South Korea

As is becoming the norm, the journey to South Korea was not as easy as we might have liked. We had booked two separate flights - as this was the cheaper option - and so our first plane was from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, which was wasy enough. Slightly worried about the weight allowance we had both crammed our hand luggage with heavy items still unsure if this would be enough, but thankfully it was and we even had a bit of weight to spare. 

We collected our bags and made our way to the check in desks to check in for the flight to Seoul. The gentleman behind the desk spent a few moments checking our passports before asking if we had a visa. Only two days previously I had double checked the visa requirements for South Korea (as I had already assumed that we didn't need one), and found that British nationals did not require a visa when visiting for tourism pusposes for up to 60 days. Confused we told him that we didn’t need a visa was we were only staying for about 2 weeks. He then asked to see evidence of our passage out of South Korea which we didn’t have as we were planning on getting the ferry and the websites did not seem to allow online purchase. He shook his head and told us that we had to have proof of tickets out of the country within the 60 days otherwise we wouldn’t  be allowed to enter. We protested but he just explained that we would have to book tickets and looked shrugged helplessly at our pleas.

Wondering how on earth we were going to get around this dilemma we explained that we already had plans to go on to Japan after  South Korea and that we had booked flights out of Japan  to Manilla. The flight from Japan to Manilla proved that we were not planning to stay in South Korea for longer than 60 days as it booked for about 4 weeks time. A few more staff had gathered around by this point and they were all discussing things amongst each other when they eventually came to the conclusion that this might be acceptable if we could provide them with a copy of the flight out of Japan.  Saved by our prior planning we hurried to the wifi lounge and managed to print off a copy which satisfied them enough for us to check in. Relieved! So a few hours later, off to Korea we went, saying goodbye to South East Asia, and the weather that went with it.

Once we got off the plane the first thing that struck me about Korea was the cold. Being in tropical climates for so long had made me slightly complacent about warm weather and stupidly after sweating profusely under poorly circulating fans for countless nights I had thought that a drop in the temperature might be a welcome change. I had worn layers of my warmest clothes (which didn't actually amount to much), also lightening the load of my suitcase for the flight, but even these were no match for the biting wind, and I still had on my flip-flops. The only constellation at this point was the heated toilet seat that I discovered, which at first induced a very uncomfortable feeling at the thought that the heat of someone else’s bottom had removed the usual chill, but on second thoughts I realised that not even if someone had sat on the toilet for an hour would they be able to make it that hot and when I spotted the various buttons at the side of the toilet I realised what it was.

On the way to the baggage carosel there were queues of people lining the walls pausing only to pull on a few extra layers and by the time we reached the bus stop at the front of the airport we were the only ones not in boots and a thick winter coat. Thankfully the bus was heated and spacious and after  fairly sleepless night on the plane it wasn’t long before we both drifted off. 

Free water!

Luckily we awake just in time to get off at the right stop and after a little wandering around in the freezing cold we found our guesthouse at the top of a hill.

We had a small double room upstairs with a shared bathroom, but it actually felt more like we were staying in someone’s house. There was no lock on the bedroom door and the front door pretty much opened into a kitchen, but the best thing about the place was the heated mattress which I wasted no time in whacking up to full  already deciding that this would have to be on my list of things to buy

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The rest of our first day was spent checking out the local areas and planning where we wanted to go for the remainder of our stay. Seoul had a very lively and friendly atmosphere to it and you were never too far away from someone who could help or provide directions. In  fact on many of the main streets there were a couple of people in brightly coloured jackets just standing and waiting to offer tourist information to anyone that might require it on passing, which proved very useful on several occasions. It also didn’t take long to notice that Seoul is an incredibly fashion conscious city. All of the women and men seemed to take a great interest in fashion and although if I had a penny for every fake Louis Vuitton bag I spotted, I would be a multi-millionaire, whether the clothes were expensive or not they were all distinctly ‘catalogue’ looks. All of the women were wearing make-up and checking it on a regular basis, and I even noticed that in the underground there were several large full length mirrors, not inside the toilets, just on random walls on the way to the tracks, so that one may check one’s appearance inbetween rushing along. And there was rarely a time that you passed one of these mirrors and found it not in use.

High Tech Touchscreen ATM 

Hello Kitty Coffee Shop!

 There were countless coffee shops along the street of Soul, many of them big brands like Starbucks or some Korean equivalent such as Hollys Coffee (yes my lack of apostrophe was intentional) but also hundreds of small independent shops selling everything alongside the coffee from Ice-cream and Waffles to Pasta and Noodles. Waffles seemed to be a recurrent theme, so of course we had to get some and they did not disappoint.

When it came to dinner time we headed to a place recommended in the Lonely Planet that we borrowed from the Guesthouse but unfortunately we arrived too late in the evening and it was already closed. Just opposite though, there appeared to be a very popular restaurant, and not wanting to walk around aimlessly in the cold we went straight in. It was set out like the hot pot restaurants that we had been to in China, however, instead of a bubbling bowl of liquid on every table there was a sizzling hot plate. I had heard of Korean Barbecue but hadn't seen anything like this before and despite the fact that there was no English menu I was keen to give it a go. We pointed at two tasty looking pictures, and moments later we had a flame lit, a large iron pan brought over and some raw ingredients thrown in. After it had been sizzling tantalizingly in front of us for some time and the waiters / chefs had been over a couple of times to stir everything around they gestured to our plates, a sign that it was ready and we tucked in. There was also a free salad bar which contained some yellow pickled things, some shredded cabbage, a dressing which tasted like apple mayonnaise and something that we would soon discover accompanied nearly every dish in Korea, kimchi, a spicy pickled cabbage condiment.

On our second day in Seoul, it decided to rain all day, and it was not just the rain that was unbearable but the bitingly cold wind that ripped through all clothing layers. As usual breakfast was the first thing on the adgenda and there was a large Hollys Coffee at the bottom of the hill which looked like it might be a good bet. The choice of food wasn't great but they had loads of coffee's and as soon as I saw 'Sweet Potato Latte' on the menu I knew I had to try it. As ever the croque-monsieur was made with plastic cheese and awful squidgy white bread, but the latte was amazing! Had the staff spoken English I would have asked how they made it so that I could recreate it at home. It tasted very malty and sweet a bit like Horlicks. I imagine they must have some sort of powder that they just mix with milk and top with almond slices, but it was delicious, and I immediately decided that I would have to come back the next morning for another.

 It was actually pretty miserable to be walking in at all let alone to sightsee. Most options were ruled out altogether because they involved too much walking in the rain, or were outside, and halfway through the morning I decided I couldn't take my soggy shoes anymore and went on a mission to find some boots.
The department stores were very plush and well stocked, but the shoes were ridiculously expensive so we headed for the markets hoping to get a better bargain. After spotting a few winter proof shoes and asking for the sizes, it soon became apparent that a size 7 in Korea is considered abominable for a woman and there wasn’t a single place that had boots in that size. I was beginning to give up when I spotted a couple of stalls selling wellies. By this point my pumps were soaked through and I might as well have been walking barefoot on ice so I decided that even a welly would be better than my current footwear and they might be more likely to be in my size. I was in luck. There wasn’t a lot of choice but I managed to get a pair of ankle high red tartan pink fur lined wellies for just under a tenner which may sound a lot but I would have paid a much higher price for dry feet by this point!

Upon making our purchase we were immediately called over to a food stall by a Korean with his hands in what looked like a tray of flour. He then took out an oval shaped hard lump on honey (which he confirmed was hard by tapping it on the side of the plastic counter) and the forced a hole through the middle of it. He proceeded to dunk it into the flour making the hole bigger and bigger each time until he could stretch it into a long piece like dough. Once it was stretched he doubled it over and stretched it again, each time counting how many strands he had made, 8 times... 16 times... 32 times... 64 times... 128 times... 256 times... 512 times... 1,024 times... I can't remember exactly what number he went to but it was well into the thousands at which point he had a handful of long white gossamer strands. By this point it was ready and after folding all the strands into a neat bundle he put it into a tray next to a few others. A little sample and his enthusiastic counting led us to buy a box which was labelled 'Korean Taffy' and it was pretty good. The texture was a little strange to begin with. It was a little like the thin spaghetti like baklawa at first until all the little strands melted down into a sugary honey chewy lump. Difficult to describe! But it was good.

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Once walking was a little more bearable we went to a couple of musuems, and art galleries (basically anything that was inside) and then pretty much called it a day due to the misery of the cold, just managing to eat at the noodle restaurant we had tried to go to the previous night.

Outside one of the art museums we spotted these statues that looked like they had been stretched! They made your eyes go a little funny...

The next day the weather was a little more promising. Before heading off to the 'must see' palaces, we wanted to buy tickets to a non verbal theatre show called Nanta which had been given rave reviews on the internet. There were three showings everyday, and it had been showing since 1997 so we concluded that it must be worth a visit. We were too late to buy tickets online the previous night so thought we'd go to the office to get them. Before we made to the ticket office it we hit a swarm of people in the town all scratching panels off of a large board in front of cameras which we later found out was for 'earth hour'. We were soon herded towards the board, and in return for scratching off a panel we would get a free bottle of water (which we were told to twist and recycle when finished), why not. Anyway once a little more of the polar bear was revealed we were free to leave. The only problem was that when we got to the ticket office we found that they were only selling tickets for the matinee and that if we wanted to get tickets for the same evening we would have to come back later in the day. It was proving a little complicated so we just decided to book online for the following evening when we got home.

We then went over to Doeksugung Palace to watch the changing of the guards. As they began to march towards the gates in their colourful robes the temperature seemed to drop a few more degrees and there were actually a few flutters of snow.

The ceremony took rather a long time, and after about 20 minutes of standing in the cold we decided to abandon the marching and the passing of objects, and check out the inside.

 In comparison to some of the other Palaces in Seoul it was quite small, so we zipped through (with our free 14 year old volunteer guide who spoke impeccable English) and headed off the the larger Gyeonngbokgung Palace which also contained the National Folk Museum and the National Palace Museum.

After getting on and off the subway several times we began to notice these snacks being sold on nearly every corner. Some were shaped like corn, and others like walnuts. In fact I think we have seen sweets similar to these in nearly every asian country we've been to. I know they had disc shaped ones in China with red bean paste inside or sometimes chocolate, and most recently we had some in Malaysia shaped like a fish with some custard inside, and these yellow ones were very similar. Later on in Busan we did buy some walnut shaped ones thinking that they were chocolate and walnut but they turned out to be red bean paste and walnut which in my opinion wasn't a good combination...  On this occasion we opted for the corn ones. I don't think the ones with yellow filling are always made from sweetcorn. Sometimes I think it is custard but either way they are always really good, especially hot ones on a cold day.

As the local food is of course a vital part of visiting any country, a list of foods to try was devised and we began with sampling Bindaetteok a type of mung bean pancake at one of the markets. Several stalls were lined up one after the other and after seating ourselves in front of this beckoning old lady between some men in suits and a couple of friends, we realised that the benches were heated! As well as the pancakes there was an array of other battered and fried foods which were quickly heated on the griddle in front of us before being decanted onto a paper plate along with a large helping of kimchi. We were also encouraged to try the rice wine, which it appeared several other people were merrily indulging in. It was a lightly foamy milky drink with a slight, slight, resemblance to yarek (the fermented mares milk from Mongolia) but in my opinion was not half as strong and after a few bowls it almost became pleasant.

The pancakes were pretty good, but the amount of oil that they were fried in was rather frightening. Even with the lure of the heated benches there was a bit too much batter in this meal to warrant a repeat.

The following day we visited the Contemporary Art Gallery most of which could obviously not be photographed.

The next food on our list of things to try was Bibimbap -  a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste), often with a raw or fried egg and sliced meat on top. Although everything comes separately laid out on top of the rice, you are supposed to stir everything together thoroughly just before eating. After Gallery hopping we searched for a place serving Bibimbap near the theatre so we could have a quick bite before the show (that we eventually managed to book!)

I did have a nice raw whole egg yolk on the top of mine, but I was so keen to tuck in that I broke it and almost stirred everything together before I thought about taking a photo! Aside from the unusual flavours, another thing to love about Korean food is that most meals come with an array of accompanying dishes. Kimchi is nearly always one and salad another. They also sometimes included little sweetcorn pancakes, a small bowl of soup or various picked vegetables and fruit.

In the foyer of the theatre.

The show was about three cooks who had to prepare a number of dishes for a wedding banquet whilst dealing with a fourth untrained chef. There was lots of rhythmical banging of pots and pans, chopping, juggling, flying food, slap-stick humour, and even a bit of audience participation.

After the show I was greeted with another heated toilet seat and this still being a bit of a novelty to me, I had to sneak a photo. The buttons on the left have various functions, sometimes with the words written in English, or sometime with little pictures, for example, of a bottom with a stream of water going towards it, or a picture of a woman. Since then, I've even seen them with fans, and differing degrees of water pressure, but what continues to strike me as odd, is that sometimes you are spoiled with these hi-tech warm toilets, but when you leave the cubicle, there is no hot water, soap, or any means of drying your hands...

The public transport in Seoul was very good and it made getting around extremely simple. As it was so easy to catch the bus, we took a day trip out to the artists village of Heyri, located in a peaceful area near the North-South Korea border where over 500 painters, musicians, photographers, writers and sculptors live and work. For some reason we ended up leaving Seoul a little later than planned, and then on top of that the bus took a lot longer than expected. Consequentially we didn't arrive in Heyri until well into the afternoon. Expecting a bustling quirky town, perhaps something like Pai in Thailand we didn't think it would much matter. The bus driver told us when we had arrived and dropped us at the side of a deserted looking street. There didn't appear to be anything you might ususally associate with artist towns or tourist areas, markets, food etc, so we wandered up towards what looked like the centre. The first thing we came across was the trick museum and not seeing anything better to do in the immediate vicinity we spent a while in there messing around.

When we came out we asked the owner if there was anything we should go and see but he basically told us everywhere was closed. It was really odd, it wasn't that late in the day, yet not even the cafes were open.

After walking past several 'closed' signs it suddenly dawned on us that it was Monday. The day where nothing is ever open. I still find it hard to believe that it was only because of the day of the week though, as parts of the town seemed to be almost dilapidated. However, it wasn't a completely wasted trip as the architecture was extremely interesting. All buildings were built with pleasing aesthetics, a 3 storey limit and often very modern materials like glass, steel and concrete. The whole village was designed to be environmentally friendly and in-between the unusual solid structures there was lots of green space dotted with footpaths and streams.

Of course the main reason why the trip wasn't wasted was because of the food! One of the recommended café's happened to be open, I think it was called 'Chocolate' and although the prices were pretty steep we reasoned that as we had essentially saved money on admission fees (having not been anywhere all day), we could afford the extra. They had a large variety of hand-made chocolates, truffles, mints, waffles and four different types of hot chocolate. It was amazing.

Finding not much else to do, after the chocolate fest we headed back to Seoul for a proper meal. Korean Barbecue was next on the food list...

On our last day in Soul we went out to the old Capital to see the old city wall and try our hands at a bit of Archery.

Unwisely going soley from the Lonely planet we spent our last night searching for the attractions listed on their 'night tour' which included various light shows, fountains and light art. However, what the Lonely Planet failed to mention was not only the times of the lights shows (we were pretty much too late for all of them) but the fact that many of them aren't even showing during the winter months. I began to get the feeling that the tourism season for Korea had not yet begun and it really showed. Anyway we didn't see what we set out to, so I just took a few pictures of random things that did happen to still be lit up.

For the last stop we took a cable car up to see the N Seoul Tower, but because we had spent so long looking for the thing from the Lonely Planet we were too late to actually go up it. Still got a good view of the city from the base though and although places were closing we managed to quickly look around the lovers balcony (not sure if that's actually what it's called) where couples lock coloured padlocks to the fences.

After Seoul we hopped on a train to Gyeongju a city in the South East popular because of its histoy. We were only there for two days so we tried to fit in all the main attractions which (as ever) included sampling the local food.

The Observatory 

 Tomb mounds

 The area was quite well known for its Ssambap restaurants. Ssambap is lettuce wraps into which you usual put rice some sauce, meat and a few vegetables. These restaurants certainly didn't leave you wanting for choice with over 20 separate filings to choose from. We had ours with Bulgogi (on the left) which is thin strips of beef and I'm not sure if this is always the case with Bulgogi but the both times we had it, it was served raw in a broth and then cooked at the table over a small stove. Even though we were both hungry we barely made a dent in all of the
dishes as shown in the before and after photo! There was an interesting array of food ranging from pickled cabbage and other unknown vegetables to strong salty fish, little soft shell crabs and tiny eggs. I can safely say that I have never before eaten a meal where I didn't know what most of the ingredients were and although very interesting I'm not sure I'd be that keen to repeat the experience.

 Yangdong Folk village (In the pouring rain)

  

Two nights later we left for Busan, our last stop in South Korea where we would also catch the ferry to Japan. We stayed in Sum Guesthouse which was brilliantly close to the station and thinking that we had cleverly voided the dormitory situation we booked a two bed dorm. The accommodation in Busan was much more expensive than the other towns, and so it was the only reasonably priced option. The hostel was actually really nice and appeared quite newly decorated, but even though we had our own very small room with a bunk bed and a sliding door at the end of the corridor, it wasn't much of  private room because none of the walls went up to the ceiling. There was about a foot and a half gap at the top meaning that any conversation had anywhere on the same floor could be heard by all the other guests. Not only that but if someone had been that way inclined, they could have easily climbed into the room next door to them just by getting up on the top bunk bed in their own room shimmying over and descending using the bunk bed on the other side of the wall. There were lockers in the rooms though so it wasn’t that much of a safety issue,  just a bit strange. Also the idea that someone could just have a quick peep into your room by peering over the wall. Why not just build it all the way up?

Anyway Busan was a fairly big city so it had more than enough to keep us entertained and out of our rooms for the next three days. One of the top attractions in Busan was the Worlds largest department store which also housed a famous and enormous Spa. We had heard about these Spas a few times throughout our trip in Korea, and although the thought of being the only tourist in an enormous room of nude bathing pools didn’t necessarily appeal at first, we both thought it would be a shame to miss out. It cost less then £10 for four hours use of the facilities and I think it was well worth the money. (By the way these pictures are from the internet as you weren't allowed to take any photos inside). You were provided with a locker for your shoes, (which as in most places in Korea you were to remove before entering), a loose T-shirt and Shorts, and a small towel. The rooms upstairs were mixed and so you kept your provided clothing on for these. I think there were 13 mixed rooms, all of varying temperatures ranging from about 17 to 60 degrees, and they included a Roman Baths room, Turkish Hamam, Salt Room (the interior of which was made from large blocks of pink salt), Wave Room, Ice Room, Pyramid room and several others. Obviously we made a point to go in every room, and each one had a short description outside detailing it’s benefits. For example one of the rooms was about 35 degrees with different coloured light panels separating small seating areas. I can’t remember the name of the room but supposedly there were certain ‘ray’s being emitted which served the purpose of improving your metabolism. There was also a relaxation room which contained about 50 pairs of reclining leather chairs in neat rows which were joined together by a small table, each with it’s own TV extended from the table, and speakers hidden in the headrests. 

Some of the optional extras on top of the usual beauty treatments and massages included Oxygen capsules and Relaxation pods. I can’t remember the exact name but imagine a giant Polo with padded leather all the way around the inside with a small gap on one side for a TV to be inset. There were about 5 of these lined up inside a small dimly lit room room, separated by thin and delicate coloured veils and (if you wanted pay the extra ten odd quid) you could nestle yourself in one for an hour, listen to music, watch TV and choose your own aromatherapy oils to be secreted from your pod for a multi sensual experience. 

Outside of the mixed area there was a large covered courtyard with different temperature foot baths and once these had all been explored it was time to go into the separate areas. Inside the woman’s baths (and I think the men’s were much the same)
there were two sauna rooms several rows of seated and standing showers and in the centre of the room, about 12 different temperature baths some bubbling, some still and others just to plunge into after the hot sauna. The woman’s section also had two baths underneath milky waterfalls  in an enclosed space outside, both of which were about 40 degrees which even in the chilly air became too hot after a while.


We also covered a few of the usual sightseeing spots...

 Haedong Yonggung Temple

Upon discovering that there were quite a few popular beaches in Busan, Justin made it his mission to find one that would be possible to Kite-Surf on and after a couple of exploratory (and lengthy) trips on the bus we eventually located a suitable beach with a shop that would be able to hire a wetsuit for a small fee. There were actually quite a few beaches in Busan but we didn't really have enough time, or sunshine to explore them properly. We did, however, manage to find The Irish Bar, and a dog with pink ears.

I almost forgot to mention what we ate on our last night in South Korea! So the last thing on our list of things to try was Sannakji which is a raw octopus served chopped and still wriggling. Actually this turned out to be one of our best meals in South Korea, becasue as usual it came with a large array of aide dishes, some sashimi, cooked fish, chilli pancakes etc, all of which were delicious. I'm having trouble uploading the video of the octopus but hopefully I will be able to figure out a way...

Though the wind changed it’s mind several times - there was not enough wind the first day and far too much on the second - on our last day there were promising enough forecasts to head back to the beach. Our ferry didn’t leave until 10:30 pm and although we had to be there to check in at about 6:30, the port was only about 15 minutes away from our hostel so there was just enough time to get the first use out of the kite since we collected it in Phuket before getting the ferry to Japan.