing the security and seeing how much I could get away with before getting tackled by soldiers and carted off.

The Peace Bell.

In the end we visited Unification Village, the only village in the area, for a short bit before returning to our starting position. At this point it had become noon and we got an hour to have lunch before returning to Seoul. The visit to the DMZ was interesting - especially due to the reason why it's there. The restrictive photo rules made it hard to document much of it, but in a way I understand. While it seemed quite relaxed on the surface, all soldiers at the checkpoints along the way (passports where checked and cross referenced with their tourist lists of the day) looked quite young, there was an energy in the air, combined with the information plaques and videos, indicating that this is fucking serious business. Apparently it is also the best guarded and watched border in the world, with app. one million troops combined along the border. So while it may look easy going for tourists it is far from that.

I was a bit disappointed that the tour didn't include the JSA - Joint Security Area - which is the place everyone have seen photos from; the square blue buildings where very serious looking military guards are walking around and posted looking down along buildings. Unfortunately due to security issues they have limited access to visitors so it was naturally not part of the tour. Bummer.

Returning to Seoul we visited the war memorial before returning to the hotel. My 2-week tour is apparently two different tours combined, so after today we will only be 6 that continues down through western South Korea, 6 flies to Osaka to continue their our, while the remaining 4 will be going home. We 6 who will continue west/south joined the welcome meeting in the evening together with the 9 new people who will be joining us.

Big thanks to Leah, Ashley, Amy, Daniel & Trish, Tanya, Sam, Nathalie & Sonja and Dieter for being excellent tour mates and company this past week. I hope we will have the opportunity to meet again some time, even you are spread out from Hawaii to Australia.

10th - 12th of November - Gyeongji & Busan

Leaving Golgulsa temple we drove for a short while towards Gyeongju before arriving at the Yangdong Folk village - a small town never found by the Japanese when under attack by them which meant that it had never been burnt down and the buildings there were original 4-500 year old constructions. They were all inhabited as any other normal residential area, but two families had opened their doors so that people could have a look inside in parts of the houses - mainly inner courtyards; we never got inside any buildings. It was a very nice village, nice and serene, but it was also quite remote so any practical tasks would require at least half an hours' drive (and there was no info on the quality of their internet). 

 

 

 

After having lunch we continued to Cheomseonge Observatory and the nearby Royal Tombs. The Observatory is Asia's oldest observatory (built between 632 and 647) and obviously not in use anymore, but it seems largely whole despite its age - though it has started slanting around 5 degrees since getting hit by an earthquake some years ago. Following we had a walk around nearby tombs of past kings - I couldn't help compare them with the numerous burial mounds from the Stone age we have in Denmark, though these were significantly larger. They had excavated only one, mainly - as I understood it - because that superstition prevented them from disturbing their ancestors. The one they opened up had thousands of various precious objects, but not a single body. The conclusion was that it had been setup as a decoy and the body wasn't there (my theory is that the excavation did disturb the ancestor and he walked out without them noticing). It was possible to go inside this tomb and see a few of the things that was found. Lots of gold and intricate designs on jewelry and armor. Basically what you'd expect in such a place. 

 

 Cheomseonge observatory.

 

Royal tombs. 

 

We left for the hotel where we checked in in the afternoon. Unfortunately the hotel - with other hotels - was located a bit remote from the rest of the town so there wasn't much to do outside except a few restaurants. Therefore, 1½ hour's later the bus was ready to take those who wanted out to a Korean barbecue place where we had thick slabs of pork and plenty of side dishes - exactly as it should be. It was followed up by a drive to the Anapji Pond - an artificial pond at the former Donggung Palace. The 20 minute drive there brought us through almost empty roads - until we reached the parking lot of the pond which was absolutely teeming with activity. We got our tickets and did the 40 minute walk around. This was clearly a very popular destination to go to at night and understandable (to a certain degree); the completely still water and the lighting made the area incredibly pleasant to look at and if it hadn't been for the huge number of people it could have been a very nice evening walk. 

 

The following day we left at 0840 in an attempt to get to Bulguksa temple before too many arrived; we got there around 0900 and we managed to have a bit of time before the arrival of the big crowds. It is the biggest temple in South Korea and compared to the others we saw it was definitely significantly more expansive. Many more gates and courtyards, various buildings and multiple pagodas. 

 

 

 

We drove for 1½ hours to reach Busan where we started off by visiting Gamcehon Culture village, a part of Busan which has been kept in its original form; numerous colorful buildings set close together up along a hill side in a half-circular fashion. It reminded me a lot of Namche Bazar in Nepal, and people apparently compare it to Santorini in Greece. Especially with today's sunlight shining directly onto the buildings it was a very pretty view and the village was very photogenic. Unfortunately we only had 50 minutes before we had to continue so there was no time to explore any of the narrow streets that cut through the entire area, something we easily could have spent hours on. 

 

Gamcehon Culture village.

  

 

From here we drove to the Jagalchi fish market in town; a market where you can buy almost any kind of fish whether you want it filleted, dried or still fresh - in the indoor part of the market all the stalls had aquariums where the fish/shellfish/other sea creature was swimming around and ready to be sold. To be honest many of the fish seemed stressed to their eyeballs being packed in the small aquariums and while very interesting I did leave with a slight sour taste in my mouth. From here we had some free time to roam the nearby food and traditional market to get lunch and if we wanted to get souvenirs. 

 

After lunch we drove to the east side of Busan (until then we had only been on the west side) to Haeundae where we visited another temple, smaller than the previous, which overlooked the sea. It was nice, but it was "just" a temple with the view being its uniqueness. We left for our hotel to check in, and fortunately, as opposed to last night we weren't particularly isolated as there was plenty of dinner possibilities only a few minutes' walk from the hotel. 

 

 

The following morning we met to leave at 0900. It turned out that a few people had been down to the beach in the late afternoon after arriving and seen the sunset - something I hadn't considered at all. Based on the photos taken it had been quite wonderful and I was a bit bummed out that I had missed that. Oh, well - instead I got to enjoy zoning out in the hotel room for a bit before dinner. 

 

We left for Dongbaek Island, a small patch of land barely a bridge from the main land, a small island with a small circumference of app. 1km. The island is known for the APEC House - the building built for the first APEC summit in South Korea in 2005. Since then it is used to be shown for tourists and rented out for the occasional conference. A rounded building of glass and steel overlooking the sea. Continuing the walk around the island you got a nice view of Haeundae and the beach in front. There was also a statue of a mermaid though it had no connection to the Danish one in Copenhagen (it was also significantly larger). 

 

APEC House.

We continued on to Yongdusan Park and Busan tower getting a very nice view of the city. It was quite small at the top but there were only a few others than us around so it was never crowded. With clear air (not clear sky) you could see the entire city that wasn't hidden behind hills. I must admit, based on the Seoul tower the view here was more interesting and I would have loved to see the city from the tower at night. From here we went to the train station, had lunch and at 1303 we departed on a 2½ hour train ride back to Seoul.