Republic of South Korea

 

 Greetings from Seoul. After a very long day Thursday with an early start and a few delays, we landed in Seoul around 9pm their time. Long delays getting through Immigration then more delays waiting for 2 people who didn’t show up. Finally at Hotel after midnight. The weather today has been perfect for our tour of Seoul highlights - the Royal Palace, National Folk Museum, Buckchon Hanok (traditional) Village and later a large market. Although depicted as brightly coloured in picture at top of this page, the Hanok Village in reality is a little duller. 

The traditional Korean dress called Hanbok can be hired out for a few hours and we saw many groups dressed up.

Today we followed in the footsteps of Michael Palin and ventured North of Seoul to the Demilitarised Zone. 

Originally I was not going to join this tour but as we had a free day it made sense. It was amazing and we learned so much history of the country. We crossed the Han River by aerial Gondola then a long uphill climb to see a replica of the bridge where the summit between both North (Kim Jong Un) and South (Moon Jae-in) leaders was held in 2018.

And then down came the rain! Next was a drive to Odusan Unification Observatory where you can actually see across the river to North Korea where it is only 2km across. Of course through the rain it was not a clear view.

Back to Seoul and stopped at Myeongdong Outdoor Market, yes in the rain! We had delicious dumplings at a Michelin rated restaurant and sampled street food from stoic vendors who carried on despite the downpour. It sure was a memorable day.

You sure need a Mega size coffee to keep going!

Today is a beautiful fine day and we travelled South to Jeonju, the so called “bread basket” of Korea. At a comfort stop en route during the 190km journey, these recycling bins amused us, as they cover every possible discarded rubbish. All South Koreans have to recycle diligently owing to being a heavily populated (50 million) small sized country. After spending a few hours free time at a Hanok Village (with again many dressed up in hired Hanboks) we got to our Hotel. Tonight we returned to the Hanok Village for a traditional meal of the region “Bimbimbap”. Quite an assortment of foods but all very tasty.

This morning we visited the Korean Cultural Centre to experience making Mulberry paper (Hanji). The bark of Paper Mulberry trees is stripped, soaked and beaten, then mixed with Hibiscus root sap. (We just did the fun part of straining the sheet of paper then allowing it to dry). Then a long drive to the port city of Busan. It was a packed day with afternoon tours of Gamcheon Cultural Village, Busan Tower, Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, Yongdusan Dragon Head Park and finally a lightening stop at Jagalchi Fish Market. It was quite late when we checked into our Hotel.

Walked to large train station next door for dinner.

Today (Tuesday) was another packed day - after a surprise at breakfast of seeing a lady from my Pilates classes back home. I did know she was in Korea at the same time, but what are the chances of actually meeting up. Our  travels in Busan today included a cable car ride over the harbour, and Skywalk, the APEC House (Summit in 2005), Haeundae Beach, plus lots more. Lastly we watched 

a moving flag lowering ceremony at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea. Tonight we enjoyed Korean BBQ with another couple on the trip.

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And so back to Seoul by bullet train - takes 2 and a half hours - and to the same Hotel in Insadong district. The predicted rain began again, so our walk around the markets and shops in little laneways was a bit damp. We enjoyed tea at a traditional tea house, and evening meal was modern Korean with 2 other ladies on our trip. It was Buddha’s birthday today which is widely celebrated by South Koreans, including a public holiday.

Our final day tomorrow and our flight home late tomorrow night, arriving in Australia on Friday.

We spent our time at Myeondong market again, this time in beautiful sunny weather. Had delicious lunch at Food Court basement of Lotte Department Store (a big brand name in Korea) and enjoyed just strolling the laneways in this area.