Seoul -- Day 5 - Annyeng-yo haseyo!

I woke up early (5.30 am), freshened up and returned Matthias' alarm clock I'd borrowed. Just before my departure, I exchanged goodbyes with a few of the house mates and left with my trusty backpack carrying some good memories and leaving behind some good friends. Within a few minutes the bus arrived and with a heavy heart I left Seoul. Man it was such an experience.

The flights onward to San Francisco were fairly uneventful, but with a good book and my trusty iPod the journey came to an end. As soon as I landed in San Francisco, I got to see fat people again! Nowhere in Asia did I find anyone as obese as Americans. Oh well, home at last.

Seoul -- Day 4 -- DMZ

This was my last full day in Seoul, and also the penultimate day of my month-long backpacking tour. The previous night, I had made arrangements with Mrs. Kim to take a guided tour (48,000 won) to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) 50 km north of Seoul. I had an early breakfast and waited for the pickup at 8.30 am. FYI, there are many tour companies that offer this service. Most will have common pickup points in Seoul.

For those that are not aware, the DMZ was constructed along the 38th parallel as a result of World War II and is barely 50 km from Seoul, dividing Korea into North (capital Pyongyang) and South (capital Seoul). The 38th parallel became the de facto border for the Cold War. Almost a million N Korean soldiers are stationed along the DMZ, ready for any eventuality. So, it's easy to imagine the tension that S Koreans undergo on a daily basis. In fact, yesterday, when Matthias and I hiked up to Seoul Tower, we heard sirens blaring around 1.30 pm and all traffic nearby came to a standstill. This was apparently part of the drill S Koreans go through on a regular basis to prepare for a possible invasion by N Korea.

We drove in the van northbound for an hour and in the meanwhile, the guide gave us a good background and answered any questions we had. The drive to the DMZ passed through desolate areas, where little or no economic activity takes place. Mind you, this is one of the most dangerous places on earth today. Needless to say, security was extremely tight especially exacerbated by the recent nuclear bomb trials in N Korea. We arrived at Panmunjeom, where we all switched to official tour buses and had our passports checked. Incidentally, no private vehicles are allowed inside the DMZ. Once inside the DMZ, camera use is strictly controlled.

The highlight of the tour was the entry into the 3rd incursion tunnel discovered on October 17, 1978. There are four such incursion tunnels dug by N Korea, the last one discovered on March 3, 1990. You can enter the tunnels only with a hardhat, and believe me, you really need it. The tunnels are barely 2 meters high (6'8"), bored through solid granite and not always smooth. Visitors get to walk 350 meters through the tunnel and the feeling is indescribable. Very scary and claustrophobic. You see markers indicating places where dynamite was used to blast through granite and in some places the granite is painted over to look like coal. Scary.

Once out of the tunnel, there is a 10 minute propaganda film that's extremely amateurish and crappy. I did not enjoy that at all. Visitors are given a chance to overlook the DMZ at the Dora Observatory and perchance view the wildlife in the DMZ, it having become a haven for wildlife, because no man has set foot in it over the past 50 years. Unfortunately, the smog made it worthless to look through the binoculars or take pictures. The final part of the conducted tour is a visit to the Dorasan train station still undergoing construction. Should the two Koreas reunite, this will become the final station in S Korea to Pyongyang. All pretty tragic. Strangely though, I recalled the elegiac tune in Team America: World Police called "I'm so ronery".

Around 3.30 pm we returned to central Seoul for an impromptu jewelery "shopping" for the tourists. Boring! I returned to the guest house and met Matthias again. After a little rest, we left for another walk through the city, this time to the Dongdaemun market for window shopping and to get a feel for the nighttime activities. The market is huge and very well organized. Each alley had its own specialty such as food, jewelery, meat, seafood, eateries, shoes and utensils. We tried some street food similar to egg foo yung. It was interesting. Later we found a sports bar and grill that advertised chicken (restaurant featuring chicken are rare) and had dinner. We had a bucketful of fried chicken (Korean style) and lots of beer (14,000 won). We enjoyed it. It was, alas, time to return to the guest house and bid goodbye to Seoul. Annyeng-yo haseyo (goodbye)!

Seoul -- Day 3 -- Seoul Searching!

Over breakfast, I met Matthias (Germany) and we decided to explore parts of the city together. He is a painter and has been living in Hanoi for the past three years. It was nice meeting him, since I was able to practice my rusty German. We reached Seoul Station subway and tackled the "Namsan and Seoul Tower Walk" recommended by Lonely Planet. The directions were excellent and we were able to easily reach Seoul Tower. The entire walk was steep and uphill all the way. Unfortunately, the polluted air and the hot weather made the walk all the more strenuous. There was very little breeze and each step made for labored breathing. Along the way, we saw various statues of Korean heroes and a weird mini zoo. I haven't seen a more pathetic zoo in my life. Sad.

After reaching almost half-way up the 480 meter ascent, we decided to take the cable car instead to the peak (5,000 won round trip). Under better weather conditions, we'd have gladly climbed the stairs. We arrived at the peak, where there are a television tower, gift shops and an observation deck. There is a museum for special exhibits as well. You do get a panoramic view of the city, but the smog made the use of the observation deck useless. We stopped for lunch half-way up the peak and had a so-so bibimbap. On the whole, a walk I could've done without.

There was still plenty of sunlight and we decided to check out Namhansanseong (South Han Mountain Fortress) and the adjoining provincial park. From the description, it sounded really interesting. It is located 25 km southeast of Seoul and reachable by subway Line 8 to Namhansanseong station. Its history dates back to 672 AD, when it protected Korea from the Chinese. From Seoul Station it took us almost an hour to reach our destination, having to change 3 times. The directions said we could take any bus in the direction of the fortress. So we took a local small bus and were way off course. We lost valuable time and by the time we reached the entrance to the park on foot, it was getting dark. The park itself is beautiful and has an old-worldly charm to it. Plenty of active Koreans in matched fitness clothing were returning from their hike. If I were to live in Seoul, I would visit this park as often as I could.

Just for kicks, we tried reflexology or zone therapy. Normally you go to a reflexologist, who rubs the soles of your feet in specific patterns. But here, in the park, you simulate that by walking on stones laid in specific patterns. Some stones are sharp, while some are round. I walked barefoot on the stones for a couple of minutes, but couldn't bear it. Somehow, it felt different (relaxing? I can't say).

For my part, I wish we had arrived at the park in time, because everyone we talked to had enjoyed the hike immensely. We aborted our hike and took the subway back to the guest house, because I had to meet Mrs. Kim at 8.00 pm. In the meanwhile, we stopped for excellent pastries and coffee (it's not easy to find a coffee shop in Seoul). I met with Mrs. Kim and made arrangements for a guided tour to the DMZ the following day. After a brief rest, Matthias and I dined at a local restaurant (samgyeopsal with pork). The food was excellent and it cost 12,000 won. What we realized was that local restaurants carry only one kind of meat, beef, pork or chicken. If you can't read or understand Korean, all you can hope for is that you recognize the food by the pictures on display. You place the order in whatever language you can English, German or French or Japanese and pray that they understand what you wanted. It doesn't matter really, because it's an adventure anyway. Well, if you want a wider choice and an English menu, go to a more expensive restaurant. This time around, Matthias was the one inducted into the strange world of soju. Yeah!

Back in the guest house, we met Charles (Singapore) and a new guy, Greg (Australia). We drank more beer and soju and had to call it an early night, because of my trip to DMZ the next day. Incidentally, I had to borrow Matthias' alarm clock; I had none, and I had to wake up early. Vielen Dank Matthias!

Seoul -- Day 2 -- Soju, soju and more soju!

After the last night's festivities, I woke up somewhat late and over breakfast I met Britt and his friend Charles, both New Zealanders. I had no specific plans and neither did they. Charles lives outside Seoul, where he teaches English as a second language to Koreans. We decided to walk the newly constructed footpath and park along the Han river. Han river, incidentally, bisects Seoul neatly and is almost a kilometer wide within the city limits.

Seoul has been growing fast, real fast and has been gaining a lot of international attention as well. In the wake of its hosting the Olympics in 1988 and the World Cup Soccer in 2002, there's been a lot of construction and beautification. The Han river walkway and park runs almost 17 kms and is now a popular area for outdoor activities like bicycling, fishing, running etc. They also unveiled a fountain to commemorate the World Cup 2002, supposedly the world's tallest capable of reaching almost 202 meters (673 feet). Earlier, there used to be a sewage plant on the Han river that let made the river dirty and smelly. It's much better now. Reports indicate that there has been significant improvement in smog and pollution. At any rate, the three of us walked about 5 kms of the stretch and chatted about Koreans, English as a second language and fashion.

We walked past the National Assembly building, an extremely drab one at that. It looked like a building from the Soviet Union days. It was Sunday and yet there were soldiers in riot gear near the assembly. Apparently, South Koreans have a habit of protesting for everything and so the cops are always ready for a new demonstration. We were very hungry and searched long for a restaurant. The only place we found open was Popeye's, yeah I know. Lame.

Walking in the city gives you a good idea of how huge the city is. In the newer parts of the city, the streets are very wide with 7 lanes of traffic. However, it is a challenge to cross the streets, because traffic doesn't stop and it isn't easy to find subways to cross either. The architecture of the city is a mishmash of modern glass structures and older nondescript buildings mixed with storefronts and restaurants. What is amazing is that there is very little urban art and very few outdoor cafes. Everything in Seoul takes place inside and every part of the city resembles every other part. In short, it is a generic cityscape with nothing to distinguish it -- say like Eiffel Tower, Golden Gate Bridge or Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. It is not at all a scenic city.

After a late coffee, we walked to Seoul Station and to our surprise saw a few drug addicts, drunks and panhandlers. Seoul Station is a hub for local and long distance trains, and is a popular shopping place. We walked around with no particular destination in mind. In and around Seoul Station is the business district dotted with tall buildings from the corporate giants of Hyundai, KIA, LG and Samsung. Britt and Charles had to take off, so I bade goodbye and headed back to Kim's, where I met other house mates, Marc (France), Andreas and Matthias (Germany). Manuel, Charles and I went for dinner to a local restaurant for bulgogi and an excellent fish soup. We returned to guest house and picked up a few bottles of soju and beer. We had to bid goodbye to Andreas, because he was leaving early next morning. Again, plenty of conversation about politics and people. In short, a good time was had by all. Good night.