Lewisham, United KingdomDeparture from the UKBremen, GermanySchuelpBack to BremenChristmas in the HarzDriving in the HarzAround Bad Harzburg and Christmas Market in GoslarWinter Tourism im HarzAnd home againViennaNew Year'sSightseeing in Vienna Day 2More sightseeing in Vienna and some plansArrival in BudapestTickets Booked!Bath HouseTrain to LvivWe made it to Ukraine!Leaving LvivOdessa, UkraineEventful arrival in KievMorning in KievOn the train to MoscowBrief stop in MoscowOur first trip east of the KnownOn the train to Kazan - a lot to catch up onkazan - at an ungodly hour of the morningOn the train to YekaterinburgOne night until SiberiaSiberia!!!!! Tobolsk - it's not on Google Maps! It's 4 hours north of TyumenDay trains5 Hours from IrkutskSafe arrival in IrkutskLake BaikalBack to IrkutskGoodbye to BaikalAn Experience in Ulan-UdeCrossing the Border - Happy New Year and Australia DayPlans changing in HarbinEnchanted with BeijingBeijing WanderingsCrashingMore CrashingSam's almost better againSecond last day in BeijingLast day in BeijingTianjin, ChinaIncheon ArrivalSeoul!!!Exhausting full day of enjoying SeoulI still love SeoulRainy and grey in BusanUnvalentine's DayInfinite turtlesDry land againA Perfect EndCoolangatta International Airport, or lack thereofBrisbane, AustraliaMum and Dad's
 | samandleonie |  | Heading East |  | Rainy and grey in Busan |
Not enough votes to display rating.
Feb 13 2009, 05:36 PM
15 photos
Embed trip
View in Google Earth
Rss news about this trip
GPX Track
Journal
Location
Busan, South Korea
I've been terribly lazy with the journal and consequently have too much to catch up on. Right, so I was up to Tuesday. We visited Deoksugung Palace first (we ended up doing one Palace per day from Monday to Wednesday), where they were doing a fire drill, which was amusing. The fire fighters were climbing all over the main building. Sam wondered why a fire drill involved climbing over a burning building. We decided it was a PR activity, as the Namdaemun Gate was destroyed by an arsonist last year.
After the Palace, we took the long trip out to COEX mall, which six years ago was around the top of the list of big, underground shopping centres. I'm not sure where it stands at the moment. It even got Sam in a shopping mood, but although he needs about three pairs of shoes, he wasn't keen enough on the small range of shoes that came in his size. We had to ask information for a map to find our way out again. We looked briefly at a Buddhist Temple and then walked down to the river.
Dinner was a highlight of the day. Six years ago a friend took me to an area where the local specialty is long rice cakes and other bits and pieces in spicy sauce (ddeokbokki – Sam had already become a big fan). I had completely forgotten where it was, but by chance we saw an ad for it on TV, which was a bit bizarre. So we got our big hot plate of rice cakes, two types of noodles, spring onions, two boiled eggs, odeng (fish cake stuff) and a bit of water and sauce. The waiter came over and turned on the gas flame and we stirred it all through.
On Wednesday we visited a Palace and ancestral shrine complex. We had a big meal at lunch – dakkalbi, which is the specialty of the region where I worked. It's marinated barbecue chicken and was very tasty. In the evening, we'd thought about watching the football, but we couldn't find anywhere that was decent to watch, so we watched the light show over the little creek instead.
Yesterday was an amazing day. We took a tour into the Demilitarised Zone and the Joint Security Area at the military demarcation line between South and North Korea. It was bizarre because they stressed that the two sides are still technically at war, so war was the tourist attraction up there. Last time I was here I took a tour to the edge of the DMZ and peered across, but I didn't go all the way in. It was a complicated process. We had our passports checked twice, which reminded us of our many border crossings. The guards were all armed, which was a bit scary. Within the DMZ the guards are only allowed light weapons, though (although of course that means it's not completely demilitarised).
I'm far too distracted and hungry and dopey from our train trip, so I might continue this later. Nevertheless, we're here in Busan after our super-fast train trip.
Comments |
Log in to add comment |
No comments