Where in the World?

New Kitchen

2011-01-01T17:25:00.004+09:00

Kitchen Cabinets completed. Leaving on vacation soon, so work will recommence when we return.

Nearing Completion

2010-12-31T14:44:00.004+09:00

The boiler is fixed, electricity is back up, and the flooring is in.

The bedroom:

Living/Dining room

Kitchen - cabinets are getting installed tomorrow

The "big" room

Another view of the "big" room

Hanji Progess

2010-12-20T21:44:00.004+09:00

The final hanji is on the walls. We will finish the ceiling this week with coffee stained hanji. After that the electrician will come, then the floor guy, and then the kitchen cabinet guy. Hopefully it will be more or less finished by the end of the year.

The bedroom

The dining/living room

Looking into the kitchen

Base hanji on the ceiling

Another ceiling with base hanji on it

Progress

2010-12-01T17:51:00.007+09:00

After several weeks of peeling and scrubbing old wallpaper off of walls, patching holes, and other sundry tasks, we're finally starting to get things going again.

The bedroom with the walls painted. Hanji (traditional Korean paper) is going on top of the paint.

With the wood stained.

The kitchen stained and almost ready to paint.

The patched ceiling

Ceiling stained with hanji starting to go up.

The next step is to finish the hanji on the ceiling and walls. Then we'll get the electricity hooked back up, the flooring put in, and kitchen cabinets installed. Then it's just a matter of moving in.

Week 4

2010-09-27T19:08:00.006+09:00

Made some big changes over the week. We're getting close to the finishing stage. At least for the house.

First big job was to knock out the wall between the kitchen and the middle room. We want a combined kitchen-dining room with enough room for people to hang out in.

Knocking down more wall.

Unfortunately, there was a large crack in the old beam. Fortunately I noticed it before knocking the rest of the wall down.

So we had a guy come in and install a post to hold it up. Not the most scientific of operations, but it seems to be working. Here's the post and the rest of the wall knocked out.

The guy also finished off the trim between the wall and the ceiling.

Some more trim.

And he also turned one of our old outhouse toilets into a storage room.

Week 3

2010-09-12T22:29:00.003+09:00

The new toilet! Haven't had a chance to give it a test spin yet as the caulk is still drying. Not only is there new floor tile, but they lowered the floor about 3 inches, so I can actually stand up straight in most of the bathroom.

Wood beams after the first sanding

Room #2 getting ready - to have a wall knocked out.

Kitchen deconstruct

The ceiling is covered in soot. It wasn't that long ago that they were cooking over an open fire.

Week 2

2010-09-08T09:25:00.005+09:00

Outside the house with the concrete ripped out.

The living room with ceiling ripped out

Looking over the old han-ok

Room #3 getting cleaned up

Trying to peel off wallpaper from cement - not fun!

Room #2 with ceiling ripped out

My job is to remove all the paper from this ceiling.

Rehab: Day #2

2010-08-29T20:06:00.006+09:00

Pulled the wardrobes out. Toilet is getting installed this week.

Rehab: Day #1

2010-08-29T19:49:00.007+09:00

Pulling out the ceiling and drywall in the living room

Ceiling in the bedtoom

The bedroom wardrobes

Ceiling in the bedroom

The New House

2010-08-27T19:11:00.007+09:00

Just bought a new house. I'm going to document our rehab job here.

Before pics:

Outside

Living room

Bedroom

Room #2 - will eventually become part of the kitchen (maybe)

The kitchen

Bathroom

Building #2 - barn and living room

Living room in building #2

The garden in back

Kuala Lumpur

2010-02-21T23:07:00.009+09:00

Kuala Lumpur is one of those tweener cities. It is developed in parts, with fancy malls and tall buildings, while other parts maintain a more traditional style. And although it is not as safe as say Tokyo or Singapore, it is much more secure than other southeast Asian cities like Manila or Bangkok. If you are looking for a starter city in SE Asia it would be a good place to visit. For the more travel savvy it does not, at least to me, offer anything particularly unique.

The one worthwhile aspect of KL is its ethnic diversity. While officially Muslim, and with a heavy Islamic influence, there are also strong presences of Chinese and Indians. So between the three main ethnic groups you can get a pretty wide array of food.

The Petronas Towers - which at one point
passed the Sears Tower in height, until
they changed the rules of measuring buildings.

A view of the National Mosque

Another mosque during Friday worship. While the call
to prayer is interesting, I can see how it would quickly
become annoying.

Something you rarely get to see -
the blind literally leading the blind.

Animals

2010-02-21T01:45:00.008+09:00

Some of the more unusual animals encountered on my journey:

A monkey at Batu Caves. Monkeys are all
over the place, and they will steal your food.

Bats at the Sydney Botanical Gardens. Fortunately
they're not aggressive.

Goats. So they're not that unusual, but I milked them
for 2 weeks. Lots of other animals at the farm including
ducks, geese, chickens, horses, dogs, cats, and some geckos.

A real live wild koala.

Toilets II

2010-02-21T01:45:00.004+09:00

More toilets...

Typical Australian toilets

The square toilet - not a good idea!

A squat toilet, on a train, raised two feet off the floor. A very bad idea!

Genting Highlands

2010-02-17T20:22:00.004+09:00

High up on a mountain, Genting Highlands is a cool weather retreat for many Malaysians. It is a combination of a shopping mall, Las Vegas, and Disneyland on crack. They pretty much have every possible entertainment option you'd ever want. There's a casino, amusement park rides, a climbing wall, a snow room, bowling, video games, a Ripley's Believe it or Not, shops galore, and numerous restaurants, many of them American franchises. And people. Lots and lots of people. At least on holidays.

The weather is quite a bit cooler at the top. So if you want to step out and enjoy the scenery you might want to bring a jacket or at least something a little heacier than what you'd wear around KL.

Tips for taking the bus: We were there during a busy season - right after the Chinese New Year. I imagine other holidays and weekends are equally busy, but I have no idea what normal weekdays are like. Expect a long line, with lots of pushing and shoving. Check the time on your ticket, but it is sometimes possible to sneak onto an earlier bus.

There is a gondola to the top. Not sure where it
leaves from, or how to get there though.

The outside of the complex appears to be rather nondescript.

Insides it is a maze of restaurants, attractions, and shops.
There are about four or five different roller coaster type
rides that criss-cross here.

Crowds galore. The upper levels are a little less crowded.

The snow room. The only time most of these kids will ever see snow.

Teotihuacan

2009-08-03T07:28:00.003+09:00

Teotihuacan is one of the greatest archeological sites in North America. The main Pyramid of the Sun is the third largest pyramid in the world. And it's all just a few hours flight from the United States. Oddly enough, you don't see that many Americans there.

Entering the site

The Pyramid of the Sun

The Pyramid of the Moon

Looking down the Avenue of the Dead from the Pyramid of the Moon

Guanajato

2009-07-30T00:11:00.007+09:00

This was my second time to Guanajuato, and it remains one of my favorite places to visit. The town was built on the backs of the silver mines. Two main streets run down the bottom of the valley, with sidewalks stretching up the sides of the hills. The main streets are a little narrow and frequently choked with vehicles, but once you get away and head up the sidewalks there are endless opportunities to explore.

A couple of views of houses built up the side of the valley.

A view of El Callejón del Beso

From the top of the same alley

Another alley in Guanjuato

A must see is a Callejoneada. Basically a late night party on the go, you follow a small troupe of musicians around the alleys and streets. To find one, just head out around 8 or 9 and listen for the music. Join the crowd and enjoy the music. They sometimes pass out small shots of tequila or other liquor, but you'd be better off BYOB.

The one thing to avoid is the mummy museum. It's basically a lot of this. Not worth the pesos or the crowds.

La Quemada

2009-07-28T07:29:00.003+09:00

Near Zacatecas is la Quemeda, the ruins of a Mesoamerican village. It's not as impressive as Teotihuacan, but it's still a nice place to visit. The ruins are built into a hill.

A closer look

A small pyramid.

On the way back we got hit by a torrential down pore that caused a little flash flood. It was a little scary since we were surrounded by fields with no high ground to evacuate to. What appeared to be giant cakes of salt were floating by our van.

Zacatecas

2009-07-27T00:10:00.007+09:00

Zacatecas was one of our favorite places. Like Gunajuato, it is an old colonial town that made a fortune from silver. Hotel prices are a bit higher than elsewhere, but it's well worth a couple nights stay. There are several good museums in town, and plenty of places to stroll around and check out the views.

The Cerro de La Bufa, which serves as a major landmark in town. There's a road leading to the top, but the hike up is worthwhile. Just don't forget to bring water.

One of the hills in Zecatacas

Looking down on the city center

A view of the cathedral and the cerro de la bufa

There's a old silver mine that you can tour. The price is kind of high. I think it was around 150 pesos a person. But it was an interesting tour. There's also a nightclub in the mine, but we didn't go, so I don't know what the prices are like.

We caught the International Folk Dance Festival. The streets were a little crowded, but it really livened up the town.

Some of the folk dancers performing.

Guadalajara

2009-07-24T00:10:00.002+09:00

A couple pictures of the cathedral in Guadalajara. It seems like a nice place to live, but not much to see as a tourist. There is a good amount of pedestrian space in the center of town, but there are only a few restaurants and bars.

Tequila

2009-07-23T07:28:00.004+09:00

From Guadalajara we took a day trip out to Tequila, the home of tequila. Tours run about 100 Pesos (8 or so dollars), and they all seem to be about the same. See the distillation plant, see the aging kegs, and have a few shots. You might also get to see the blue aguave fields used to make the liquor. In my opinion, the tours aren't really worth it. It's a nice little town, which is well worth visiting, but don't bother with a tour. Just head to a local cantina had have a few shots. And pick up a bottle at one of the many liquor stores in town.

The tour buses lined up

Blue aguave and the steamer they cook them in

The wort which is fermenting

Storage vats

One of the many tequila liquor stores in town

New York City

2009-07-16T07:20:00.005+09:00

A quick stop in New York City on the way to Mexico. On the afternoon of our arrival, we visited the Guggenheim, took a stroll through Central Park and saw Times Square. The next morning we took the Statue of Liberty Crown Tour and strolled around downtown Manhattan before heading to the airport. The Crown Tour is highly, highly recommended. Not just because it's cool to go up into the crown, but because you get to bypass the humongous lines that go into the base.

The neighborhood II

2009-05-10T23:06:00.005+09:00

It was a nice today, so I decided to get some exercise and do some hiking in the mountains around my house. I'm mapping the trails so that I don't get too lost. Here is the route I took. My house is #17 on the map.

Since my GPS records elevation, I thought I'd include that as well.

At #26 I discovered what appears to be a helicopter pad. Or maybe it's just a slab of concrete on top of a mountain. From the growth around it, it seems to have been abandoned some time ago.

Not far from the slab of concrete is a grave site. There are graves scattered all over the place around here, but most are much lower lying. Over Chuseok (the Korean Thanksgiving) families will usually visit the graves of their ancestors and have a small ceremony. I'm not sure if people still visit this one, but it is a reasonably vigorous hike up there. I even saw another grave site on the next mountain over. It would be at least a 2 or 3 hour hike from any village in the area.

My next finding was one of the electrical towers that carry power lines over the mountains. #27 on the map, for those keeping score at home. There's actually a dirt road that led up to this tower. The second structure on your left holds a cable that I presume was used to transport supplies to the next tower over, which isn't connected to the road.

Taking the dirt road, I heard some noise. I uncovered a group of workers assembling another tower. They were rather surprised to so me.

Working on the high steel.

The view from the tower. Most of the time the trees block the view, so it was good to get a glimpse of everything from up high.

The tower from further away.

Buddha's Birthday in Gyeongju

2009-05-03T09:56:00.006+09:00

Buddha's birthday rolled around again, and as tradition dictates, I visited three temples.

Bunhwangsa

First was Bunhwangsa. It dates from the 7th century, although it has been reconstructed a couple of times. The pagoda is a reconstruction of one of the first pagodas built in Korea. Overall, it's a rather small temple, but it's near several other famous sites.

From Bunhwangsa we attempted to take the bus to Bulguksa. After waiting for about 15 minutes, the other people waiting at the bus stop told us they had been waiting for an hour. So we started walking toward the bus terminal in town. About half way there we saw buses headed to Bulguksa. So we grabbed a bus from there.

Traffic on the road leading to Seokguram/Bulguksa.

Seokguram

Seokguram Grotto is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Grotto itself is a temple that's been buried under a mound, much similar to the burial mounds throughout town. Inside are sculptures of Buddha and various other apparitions. Buddha's Birthday is the one time of the year (although maybe on Lunar New Year's Day as well) that you can go inside and walk around the Buddha. On the list of World Heritage Sites that I've visited, I wouldn't rank this one very high.

The outside of the Grotto.

Bulguksa

The final stop was Bulguksa, which is probably the most famous temple in Gyeongju. It's not a particularly impressive temple, but on the night of Buddha's Birthday it does have a bit of charm. Unfortunately, it started to rain so the crowd thinned out and the lantern parade around the pagoda was reduced to a few hardy souls. I still managed to get a few decent photos of the temple and lanterns, so I was happy.

Blossoms

2009-04-05T23:54:00.005+09:00

Some six months ago they announced that the cherry blossom festival would be the weekend of April 4-5. And right on schedule, the blossoms came. Along with the pear blossoms, peach blossoms, and a host of other blossoms. Gyeongju seems to be a popular cherry blossom site, so the streets were packed with the cars of blossom viewers. Not wanting to be trapped in the mess, I pretty much avoided town all weekend. I did catch a little of the hub bub on Saturday night. Here, you can see the cherry trees all lit up. And the cars, in this four second exposure, not moving at all.

Near my house there is a nice little stretch of cherry trees.

And several pear orchards.

The neighborhood

2009-03-20T00:16:00.005+09:00

Some of the sights around my village

The neighbor's bee hives. Plenty of bees to keep my fruit trees pollinated.

Mr. Lee and his black goats.

The dairy farm where I buy my milk for cheese.

Our local tropical greenhouse. They're growing various cacti and want to open an environmental education center sometime.

An abandoned temple up in the hills.

Inside the main temple. It's pretty clean, but still appears to have been abandoned rather haphazardly. Several people left money and food for Buddha's birthday.

The plastic painted Buddha.

Moving Again

2009-02-25T11:00:00.003+09:00

For those who don't know me personally, I've move to a new house:

In a new village:

Yes, that's rural Korea. And yes, I chose to live there.

Philippines: Elsewhere

2009-01-27T20:23:00.006+09:00

Dagupan Beach

Dagupan was a stopping point between Vigan and the 100 Islands. It's interesting, but not that interesting. All along the beach there are small little huts that serve as private karaoke bars. You rent them by the hour and get to sing to your hearts content. Beyond that, there is not much to do in town. The seafood restaurants are okay. We didn't see any other non-Philippinos there, so I guess it's a good place to meet the locals.

Pagsanjan Falls

Pagsanjan is home of some famous waterfalls that are supposed to be quite beautiful. I didn't see the falls, as the town was just one big tourist trap scam. For example, before I went, the official website listed the per person boat price at $630 Pesos. When I got there, it was $800 Pesos, with a two person minimum. Now, the price is up to $1000 Pesos. The hotels are overpriced. And everywhere you go in town people are shouting at you, waving you down, all in the hopes of selling you something. After one night I left without ever seeing the falls.

Nasugbu Beach

Maybe I'm just not a beach person, but I found every beach I visited in the Philippines to be lacking in anything of interest. The sand here was nice. And there were lots of hotels to choose from. On the down side, it is a tourist trap, with people constantly trying to hawk things, especially a boat ride to the white sand beach. I couldn't find a halfway decent restaurant along the beach. Even in town the choices were slim.

About the only think that peeked my interest was a group of men hauling in their fishing net. After what seemed like several hours of work by a small group of men, they finally landed their catch. It was handful of fish that an old woman quickly weighed on a scale and were spirited off to someone's dinner table. A rather disappointing climax to such an rigorous ordeal. Which serves as a good closing metaphor for Nasugbu.

Philippines: Tagaytay

2009-01-27T20:22:00.002+09:00

Tagaytay is another mountain town that draws people with its cool temperatures. Another draw is the view of Taal Lake and Taal volcano down below.

Overall all, it is a pleasant city. Although saying it is "probably the most pleasant city in Asia" (as per the link above) is a tad too much hyperbole. The biggest drawback for the backpacker/budget traveler is that the town is stretched out along the top of a mountain ridge. So from one end to the other is probably 10-15 kilometers. So unless you know where you are going, it is difficult to just wander around checking out the sites. Also, as it is a big tourist destination, the hotel prices are quite a bit higher. I was able to find a room for 1200 Pesos after several hours of looking around. Most of the hotels are 2000 Pesos and up.

There are a lot of good restaurants in town, but again, they're pretty much spread all along the ridge. Near one end of town is Picnic Grove Nature's Park. The view is worth the 50 Peso admission price. And check out the modest zip line which crosses over a small valley. There is also a hostel at the park, but I'm not sure what the price is. Probably cheaper than elsewhere in town.

If you want to a quick escape from the heat of Manila, Tagaytay is a good choice. Personally, I prefer Baguio, and the Mountain Province. But those are a little further than Tagaytay.

A view of the ridge

A view of Taal Lake and Taal Volcano

The zip line and gondola at Picnic Grove

Philippines: 100 Islands

2009-01-23T20:22:00.004+09:00

100 Islands National Park is another place I give a lukewarm recommendation for. The islands are nice, but it feels more like a tourist trap than a park. As soon as we arrived there was a middle aged woman trying to rent her house to us, rent us a boat, rent us a cabin on the island, sell us water, etc. And everywhere you went there were more people trying to rent us a boat, rent us a room, sell us trinkets, etc.

When you arrive in Alaminos, stock up on some picnic food. There are no grocery stores around the park itself. As an alternative, there is an open market by the main pier where you can be some food. From Alaminos, there is no bus to the 100 Islands Park. The motorized tricycle rate should be around 50 pesos. At least that's what people told us. There might be an organized conspiracy to charge tourists more though. Once there, walk around to the various hotels and check out the prices. You shouldn't spend more than one night there.

When renting a boat, just get the basic 800 peso boat package. The "service boat" for 1200 pesos doesn't really cover much else. We negotiated a service boat for 1000 pesos, but we only stopped at a couple additional islands. And there's really no need to spend an extra hour or two checking out every single island. They all look pretty much the same.

They do have "cabins" on a few of the islands where you can spend the night. But we didn't like the pushy sales pitch and the ever escalating costs. It starts off with the price of the cabin. And then you have to pay for a boat there. And then a boat the next day to pick you up. And then water. And then a lantern. And then food. It just wasn't worth the hassle to us. And when we saw the actual cabins (see picture below) we were relieved we didn't make that choice.

Overall, it's just one of those places that is going to burn a little time and a little money off your trip. I suppose there are worse places, but why bother with this one?

Some of the islands

Boats at one of the islands

A closer look at the islands

One of the "cabins" you can spend the night at

A collection of stranded toilets

Philippines: Vigan

2009-01-20T20:21:00.003+09:00

Vigan is on the World Heritage List as "the best-preserved example of a planned Spanish colonial town in Asia." Frankly, I was a bit disappointed. The "colonial town" is more or less one street of old Spanish colonial buildings. Granted, it is a nice street. But it is pretty much just the one street. There is some interesting architecture off that main street, but the puttering motorbikes, motorized tricycles, and taxis take away all the charm.

We did luck out in some respects. We were there for one of their festivals, and watched a Filipino burlesque drag show. In addition, I celebrated my birthday there. And since we had a TV at the hotel, I was able to watch the inauguration. But beyond those special events, there wasn't much to see or do there.

If you're passing through the area on a bus, by all means stop and spend an hour or two looking around. But I wouldn't make a special journey to see it. Rather check out Intramuros in Manila. It's a much larger area of preserved Spanish colonial architecture. Just don't spend the night there, as the hotels are all priced higher due to it being a famed tourist destination.

A scene of the Spanish colonial street

Another scene

And another

Philippines: Sagada

2009-01-18T10:48:00.004+09:00

From Bontoc we headed to Sagada by foot. It's a picturesque 20 km hike, but I'd suggest doing it in the reverse direction, as Sagada is up mountain from Bontoc. Sagada is pleasant little Mountain Province city. It has good weather, a few good restaurants, and good scenery. The only downside is a 9 pm curfew. That, and the large collection of noise making animals about town. Between the dogs barking at night and the roosters crowing in the morning, you're not likely to get much sleep. Even with the early bedtime.

Some of the sites worth visiting:
-the town itself, off of the main street is very interesting. There are no streets, just sidewalks. It's a great way to see how some people live.

-Instead of burying their dead, they have a tradition of hanging the coffins from cliff faces or inside of caves. So you can find the famous hanging coffins in Echo Valley or Lumiang Cave.

-There are some good rice terraces around town as well.

-Sumaguing Cave. This is not a visitor friendly cave. There are no lights and no foot paths in the cave. But it's a great way to see a cave in its natural form. The journey is a little rugged, and occasionally dangerous though. There's even a through hike that exits out a different cave entrance. If you're alone or with one other person, it'll be usually be cheaper to join up with others for the tour.

Note: All visitors must register with the town tourist office and pay a visitor's tax. I forget the price, but it wasn't very much. They also sell a town map and provide all the information you need. It's definitely one of the better run tourist operations in the places I visited.

The view from the hotel room

Rice terraces

Hanging coffins in Echo Valley

Hanging Coffins in Lumiang Cave

Philippines: Bontoc

2009-01-16T20:21:00.002+09:00

Bontoc was another one of my favorite places to visit in the Philippines. The size of the town is small, so it's easy to get around. It's in the mountains, so there are a lot of hiking opportunities nearby. And the people we met were all very nice.

The main stretch running through town has a number of hotels, making it easy to find a reasonable room and negotiate a good price. We ended up paying 400 Pesos for a decent room, which is less than $10. On the other hand, it is pretty easy to pay just as much for a meal at one of the hotel restaurants. There are also quite a few small bars with karaoke machines were you can belt out a tune for 5 Pesos.

Nearby is the even smaller town of Malicong, which has rice terraces. While the rice terraces there are not as famous as the ones at Banaue, they are quite stunning. And there are virtually no other tourists there to crowd you. You can pretty much just walk all around them and just see the local farmers doing their work. The road ends in Malicong, but if you do some exploring you'll find another town on the other side of one of the mountains. Somehow, they bring everything they need in on foot from Malicong. One group of men was hauling a pig down through the rice terraces, and then back up the mountain, and on to their village. Jeepneys go to Malicong from near the central market. From Malicong back to Bontoc, I recommend hiking back. It is an easy 5 or so kilometers downhill.

And note that Bontoc is in the Mountain Province, so there is a curfew. Around 10 pm the bars will stop serving and within 30 minutes or so everybody is sent back home.

Motorized tricycles in Bontoc

The jeepney to Malicong

Rice terraces in Malicong

More rice terraces

Locals taking a pig to their village

The path through the rice terraces

A banana plant with flower

Philippines: Baguio

2009-01-13T22:25:00.002+09:00

Baguio was our first stop out of Manila. Located at 1500 meters above sea level, it is known as the "summer capital of the Philippines." In terms of sight seeing, it's nothing special. But it is one of the more livable places I visited in the Philippines. There is a large college population, so it's got a lively feel to it. Session Road has a lot of good of restaurants. There is an SM Mall, with a variety of fast food joints. There's also a large open market in the center of town as well. Outside of town, Camp John Hay has been turned into a high end tourist destination, with golf courses and luxury resorts. And being located in the mountains, there is a large array of hikes one can partake in.

Hong Kong

2009-01-11T21:02:00.002+09:00

This was my second time to visit Hong Kong. The first time was in 1997 for the handover to China. It was in the middle of summer, and I hated the place. Hot and humid to the extreme. And the only relief from that was from torrential buckets of rain. The only highlight was that I flew on a FedEx plane and got to ride in the cockpit for the landing at the old downtown airport. Nevertheless, I decided to return for a 24 hour layover on the way to the Philippines.

This time, it was much, much better. The weather was excellent, and I had a plan of attack. After arriving on Saturday night we headed to our guest house at Chungking Mansions. The rooms there are super small, and not always the most tidy of places. But the location is excellent, and the price is cheap. After taking a brief walk about, we decided to rest up for a busy Sunday.

On Sunday we did the quick 1-day tour of Hong Kong. Walking to the ferry terminal; taking the Star Ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island; checking out the Mid-levels, and their wonderful escalator; eating at a local Chinese restaurant; riding the tram up to The Peak; doing some sidewalk shopping in the street markets; eating some Chinese street food. And then finally, heading back to the airport for our flight to the Philippines.

After all of that, it makes me wonder what city I actually visited back in 1997. I don't remember the restaurants, the sites, the vibrancy of the city. I'll chalk it up to the bad weather. All in all, Hong Kong definitely moved up on my list of favorite cities. I'd still never go back in the summer though.

Tip: Never, ever exchange money at the airport. The rates are terrible and the guest houses will be able to exchange your major currencies (i.e. don't bring Won).

The goldfish market

Part of the Mid-levels escalator system

The tram to The Peak

The view from Victoria Peak

Winter Scenes

2008-12-21T15:00:00.000+09:00

Not a whole lot to take pictures of these days. I figured I should add something for December though. Here are a couple of pictures from a friend's house up in the mountains. Only a few flurries of snow have come my way.

His cows.

I'm headed to the Philippines in a week, so look for some new posts at the end of the month.

Fall Colors

2008-11-17T19:45:00.007+09:00

Some scenes of the fall colors here. The first picture is in Gimhae. The rest are from Soho village near Ulsan. The fall viewing season actually peaked a week or two ago, but there are still massive crowds at the most famously scenic spots. Sundays are particularly popular, with traffic jams on the little country crowds that can stretch for kilometers. Fortunately Soho is not one of the more popular places.

Rice Harvest

2008-10-13T20:19:00.001+09:00

The combines goes along and separates the rice from the stalks.

The grain is then laid out along the side of the road.

The stalks dry and are scooped into bales.

Rice Fields: October 13

2008-10-13T18:59:00.003+09:00

The field was harvested sometime between Saturday afternoon and Monday afternoon. Check the next post for what happens after the harvest.

Rice Fields: October 11

2008-10-11T20:19:00.006+09:00

Harvest has started. Notice the field at center left.

Rice Fields: October 6

2008-10-06T20:58:00.006+09:00

Harvest is just around the corner. A few fields have been picked and the farmers are laying out seeds to dry.

Rice Fields: September 6

2008-09-06T23:51:00.004+09:00

After a several week absence (the Mongolia posts are coming soon, I promise), the rice has seeded. Harvest doesn't appear too far away.

Mongolia: General

2008-08-31T23:10:00.002+09:00

Things to see and do

I'd say the one attraction of Mongolia is Mongolia itself. Just to visit the vast, undeveloped landscape. We just visited a small part of Mongolia, but most if it looked quite similar. The towns were nearly indistinguishable from each other, apart from the presence or absence of certain basic services such as electricity or water. So just find a spot and spend some time there. Hike, camp out, and enjoy the outdoors.

My first choice would be Lake Khovsgol. It's a beautiful lake, with mountains all around it, and lots of ger camps to choose from. From the north end of the ger camps you could hike further north and enjoy some nice solitude. Second choice would be a larger town such as Tsetserleg. You could easily find a spot not too far from town where you could set up camp. From there, you could hike in to town for food supplies every few days. Camping is pretty much permissible everywhere - although be careful about setting up in a pasture that will be overrun with goats and sheep.

My next recommendation would be to avoid an organized tour. Sure it's simpler. But you're going to get dragged around for days on end, bouncing along across the rugged terrain of Mongolia. Which is fine for a couple of days. But it soon gets tiring. If you have the money, fly. If you don't have the money, hop on a bus and bear the agony. But not spend too much time traveling from place to place. The best times we had were spent in staying in one place, not riding around the countryside (as nice as it looks).

And finally, don't forget to take in the night sky. When the moon is down you can see millions and millions of stars. And it doesn't take much looking to spot a falling star or two.

Packing

Pack like you would for a camping trip. Light, light, light. Especially if you plan on doing some hiking or camping. There's a lot of walking to be done in Mongolia, and you don't want to be over loaded. And with the dry heat, your clothes won't stink too bad - or at least they'll dry out quickly after a quick hand wash. Bring a flashlight as well. Gers rarely have electricity, and even some towns don't seem to have any current passing through their wires. If you forget a flashlight, the lighters they sell include a small pen light. Sunscreen, insect repellent, first aid supplies, moisturizing cream (it is very dry there) and things like that will come in handy as well.

Also, pack some warm clothes. In the middle of August we were regularly wearing our light jackets and were still chilly at times.

A sleeping bag is a must, as it can get quite chilly at night. The gers usually have a wood burning stove in them, but the fire will eventually die out. And most hotels don't seem to be equipped with heat. Or at least they're not apt to turn it on in the "summer."

A light tent would also be a good idea, if you're inclined to camping. There are a lot of ger camps, but there's also a lot of wide open landscape to explore. Being able to throw down a tent would be useful.

Expenses

I have listed most prices in Tugrik (T). At the time we went the Tugrik was 1150 to the US dollar. Here, I'll give the run down in dollars.

For three weeks, our expenses were between $40-45 per person per day. That includes everything from arrival to departure. Accommodations usually ran between $5-$10 per person a night. Transportation accounted for some big expenditures, sometimes $15-20 per day. Meals in Mongolian restaurants usually cost around $2. Food in Ulaan Bataar was considerably more expensive. We were going to the top of the line restaurants in town and paying $10-15 a meal. The rest was for snacks, water, beer, and souvenirs. Cut out some of the traveling, the expensive food and drink, and you could probably get by on $20-25 a day. Traveling solo will be a bit more expensive though.

One important thing to remember is negotiation. Almost all prices are negotiable. Taxi and van drivers will try to over charge you, so ask around what the local price is first. Hotel rooms can also be negotiated at times. In Ulaan Bataar we were able to get a $40 a night room down to 30,000T a night.

Language

They speak Mongolian, of course. Most signs, especially outside of Ulaan Bataar, are written in Cyrillic. It would be very useful to learn some Cyrillic before you go. At the very lest, you'll want to be able to recognize certain words and read the destination signs on buses and vans. Be careful with some of the pronunciations though. For example X is usually romanized as 'kh' when in fact it is more of a guttural 'h' sound. Which is why places like Khovsgol are often written as Hovsgol.

A few examples of place names:

Улаанбаатар = Ulan Bator, or Ulaanbaatar
Хөвсгөл нуур = Lake Khövsgöl or Lake Hovsgol
Хатгал = Khatgal or Hatgal
Хархорин = Kharkhorin or sometimes Karakorum, which is the nearby ancient capital

If you bring a notebook and a marker you can ask people to write the town names in large letters. This comes in handy when trying to find a ride.

Mongolia: Transportation

2008-08-30T20:56:00.010+09:00

Transportation is probably one of the most difficult aspects of traveling in Mongolia. The roads turn pedestrian journeys into all day affairs. When planning your route, assume an average speed of 30 km/hr (around 20 mph).

There are several ways of arranging transportation. Most people seem to take the chartered van route. In many ways, this is the easiest. You'll have plenty of space for you and your bag, and you won't have to haggle for prices every day. On the flip side, it is a little more expensive. Figure $30-40 per person per day, depending on the size of your group and the distances you travel. An alternative is finding rides as you go. It will be a bit cheaper, you'll have more freedom to change your plans, but the ride will be cramped and uncomfortable. You will also have to spend a lot of time waiting around for people with no idea what is going on.

We chose the later method, and I think overall it was a better experience. We were able to meet more Mongolians and better experience their daily lives. But it was also some of the most uncomfortable rides I've ever experienced. We were on a mini-bus with 30 people crammed onto it. For 20 hours. We were also stuck with 20 other people in a 12 passenger van. That was only for 9 hours though. But we also got a few nicer rides, including a couple of free hitches.

Based upon my limited experience, it seems like transportation in and out of Ulaan Baatar is cheaper than transportation between other cities. Between other cities the costs were approximately 100 Tukrig per kilometer per person.

To find a ride, the best method we found was to find the road going in your direction and wave down cars and vans. It helps to have the name of your destination written in Cyrillic as well. In every town, there's usually a bus center where the vans all depart from. But you will have a harder time negotiating there. In addition, once you have negotiated a price, you will have to wait around until the van is full. And then you will drive around town picking up everyone's luggage. And then pick up more people. And then back to the market so people can buy snacks. If you're on the main road, you may have to wait 2 or 3 hours before someone will give you a ride, but they will already be in route. So it works out about the same time wise. You also have the freedom to reject a ride which is too crowded or appears to be on the verge of a breakdown.

Remember to buy plenty of snacks before leaving. You might not get any chances to buy food or drinks along the way. And when the van or bus stops in the middle of nowhere, that signifies a bathroom break. Get out, find a spot in the field, and do your business.

Here is a summary of our transportation expenses (price in Tugrik):

UB to Moron (bus) 24,500T, 20 hours
Moron to Hatgal (van) 7,000T, 100 km, 3 hours
Moron to Tariat (tourist van) 25,000T, 280 km, 9 hours
(This was a special deal because the driver was already headed that way and we were just a little icing on the cake for him.)
Tariat to Tsetserleg (car) 20,000T, 170 km, 6 hours
Tsetserleg to Kharkharin (van) 15,000T, 135 km, 3.5 hours
Kharkharin to UB (van) 15,000T, 8 hours

A sampling of some of the roads you will encounter:

Mongolia: Kharkhorin

2008-08-26T21:13:00.009+09:00

Kharkhorin is the city near Karakorum, which is famous for being the ancient capital of the Mongolian Empire. From here, Chengis Khan's descendants ruled most of Asia. But alas, that was over 500 years ago, and today there is little reminder of that era. There is one famous remnant, and that is the Erdene Zuu monastery. It was originally built in the 16th century, but was mostly destroyed by the Soviets. The temple is okay, but I'm not sure if it's worth a special trip. The temple artifacts are impressive, but the remaining structures aren't very spectacular.

Some views of the monastery:

There is also a monument to the Mongolian empire. And near that there is another, smaller temple in town as well.

There are ger camps all over the surrounding countryside. Inside of town, there are very few accommodations. We found one hotel, which didn't have any running water. Rooms were 10,000T a night.

The one memorable moment we had there was on a cold blustery day when the rain briefly turned to snow. The next morning we could still see some snow in the mountains around town. This was on August 25th.

When hiking around the country side, you'll find piles of stones on the top of almost every hill. Some will be small, while some will be rather large. You also find horse skulls and lots of other bones around these piles. We decided to stack some skulls on the pile of stones a take a picture of them. Later, we found out that it is a tradition to put a skull on the pile and face it towards the sunrise. I also just read an article that states 5 was a lucky number for the Huns, and one of their princesses was buried with 5 horse skulls. So I guess there must have been some fate in our arrangement.

The best part of Mongolia is just hiking around the country side. The area around Kharkorin is a World Heritage Site. There some nice rolling hills and a big river valley to hike around.

Mongolia: Tsetserleg

2008-08-20T21:25:00.005+09:00

Tsetserleg was one of our favorite towns we visited. It's big enough to have several cafes, including a foreign cafe, a selection of motels, and a decent market. There is also a small monastery in town with a museum. The highlight for us was the hiking. Heading over the hills (where the cell phone tower is, for those going there) there is a nice little valley with a river. Along the river there are some nice trees to have a picnic under.

A part of the monastery. The rest, including the museum, is located behind me.

The valley with some nice picnic locations.

One of the interesting encounters on hikes is Mongolian cemeteries. They seem to usually be located on hills on the outskirts of town. They're quite small, with no real organization. Just some graves scattered around the hillside. A few have weathered gravestones, but most are just covered with concrete. Due to the rocky soil, the coffins aren't buried very deep. In same cases, people have cracked open the concrete cover and even the coffin. In a few of them we could see bones.

Mongolia: Lake Khovsgol

2008-08-18T21:03:00.007+09:00

Lake Khovsgol was probably my favorite places I visited. It's nice to see some actual water in Mongolia, as most places are pretty devoid of the stuff. When we first arrived in Khatgal, we were dismayed by the lack of scenery. After spending an extra day there, and on the verge of heading to the next town, we finally ventured away and discovered that Khatgal is the very southern tip of the lake. Heading north is where you want to go.

There is one nice attraction in Khatgal though, and that is the boat tour. The boat is docked just north of town. "Departure" times are listed as 1200 and 1800. Which is actually the beginning of boarding time. You will pay 1000T to board the boat, whence you get to spend an hour looking around. At some point, you get off the boat and back on, paying once again. Supposedly the tourist rate is 10,000T per person, but we were only charged the Mongolian rate of 5,000T. The boat will head out and cruise around the lake for about an hour. Beer is sold on board, and the Mongolians play disco music and dance.

Heading north past the boats, there is a trail along the lake. Ger camps stretch out for a few kilometers and then the trail takes a precocious path along the edge of the mountains. One misstep and you'll inevitably slide down the hill and plunge into the water below. Fortunately, the water is so clear your friends will be able to see your body from up high. There is another trail around the hills which is safer, but you don't have the lovely view of the lake. After some time you will again start seeing ger camps. They will then stretch up the lake for another 15 to 20 kms. At the northern end of the lineup of ger camp there is the famous reindeer family. Actually, I don't think we found the real reindeer family, as the family we found only had about 10 reindeer sitting around. I believe there's an actual herd of reindeer out there somewhere. But we saw some reindeer and decided to head back to camp.

The ger camps along the lake vary in quality and price. There are small, family owned camps with only one or two gers. They usually cost about 5,000T per person in a shared ger. We ended up in a pretty nice camp with about 30 gers that cost 25,000T per ger. Or, for 30,000T per person, we could have had the ger plus three meals plus a hot shower. But that's not a very good deal. For breakfast, they wanted 5,000T. We negotiated a "light" breakfast for 1,500T. That included a fried egg, a loaf of bread, and butter and jam. Meals at the camp restaurant ran in the 3,500-4,500T range. So stick with the ala carte menu, if you can.

As I've said before, and I'll say again, the main attraction in Mongolia is the outdoors. And around Lake Khovsgol there is some wonderful landscape. Just pure, clean, virtually untouched surroundings. Lake Khovsgol has some of the clearest water you'll ever see. You could look out 20 feet and still see the bottom. Some parts along the shore had rock beaches with some of the nicest skipping stones I've ever seen. You'll also see a lot more trees than in other parts of Mongolia. The only thing I wish they had was some canoes. Several ger camps advertised canoes, but I never saw any. It would definitely be a nice place to spend some time canoeing around.

Mongolia: Terelj

2008-08-12T21:32:00.005+09:00

Terelj National Park is located just outside of Ulaan Bataar, which makes it a good quick introduction to Mongolia. For those staying only a few days in Mongolia, I highly recommend it. Also for those who are just starting out and want a quick test run before heading out into the great unknown.

Most every guest house and tour company has packages out to Terelj. There are a great many ger camps out there, with prices running the full range. We paid $50 a person for two nights in a shared ger, transportation and food included. I heard of other people paying $75 a night. There are also some hotels in the area which cater to more upscale travelers.

Included in our package was a few hours of horse back riding. The horses in Mongolia are a bit smaller than what we see in America, so they might not exactly fit the average non-Mongolian. The saddle are also quite uncomfortable. It's a good experience, but just be forewarned. And try to get the guide to adjust your stirrups to your legs.

This is the small camp we stayed in:

Korea Tourism Photo Contest

2008-08-06T10:55:00.004+09:00

The results of the "36th Korea Tourism Photo Contest" are in, and I received an Honorable Mention for my photo below. Which is good for 100,000 Won, or almost $100. I took it on Buddha's Birthday at Haedong Yonggung-sa in Busan.

The Beach

2008-07-31T13:38:00.003+09:00

Some views of Gwangan Beach in Busan. Gwangan Bridge is in the background. Koreans don't really swim, they just wade out into the water or float on tubes. If you notice, all of the tubes look the same. As do all of the umbrellas. That's because you have to rent them. 5,000 Won for an umbrella, 3,000 Won for a little mat to sit on, and 3,000 Won for a tube. The other thing you might notice is that many of the people aren't wearing swimsuits. Seems that they just prefer to wear their clothes into the water, even if they have a swimsuit on underneath.

It was crowded, but not as crowded as I thought it would be. Then again, this is the less popular beach. Haeundae Beach is where most people go to.

Rice Fields: July 29

2008-07-29T12:06:00.001+09:00

The latest progress:

Rice Fields: July 10

2008-07-10T22:19:00.007+09:00

I've split up my posts. You can find all of the rice field entries by clicking on the Rice Fields tag to the right.

It's been a couple of weeks since my last update. Read my post "Hazy Days of Summer" to find out why. Things are really growing well now. The landscape looks much lovelier with the seas of green instead of all the dirt brown.

Hazy Days of Summer

2008-07-08T21:58:00.006+09:00

To the south of town are the rice fields. To the north and west are some small mountains. So I've been trying to get in mountain climbing shape to tackle some rides in other directions. In town, we have a nice little mountain, Bunseong-san, to practice on. At the top is an observatory, which rests at approximately 380 meters (approx. 1247 feet). The climb from my apartment is just over 300 meters, or close to 1000 feet. Which is a pretty good work out. Especially in the heat and humidity we have right now.

There are two routes up and down the mountain. The first is a nice, paved road, with quite a few curves, and some pretty steep sections. There is also the occasional car to deal with, which keeps you on your toes on the way down. On the eastern side of the mountain, the road runs into Gaya land, which is on a major road through the mountains. From there, it is a straight downhill ride through some pretty stiff traffic. At least there aren't any roads coming in from the right for some distance, so you can pretty much blow through all the stop lights. You just have to watch out for pedestrians and cars double parked.

The second path is the old, mostly unpaved road. It's gravel most of the way, with a few paved sections where it climbs a little more steeply. It meanders quite a bit more than the new road, with a generally steadier slope. I've been riding this one the most, as the only traffic is hikers and other bikers. The eastern path is a little different. It follows along the ridge of the mountain for some distance before making a steep descent onto the main road around the mountain. From there, it's a 50 meter climb back up to the pass before heading down the same road the passes Gaya land.

The summer brings a constant haze to town. So good views are hard to come by.

Part of the observatory

The routes on Google Earth. The green line is the second, unpaved trail. The windy blue lines that meet the green lines are the paved road. The other blue lines show the main roads which go around the mountain. Unfortunately, Google Earth doesn't have good resolution for all of town.

So that's the ride to the top of Mt. Bunseong. There's another, even higher mountain, not too far outside of town. One of these weekends I hope to wake up early enough to beat the heat and tackle it.

Rice Fields: June 22

2008-06-22T22:10:00.002+09:00

The rainy season has begun, so I haven't been out to the fields as much. I'm also starting to bike the hills to the west and north of town as well. As you can see, the rice has made substantial progress over the last couple of weeks.

Gimhae From Above

2008-06-15T18:58:00.006+09:00

Another day of great weather and another local hike. This time to the top of the small mountain next to my apartment building. After four months here, it's actually the first time I've been up there. I will definitely return, as it is a quick little jaunt, and has some nice views of both the city and country

My neighborhood. Somewhere down there is my apartment building.

The rice fields I like to bike across. As you can see, it is quite a nice expanse of flat space

More rice fields. The edge of Busan can be seen in the far background.

The nearby small town where I teach on Fridays.

Gaya Land: Not Quite the Happiest Place on Earth

2008-06-15T09:28:00.007+09:00

This weekend, I hiked across town to visit our local amusement park, Gaya Land. The park is hanging on by a thread. The grounds are unkempt. The rides are rusting away. The water park has been drained. Not surprisingly, the crowd is quite small. The W1,500 (US$1) admission fee is worth it just to see the spectacle of a dead amusement park. Most of the rides do seem to be working, and with absolutely no lines at all.

A view of the park, located in the mountains around Gimhae

The near empty park lot

The park map is showing some signs of age

No copyright infringement to see here

I think that's suppose to be Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

The roller coaster, which actually runs when people want to ride it

An overview of the park

The defunct water park portion

Rice Fields: June 6

2008-06-06T22:11:00.002+09:00

The rice is growing.

Rice Fields: May 31

2008-05-31T22:12:00.002+09:00

Some rice fields near a friend's house. The little blue sheds with orange roofs supposedly house ducks with which they use to fertilize the fields. But alas, no ducks were in situ.

A close up of some rice sprouts.

Rice Fields: May 29

2008-05-29T22:13:00.002+09:00

It rained all day yesterday. Today was planting day.

Here they are planting the field... by hand. Some farmers have little tractors that can do the job, but many still do it the old fashioned way. You'll occasionally see little old ladies in Asia with a permanent stoop from working the rice fields.

Rice Fields: May 27

2008-05-27T22:14:00.003+09:00

Almost all the fields in the area are flooded. Most have been planted with rice sprouts. My field seems to be one of the few that still needs planting. There are some nice looking terraced fields on the way to my school. I'll try to bike out there sometime this week and take some photos of them.

Rice Fields: May 17

2008-05-17T22:17:00.003+09:00

The fields are beginning to be flooded. In the area, 30-40% of the fields have been flooded and about 5-10% have seedlings ready to be planted.

Some rice seedlings in another field.

New format

2008-05-17T19:19:00.001+09:00

I've reformatted the blog. So if things don't look right on your display, drop me a comment and I'll try to fix it.

Buddha's Birthday

2008-05-13T20:39:00.015+09:00

Buddha's Birthday is a national holiday, so I headed to Busan to check out some of the festivities. The temples hang paper lanterns all over the place, I visited two previously seen temples and a new one as well.

Haedong Yonggung-sa

The first temple I visited was Haedong Yonggung-sa. It is located on the coast, with a dramatic vista. It's a bit of a ways from central Busan. If anyone reading this decides to go there, take bus #181 from Haeundae Station. None of the buses the on-line tourist information recommends get quite as close.

Samgwang-sa

Next in line was Samgwang-sa. This is my second visit to this temple. Lots of lanterns and a wide range of concessions to buy.

Beomeo-sa

Also my second visit to this temple. I arrived there as night was falling, which appears to be the best time to go. The lanterns were being lit and there was a large crowd participating in the festivities. The little road up the mountain was so overtaxed that it was faster to walk.

Rice Fields: May 11

2008-05-11T22:18:00.002+09:00

No changes to my field. In the area, about 10% of the fields have been flooded and maybe 1% have rice plants in them.

Jirisan

2008-05-08T20:51:00.009+09:00

Thanks to an abundance of off days, I was able to make a trip was to Jirisan (Mt. Jiri) National Park. The two day trip was originally meant as a warm up to a three day adventure, but two days of intensive hiking took its toll on my body.

For starters, anyone who wants to head to Jirisan, or any other national park in Korea, should check out Korea in the Clouds. It is an exhaustive compendium of hiking information.

The trip began with several bus rides to reach the park. The initial plan was to start near Chilbul-sa. Unfortunately, the trails from that area were closed for restoration. The next closest starting point was about 10 km away. Instead of hiking there, we managed to hitch a couple of rides down the road and back up to Daeseong-ni. From there, it was a relatively easy 3 hour hike up to the Byeoksoryeong Shelter. I say relatively easy because our initial plans involved a 7 hour hike to the shelter, and a complete crossing of Jirisan involves approximately 20 hours of hiking. The trail itself is rather intense, with obstacle almost every step of the way, and about a 1000 meter ascent (3281 feet).

Once we reached the shelter, it wasn't officially open yet. And while the weather was nice on the way up, as soon as we reached the top, the wind started howling and clouds moved in. Within 20 minutes cold rain was beginning to sprinkle down, so we headed to the covered cooking area, which was filled with people, all of whom had camp stoves and massive packs. While pretty much all I brought was some cans of tuna, spam, and crackers in a day pack. When the shelter opened, we went to check in. I had made reservations on the Korean National Parks web site, which has a lovely English interface. Unfortunately, if you don't pre-pay, your reservation gets canceled. And of course, there is no place to pre-pay on the English web site. So we had to end up waiting for them to sort it out and finally give us a "bed."

The shelter is relatively small and designed to hold 135 people. Each "bed" is about two feet of space on a large wooden platform. With 135 people, the shelter is pretty crowded. But in addition to the 135 reserved spots, at least 50 other people showed up without reservations. Some are prepared and camp outside or in the cooking area. Others sprawl themselves over every inch of free space. The entire lobby ended up being wall to wall sleeping bags. The shoe foyer had people in it. People were sleeping on the stairs. Next time I go, I'll definitely be bringing my tent and camping outside. Even the smallest one man tent would give more free space than the shelter does. Not to mention how uncomfortable sleeping on a wooden platform is.

So the next day we headed out for a bit longer hike. We had an afternoon bus to catch, so we started out early in the morning. From Byeoksoryeong we head east along the ridge to Jangteomok Shelter. By that time, my knee was really flaring up, but we had a 1000 meter descent to the bus stop. My partner ended up having to carry my bag while I hobbled over rocks and boulders all the way down the mountain. What should have been about a 3 hour hike down the mountain turned into almost 5 hours. At last we had some luck though, and managed to catch the last possible bus to make the final connection back home.

As I write this, a week later, my legs are still a bit sore. It's definitely a rigorous hike and needs to be worked up to. Hopefully I'll be able to get some practice in over the summer and return in the fall.

Here are a couple of pictures from the hike. There were quite a few low lying clouds that obscured most attempts to capture the scenery. And it's always difficult to stop and take time to shoot photographs while you're hiking.

A look down from the top

A look up from about half way down. We had to make our way through this boulder strewn creek bed on the way down. Which is not easy when every step is riddled with pain.

Rice Fields: April 30

2008-04-30T19:00:00.003+09:00

I've started to a new series of photos to track the progress in one of the rice fields near my apartment. I will try to update it every week or so with new photos and descriptions of the rice growing process.

In a few of the fields, farmers are burning off old crop. Some tractors are also out and about plowing fields.

Gimhae Gaya Culture Festival

2008-04-27T14:20:00.004+09:00

Another festival, this one a bit closer to home. Gimhae hosted the Gaya Culture Festival for one week. It was actually a pretty good festival, and I regret not spending more time there. They had a wide variety of entertainment, a decent food selection, and a various craft activities for the children. Although there were a few Korean twists that you wouldn't normally see at a festival in the States. For example, the hand acupuncture booth which was doing good business. I did spend a few hours getting paid to walk around and speak to people in English. Mainly school kids. After my shift, I managed to check out some of the closing activities.

One of which was a massive tug-of-war contest. The central rope stretched for a couple hundred yards. From this main rope radiated side ropes which people pulled on. To add to the effect, they had school groups dressed up in traditional Korean uniforms and groups of drummers in, what appeared to be, clown costumes.

Here is some video footage of the actual tug-of-war and the post tug-of-war dancing.

After a couple of rounds of tug-of-war, the post battle celebration began. Cutting away a piece of the rope seemed to make for a valued souvenir. Unfortunately, I didn't bring a knife with me. Maybe next year.

Festival Weekend

2008-04-13T23:11:00.009+09:00

Yeongdeok Snow Crab Festival

March seems to be the kick off of the Korean festival season, and I decided to take advantage and visit a couple of them. On Saturday, I went to the Yeongdeok Snow Crab Festival in, of course, Yeongdeok. Yeongdeok is famous for their crabs, with restaurants all over the country advertising Yeongdeok snow crab. The whole town is one giant string of crab markets and crab restaurants. As you can see, they take their crab seriously here.

It was an interesting festival, with some activities that required a little bit of explanation. Unfortunately, they were not prepared for the onslaught of English speaking tourists, namely myself, and did not provide any explanation whatsoever. One of the first things they did was some sort of silent auction. They had boxes of crabs and people wrote down prices. They held up their bid and the auctioneers went around selecting the winning bids. I don't think it was based upon the highest bid, but rather the closest to some randomly chosen magic price. I never did quite figure out the whole process, which is unfortunate since the prices seemed to be quite on the cheap side.

The next major activity was fishing for crabs. For 10,000 Won, about $10, you could rent a pole and catch crabs out of a giant pool they had constructed. But again, the directions in English were a little lacking. I was in line early for a pole, but unfortunately, it was the wrong line. I was in the line for those with tickets. But first, I had to buy a ticket in a line 5 feet away. Of course, they wouldn't just take my 10,000 Won and give me a ticket then and there. They wanted me to wait in line. Which had grown considerably longer by this point in time. So I gave up my hopes of catching my lunch.

And what could a crab festival be without eating some crab? So I headed to the food stalls were I first had to buy the crab from a vendor. Two good size crabs cost 50,000 Won, or about $50. Which is supposedly about half the price you'd pay in a restaurant. They then had cookers who I had to pay 6,000 Won to cook my crab. As you can tell from the before and after pictures, the crabs were quite tasty. For another couple thousand won, they even took the bodies and mixed in some rice with the innards. So pretty much every last edible bit of those things was consumed.

Before

After

Cheongdo Bullfighting Festival
(official website in Korean)

From Yeongdeok, I headed to Daegu, where I spent Saturday night. On Sunday morning, I was off to Cheongdo for the bullfighting festival. You may remember that attended this festival last year as well.

The forecast was for rain, but it ended up being a beautiful day. The stands were crowded and the bullfights were as fascinating to watch as they were last year. There was even a woman trainer who won her match, which excited the the crowd, especially the women.

I was able to take some better video this year as well, but I still need to edit it down. So check back in a week or two for that.

More Temples: Tongdosa & Naewonsa

2008-04-07T16:06:00.008+09:00

This past weekend brought forth some more nice weather. As an added benefit, the cherry blossoms are in bloom. Given the nice weather, I decided to head out and visit a couple more temples in the area.

Tongdosa

The first temple I visited was Tongdosa. It is one of the three main temples in Korea, along with Songgwangsa, which I have already visited, and Haeinsa, which I will probably visit in the next month or two. Like many of the other temples in the area, it dates back to the 7th century. While none of the structures are overly impressive, it does have a very scenic mountain location. The walk from the parking lot to the temple is alongside a stream and lined with pine trees. Unfortunately, there seems to be some sort of disease or pest that is stripping the pine trees of their bark, so a lot of trees are being taken down. But there are still plenty to see.

Along the path, there are numerous rocks with Chinese lettering carved in them.

The main area of the main temple. There are also 19 smaller temples located along the road heading up the mountain.

Naewonsa

Nearby is another temple, albeit less impressive. I haven't been to able to find much information about it on line though. There are only a few structures, but they are a little more brightly painted than at most other temples. The hike from the parking lot to the temple is also quite scenic, with trails extending beyond the temple going further up the mountains.

One interesting face of this temple is the monks. If you look closely, through the shaved heads and gray robes, you will notice that they are all women. In fact, a book, Women in Korean Zen, was written about the women monks at Naewonsa.

This upcoming weekend brings a return of the Korean bullfighting festival that I attended last year. I also plan on hitting the Yeongdeuk Snow Crab Festival near Pohang, which is tempting me with free fishing boat rides. Expect a full report with pictures in a week or so.

Korean Ages 201

2008-04-01T10:02:00.002+09:00

After over two years here, I have finally uncovered the full secret to Korean ages.

When a baby is born, they start out at the age of 1 year.

If they celebrate their birthday according to the lunar calendar, which is rare these days, but a little more common among older Koreans, they age another year on Lunar New Year's Day. Which is in late January or early February of the solar year.

If they celebrate their birthday according to the solar calendar, they age another year on Solar New Year's Day. Which is, of course, January 1.

You can convert to lunar dates at the Hong Kong Observatory web site.

Busan Temples: Beomeosa & Samgwangsa

2008-03-15T23:26:00.015+09:00

A couple of temples in Busan that I explored over the past weekend. Both will be added to my 33 temple hike, which brings the total to five.

Beomeosa

Beomeosa (official Korean website) is one of the most famous temples in Korea. The original structures date back to the 7th century. There are also a lot of hiking trails around the temple, but they don't do a good job of indicating which direction to go. It's best to just follow the road up to the temple and hike away from there. Not a lot of pictures, as my camera batteries indicated that they were running out of juice.

Samgwangsa

While much less historic, Samgwangsa offers some pretty impressive temple buildings. The main hall is one of the largest I've ever seen. The auxiliary buildings are equally impressive in size. It's much more of an urban setting than the other temples I've visited, but well worthwhile nevertheless.

There Goes the Neighborhood

2008-03-15T22:50:00.004+09:00

In my latest wanderings around Busan, I came upon an interesting little neighborhood that was in the process of being torn down. Half of the buildings had been torn down, half of the remaining buildings were half torn down, and the others seemed to be still occupied. Undoubtedly this area will soon be turned into high rise apartment buildings. But in the meantime, the developers are busy trying to vacate the residents. I suppose making them live in a pile of debris is supposed to make them sell out faster.

Buddhist Temples: Seonamsa, Songgwangsa, & Ssanggyesa

2008-03-09T21:23:00.009+09:00

This last weekend I ventured out to nearby Suncheon to see some temples and do some hiking.

A brief Korean lesson:

Sa (사) in Korean means temple, so the names of all the temples end in -sa. San (산) means mountain, so most mountains end in -san, although some end in bong (봉), which means peak.

Note: The first link is to the official web site, which is in Korean. The second link is to the tourism web site in English.

Seonamsa

My first stop on Saturday was Seonamsa. Seonamsa is located at the base of Jogyesan. It dates back almost 900 years and is one of the major temples of Korean Buddhism.

A few of the temple buildings

A monk in one of the temple buildings

Songgwangsa

Songgwangsa is located on the other side of Jogyesan. To get there, you can take a bus from Seonamsa back to Suncheon and another bus out to Songgwangsa. Or you can hike a 7 km trail over Jogyesan. I, of course, chose the trail. It was a fairly easy 3-hour hike, with a manicured path and lots of stone steps. Like Seonamsa, it is another old temple with great importance to Korean Buddhism.

The main hall of Songgwangsa

A closer look at the main hall

A few of the roof tops

Ssanggyesa

On Sunday, I headed to another nearby temple, Ssanggyesa. It is located near Jirisan, one of the top mountain hiking destinations in Korea. While I didn't have time to hike there this weekend, I am sure to be back sometime this year. I'm currently eyeing a couple three day weekends in May. Like the other temples, Ssanggyesa is located in a picturesque mountain setting with a large array of buildings and treasures.

One of the scenes at Ssanggyesa

Another temple building

All in all, it was an excellent weekend getaway. The temples were excellent and the scenery around them is quite beautiful as well. I'm currently looking to find other temples in the area, and hope to design a temple hike around southern South Korea. Most pilgrimages consist of 33 or 88 temples, so I'll probably set 33 as my initial goal. So look for my list to grow in the near future.

Busan

2008-02-28T19:07:00.002+09:00

My first out of town trip was to Busan. It's about a 10 minute walk to the bus terminal, and from there a 30 minute ride into Busan. Another 30 minutes takes me to Haeundae Beach, which is a very popular beach in the summer.

Here are a couple pictures showing the view along the beach. In the summer, this stretch will be completely filled with people.

I only spent a brief time there, but Busan seems a lot nicer than Seoul. Less crowded, less pollution, and better scenery.

Gimhae

2008-02-28T18:55:00.005+09:00

I moved into my new aprtment, and started school. No classes yet, so I've only been spending a few hours a day there. Nothing too interesting this time around, but I think I'll be making a lot more trips this year. Being hemmed in by Seoul made travel a hassle. There are also a lot more mountains, temples, and other historic sites to see in the area.

The view from my apartment

I have been able to ride my bike a couple of times. There is a nice biking and walking path along the local stream. I rode part of it, and it appears to be a quick and easy escape out of town. The new subway line to Busan is also under construction.

Getting out of town and into the country side takes about 10 minutes. To the north and west it is hilly, with mountains all around. To the south are rice fields. Going east I ran into Busan traffic. So at least I have three good directions to bike this year, as opposed to the one I had in Incheon. Here is the view from the south, looking back into Gimhae.

Moving On

2008-02-17T20:25:00.002+09:00

The cold winter winds keep me off my bike. So I haven't been out and about too much lately. I am also in the process of packing and getting ready for my move to my new job in Gimhae, which is in the south, close to Busan. The warmer weather and new sites should bring some posts in the near future.

Meanwhile, I have added some older pictures from Beijing and Mexico.

The Slooooow Boat to China

2008-01-03T18:41:00.001+09:00

Day 1 - Leaving Korea
On to the boat, for what is supposed to be about a 15 hour journey to Qingdao, China. It's not much cheaper than flying, but I can take my bike on board for free. We head out of Incheon port, past the islands off the west coast of Korea, and begin cruising across the Yellow Sea. The seas are a little choppy, which seems to give most people on board a little bit of sea sickness. Nothing too major though. We head to bed, expecting a morning arrival in Qingdao.

Day 2- Waiting

The morning comes, and we soon see bits of land. We come into sight of Qingdao, and stop. And wait. Apparently, the winds are too high and we are not allowed to enter the harbor. We wait. And wait. There is no let up in the wind, so we're staying on the boat another night, just off the coast.

Day 3 - Waiting

The gathering flotilla of boats around us
New Year's Eve. The wind appears to be a little stronger than the day before. So of course, we must continue to wait. And wait. By early afternoon, when it becomes apparent that we will be staying another night, the GS25 convenience store on board sees a run on provisions. First to disappear is the kimchi, which every Korean must eat at every meal. Beer is disappearing fast as well. Ramyeon is moving at a brisk pace, but they keep resupplying it. The ham and cheese remain untouched, as does the peanut butter and jelly. The lack of bread may have something to do with it. At least it is the only thing preventing me from buying it. By this time, I've become acquainted with about every English speaking person on board. Another teacher from Korea who I actually knew before hand. A couple of American's who are teaching in Russia under the Fulbright program. One of whom did her BA dissertation on Uzbekistan. A couple of Polish women. A British guy and his Chinese girlfriend. A Japanese tour guide and a Malaysian woman who was leading an outing of her company's Korean customers. There were also a few Koreans who could speak a little English as well. So early in the evening, we sat down in one of the ship's lounges and began our New Year's Eve celebration. Even though most of the other passengers were from countries which celebrate the lunar New Year (aka Chinese New Year), by midnight, we had a pretty good crowd who had joined in.

Day 4 - Entering China

One of the hills of Qingdao
We finally get the word that we will be entering the harbor. So after almost 70 hours, we finally reach our destination. After more waiting in lines I finally step on Chinese soil. I loaded my bag onto my bike and headed for my hotel. I only had a general map of Qingdao, so it took me a while to find it. After checking in, I headed out to get some money. Several attempts to use my ATM card failed, and I finally gave in and tried my credit card. It worked. So now I just had to find something to do. So for a few hours, I walked around checking out a couple areas of the city. There was even a nice Chinese college student who spoke some English and helped me find an area I was looking for. I can't say that's ever happened in Korea. After several hours of walking around, I had finally had enough activity for the day and headed back to the hotel with some Tsingtao beer.

Day 5 - Leaving China

A cityscape of Qingdao
After one night in Qingdao, it was time to head back home. So I loaded the bike back up and started heading west towards the port. For several hours I rode around, often the wrong way down one-way streets, and checked out some of the sights along the coast. Overall, the city has a nice vibe to it. Less gawking than Korea. A nicer downtown. And a much better coast. Unfortunately, the pollution appears to be almost as bad as it is in Incheon.

Day 6 - Getting Home

The trip back was much more uneventful. The GS25 was still pretty empty. The dining room still didn't have very many food options - although they did manage to get some kimchi. There were a few people that I recognized from the trip over.

Korean News

2007-12-09T22:16:00.000+09:00

The latest big news here.

From The Korea Times:

The police and military were continuing Friday a full-scale manhunt for a fugitive who attacked two marine sentries and fled with their weapons, but so far have only found his burnt-out sports utility vehicle.

At a meeting of top military commanders, Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo ordered them to step up efforts to catch the man in cooperation with the police. The authorities have strengthened guards at major government facilities and banks, with 1,800 troops searching for the suspect.

Police found the charred Korando SUV _ identified from reports by witnesses _ in a rice field in Hwaseong, southwest of Seoul, 105 kilometers away from the assault site and 10 kilometers away from highway exit.

At 5:30 p.m., Thursday, a man said to be in his 30s, ran his car into the marines _ Sgt. Lee Jae-hyeok and Pfc. Park Yeong-cheol, both 20 _ who were walking back to their base, outside a military checkpoint on Ganghwa Island, northwest of Seoul. Park was rendered unconscious while Lee was knocked down.

After driving back to the soldiers, the suspect got out of his car, pretending that it was just an accident. He then stabbed Lee with a knife several times, while Lee retaliated by hitting the man in the head with his K-2 rifle until he bled, according to Lee and witnesses.

That would be the same Ganghwa-do I visited a couple of months ago.

In less exciting news, the sledding hill at Incheon Grand Park is open for business.

Sorae Market: The Video

2007-11-11T22:25:00.000+09:00

As fall entrenches itself here, I haven't been much in the mood to explore any new areas. I've been out several times on the bike, but the early sun sets, chilly winds, and a back tire that keeps wanting to go flat on me have kept me close to home. I made another trip down to Sorae last weekend and pulled out the video function on my camera. It definitely won't be the most exciting 9 minutes of your life, but I figured it would be a good glimpse at one of my favorite locales here in Korea.

Korean style

2007-10-13T20:42:00.001+09:00

For a change of pace, I'm introducing a new game. Figure out how many cops and security guards it takes to direct traffic at this intersection.

Now on to the fun.

Fishing, Korean style

I suppose when most people go fishing, they just want to relax and get away from the crowd. Compared to most places in Korea, I suppose this counts as "getting away."

Fishing Village, Korean style

As if Sorae wasn't crowded enough, they've started on another 20 building apartment complex. I'm guessing this place was home to about 5,000 people not too long ago. Within the next 5 years, the population will probably be well over 50,000. I love checking out the market from the bridge. Going into the market is a nightmare.

Village Police, Korean style

An astute eye might say that there are 9 cops and security guards directing traffic at this intersection. In reality, there are another five supervisors / back-ups located off camera to the left. So the correct answer is 14.

Ganghwa-do

2007-09-26T19:03:00.001+09:00

Chusok is the Korean Thanksgiving. As it is a lunar holiday, the 3-day vacation associated with it may fall at any time during the week. This year, Chusok fell on Tuesday, so we got a 5-day weekend. Instead of being stuck on a crowded bus or train, or left to wander around an empty city, I headed back out to Ganghwa Island. It is technically part of Incheon, but is about 40 km northwest of what most people consider Incheon.

Day 1: The trip out

I headed out on Saturday, aiming for Donmak beach, located on the south end of the island, as my first camping spot. After crossing over the Choji bridge, I headed south along the coast. I've been along the east coast between the bridge, but this was the first time I had explored this area. The east cost is mainly old forts and battlements from the 19th century. Once I got away from the coast, the island revealed itself to hold a more than just historical artifacts. Typical Korean construction consists of concrete boxes. Lots of concrete boxes. But on Ganghwa, there exhibits the existence of actual architects in Korea. I found the architecture to be quite varied and a welcome surprise. Here are a couple of the more interesting buildings I found. The green and yellow one is a cafe. I think the pink and white one is a residence, but I'm not sure.

As I was getting closer to the beach, I was worried that it wouldn't be very habited. So I was making mental notes about the last stores and restaurants that I saw. When I got to over the final hill, those concerns were quickly alleviated. The entire stretch of road across from the beach was lined with restaurants and hotels. The only thing missing was water. The tide was low and with Ganghwa's gently sloping shore, the water was nowhere to be seen. So I headed down to the beach area to find a camping spot. After seeing a price list, I went to pay a woman who seemed to be collecting money. She brushed me off and seemed to indicate that someone would be around later to collect my money. She also seemed to tell me that I couldn't actually camp on the beach. So instead, I was left to set up on the terrace above the beach. Which was covered with rocks. They were smooth rocks, but rocks nonetheless. Given the wide array of services nearby, I decided to stay for the night anyways. There was an interesting set of performances that night by various high school groups. But there was also a constant stream of people hanging out on the beach all night long. I believe the last group finally dispersed around 5:30 am. So between the rocks and the people, it isn't a very good place to get a good nights sleep.

Distance: 46 km

Day 2: Climbing Mountains

After my restless night of sleep, I headed out Sunday morning to climb a nearby mountain. Mani-san is the tallest mountain on Ganghwa, and one of the most popular destinations. Biking around the mountain, I easily found the "base camp." A little town at the base of the mountain a flutter with activity. Lots of cars and lots of people milling around. Staying on the trail was quite easy, as it was well marked and there was a steady flow of people to follow. The view from the mountain is well worth the hike up. You can see the surrounding landscape and nearby islands. And you can actually make out parts of Incheon through the smog.

The big draw of Mani-san is actually Chamseongdan, an old altar on a site that has been reportedly used for 4,000 years. The site is considered one of the most sacred in Korea, and holds a great deal of historical significance.

At the top of Mani-san, a crowd gathers to rest, eat, drink, and take pictures. There's even an ice-cream saleswoman up there. If you notice, there's a helipad there as well. I'm not sure what the story behind it is. I did hear a helicopter in that direction as I was hiking down, but I didn't see if it was actually landing. Maybe it's used to refill the ice cream supply.

After hiking down Mani-san, I headed west to the ferry terminal. After a short ride on the ferry, I was on Seokmo-do. There's one mountain on the island, and one road that goes around the mountain. So it's easy to figure out where you are going. The destination on this island is Bomun-sa, a Buddhist temple. Finding the spot isn't hard, as there is again a busy area with shops and restaurants where all the Korean tourists gather. The temple itself is pretty interesting, but the highlight is the Buddha carved on the side of the mountain.

After returning to Ganghwa-do, I decided to head towards a campsite near Ganghwa-eup (the main town on Ganghwa). Since the sun was about to go down, I decided it would be better to take a less busy side road. On the map, it looked pretty straightforward, as this secondary road ran parallel to the main route, and merged at about the exact spot I was headed for. Unfortunately, trying to maintain the road proved a little more difficult than I thought. So in the dark of the evening, I ran into a dead end, and still hadn't reached my destination. I tried getting directions from a couple of Koreans that I saw, but they did want anything to do with the foreigner. So as I was back tracking, I noticed a bank of light towers lit up. Looking closer, I realized they were lighting a tennis court. And people were playing tennis. Figuring that I might find someone who would help me, I headed to the tennis court. While no one there spoke much English, they were quite helpful in pointing me in the correct direction.

So after getting directions, I headed back to the main route. Fortunately there wasn't much traffic, and nobody ran over me in the dark. As I got closer to town, I kept an eye out for the campsite but failed to spot any signs. Given the darkness around me, and the sprinkling of rain falling, I decided to continue heading into town. Since I'd been there before, I had a general idea of where to find a hotel. After a bit of pedaling around, I was able to find a nice little Yeogwan, which is a type of Korean hotel. There, I settled into a pizza and War of the Worlds, dubbed into Korean.

Distance: 52 km

Day 3: Meeting the Marines

Monday's goal was to tour the northern end of the island. There were a couple of dolmen sights marked on the map, and numerous battlefield remains line the coast. It's also just south of North Korea. My first stop was to see the Ganghwa dolmen. They actually have quite a few dolmens on the island, but this seems to be the best preserved and most popular dolmen to visit. There's a small park around the dolmen with models of other dolmens from around Korea.

After seeing these dolmens, I wanted to visit another dolmen site on the island. As I was getting close to the Gyosan-ri Dolmens, I stopped to check my map. Somebody stopped their car and pointed me in the right direction. He also told me that there would be a checkpoint, and to tell them that I was not going fishing. Since I didn't have a fishing pole, I figured that wouldn't be too hard to pull of. So I found the checkpoint, they asked if I was going fishing, and I quickly told them no. So they let me pass. From there, I headed up to the dolmens. These other dolmens aren't nearly as impressive as the Ganghwa dolmen. Although trying to actually find them in the woods is like going on an archeology exhibition.

After visiting the dolmen sight, I decided to take a little tour around the north coast and check out the DMZ area. So after an hour or so of roaming around, taking pictures, and getting water from the locals, I saw a bunker. Not unlike the one I saw up by Aegibong. So I decided to take a look around. After getting some pictures of the bunker, the South Korean fence, and North Korea, I headed back to my bike. Just as done packing my things back up and ready to head out, I saw a Marine truck go by. I could hear it come to a stop, and back up towards me. They pulled up next to me and the guy asked if I had taken any pictures. Thinking that it wouldn't be a good idea to lie to him, I told him yes. So he had to call his commander and report me. He then went through my pictures and deleted everything from the area. Pictures of the bunker, the fence, North Korea, and even pictures of the rice fields weren't acceptable. After that, they let me continue, warning me that I shouldn't be taking pictures. But not to worry, they missed this photo from when I was checking out the dolmens. Behold, the forbidden look at Ganghwa's northern rice fields, the Han River, and North Korea. Not very exciting. And a lot less informative than Google Earth.

Continuing on my sojourn through the forbidden zone, I eventually reached another checkpoint. As I was about to cruise past them, one of the Marines told me stop. He told me it was a restricted area and I shouldn't be there. So they called up their commander, undoubtedly the same guy the last Marine called, to tell him that there was a foreigner riding around the forbidden zone on his bike. Of course the commander already knew about me, so they waved me through. A short while later, I came across an interesting cemetery. Built on the side of a hill, each plot has a small hill built on it. Much like the historic burial mounds that are scattered around Korea, but on a much smaller scale. Since I'd already been through the checkpoint to get out of the restricted zone, I decided to take some pictures. Pictures of the cemetery and of North Korea, which could be seen across the river. Soon after leaving the cemetery, I passed another checkpoint. So I'm assuming these pictures weren't suppose to be taken either. But here they are.

A look at North Korea. Not much different then the view from Aegibong, so I'm not sure what the big to do was all about.

After passing through the final checkpoint, I headed down the east coast towards a campground I was planning to stay at. Since I hadn't had a chance to eat much, I ended up stopping at the little Eel Town along the coast. It's a collection of several restaurants that specialize in eel. While I've had eel sushi, I've never had an entire meal of eel before. The meal was rather expensive, at 30,000 won, or over $30, but it was very good. The eel was filleted and sliced up, then grilled at my table. There were also 20 side dished. And if you know anything about Korean food, it's all about the number of side dishes. A cheap-o kimbab place will give you two - pickled radish and kimchi. And low range neighborhood joint will offer between five and ten side dishes. But to actually get 20 side dishes is the mark of a quality dining establishment.

After my big dinner, I managed to drag myself to the camp site. As I was getting something to drink at the FamilyMart just outside the camp grounds, another foreigner showed up on his bike. We started talking and he turned out to have some pretty impressive credentials. He has spent much of the last 10 years biking around Asia, including his current trip, which is at just over 1.5 years long. He started in Turkey, biked to the Caspian, took the ferry to Turkmenistan, went through the stans, into China. After wintering in Thailand, he biked up from there and just recently took the ferry over from China. He was headed to Busan, the ferry to Japan, and is going to bike around Japan for several months. I spent a fair amount of time talking to him over the next couple of days, picking his brain for tips and pointers. I've considered biking from Korea across Asia, and he's definitely been an inspiration for my future endeavors.

Back to the campsite. It's called Hamheodongcheon, and it's located on the eastern side of Mani-san, just by Jeongsu-sa. Campsites are terraced up the side of the mountain, with bathroom and shower facilities available. There's a small camping fee, W1,500, that seems to be sporadically collected in the non-camping season. I didn't go all the way the top of the grounds, but it seems that the higher you go, the nicer the campsites are. For anyone looking to camp out, I highly recommend this location. A FamilyMart is right there, the beach is a few kilometers away, as is the small town of Onsu.

Distance: 63 km

Day 4: Pedaling Around

My bike is a tad too small for me, so after several days of riding, especially up and down hills, my knees start to ache a bit. So on Tuesday, I decided to take it relatively easy and save my energy for the ride home.

My first stop was Jeongdeung-sa, a Buddhist temple not too far from my campsite. It dates from the 17th century, and is one of the best remaining temples I've seen here. Many of Korea's temples were destroyed by the Japanese during their occupation.

Continuing east to the coast, the road became quite congested. Cars were backed up for a couple of kilometers on the way to the bridge crossing back to the mainland. There was a side path most of the way, which I believe, in theory, is for bicycles. Instead, it was lined by tents where local farmers sold their grapes, and in turn, a car of people buying grapes. So biking along this path wasn't very feasible. Instead, I had to squeeze between the cars and the edge of the road. Once I got past the bridge, traffic cleared up quite a bit. When I stopped by a convenience store for some water and ice cream, I found this store. It looks more like a tourist trap in South Dakota than something from Korea.

Continuing along the south, I eventually made my way back to the beach. And this time, the water was there.

Distance: 45 km

Day 5: Returning home

My final day was just packing up my gear and heading home. The only difficulty was when I departed from the main road and ended up heading the wrong way - back to Ganghwa. After some tricky maneuvering through rice fields, and an odd industrial town out in the middle of nowhere, I was eventually able to get back on track and find a subway station. While numbered roads can be interesting and fun, it's not the way to travel quickly.

Distance: 51 km

Overall, I highly recommend Ganghwa. If you're driving, there are tons of minbaks (minbaks are like a Korean bed-and-breakfast), pensions (the equivalent of resort condos), and motels all over the island. There's also a great camping site as well. If you bike, it's not too far from Gyeyang Station, and the island is pretty easy to get around. It'll more than likely be a repeat destination for me in the coming months.

Return to Si Island

2007-09-09T16:21:00.001+09:00

This weekend, I returned to Si-do and the Full House beach. My last visit is detailed here. I didn't visit the sculpture beach on Mo-do this time, nor Jangbong-do. But I did get to camp out on a beach completely free of anyone else. I think there was a caretaker staying in the house, but I only saw him once, when he was getting coffee from the machine. So there were no fireworks, no late night singing, no noise at all. It was quite nice.

I got a nice sunset, courtesy of China and its pollution. I'll have to remember to find a more westward facing beach the next time.

Saw my first jellyfish up close and personal.

At low tide, the gap between Si-do and Sin-do disappears and turns into a mud flat. In the old days, this was the only time people could cross back and forth between the islands.

Suwon

2007-08-26T21:41:00.000+09:00

The rainy season seems to have passed, so I was able to finally get out on my bike this weekend. So I made a weekend trip to Suwon , which is home to the World Heritage Hwaseong Fortress. I've only been able to make a few runs in the last month, so my legs were a little rusty. And with the sun pounding down and the humidity in the air, it did make for a rather exhausting ride. But it was still nice to get out and see something new.

The route from Incheon is pretty straightforward. The first stop was Ansan, where I had to get some Thai food. The road into Ansan isn't very busy, but after lunch it was a different story. Going through Ansan itself takes a while, as there are a lot of intersections to stop at. Once I got out of Ansan, the road expanded and become a major transportation corridor. Instead of traffic lighted intersections, there are on-ramps and off-ramps. So it takes some patience to wait out the traffic getting on and off of the highway. Coming back, I ended up taking a different route. While it was lass crowded, it involved quite a bit of map checking and GPS reading to maintain my course.

The fortress itself is rather interesting. While it's certainly not the Great Wall of China, it does have a wide variety of structures along the route. There are numerous guard houses, observation posts, and gates along the 5.5 km route.

Here are a few of the structures along the route:

One of the gates into the old city

A view along the wall

One of the guard towers

Another view along the wall

This isn't part of the wall, but it's a church near the wall. It's one of the largest and most interesting churches I've seen in Korea.

Saturday distance: 50 km
Sunday distance: 60 km

Camping Season

2007-08-19T01:22:00.000+09:00

I got my first good ride in since I returned to Korea. It was a good 65 km (40 miles) down to Daebu Island and back. The biggest change that I notice is that it is now camping season. Well, I don't think they really camp out. They just set their tents up for the day and hang out in the park or on the beach.

Chicago

2007-07-31T07:36:00.000+09:00

First time back in Chicago in a year and a half. A few new things to report.

Cloud Gate, AKA The Bean has finally been polished. The effect is stunning. One of the best public sculptures of all time.

The Gehry band shell has been finished for some time. But it's still a sight to behold.

The to be 92-story Trump Tower, on the old Sun Times site, is well under way.

San Francisco

2007-07-13T01:50:00.000+09:00

I finally made it to San Fran. A 9-hour layover allowed me to do a little sight seeing, as well as meet up with one of my friends from Buenos Aires for lunch. By the time lunch was over, I was so jet lagged I headed straight back to the airport. But I did get to see some of the things I've always wanted to at least catch glimpse of.

The Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge.

the TransAmerica Pyramid.

the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman's Wharf.

Alcatraz.

I didn't make it to Haight-Ashbury though. So I guess I'll have to go back sometime.

Nam-san and the War Memorial Museum

2007-07-07T02:07:00.002+09:00

I made one final trip to Seoul before heading on vacation. I decided to hike up Namsan (Mt. Nam). Unfortunately, the weather didn't really cooperate. There was a distinct fog, aka smog, over the city.

The view from the top of Namsan could be good. Although it's hard to tell on such a smoggy day.

Namsan and Seoul Tower, from the War Memorial Museum.

The War Memorial Museum is an impressive collection of Korean War artifacts. Unfortunately, the museum was closing before I got a chance to check it out. But on the outside is a wide array of military hardware.

Lots of tanks,

cannons,

and helicopters. This, of course, is the helicopter made famous by M*A*S*H.

There are also plenty of airplanes, rockets, and other hardware on display. A definite must see when in Seoul.

Oh deer!

2007-06-24T21:27:00.000+09:00

This weekend, I stumbled upon a major discovery. A very nice bike path that extends north up to Incheon Grand Park. Which is a nice ending point to grab some overpriced food and people watch. The route also connects to my south/east route through Sorae, across the rice fields, to the Greenway (see a few posts down), and beyond. Meaning that there is an almost 30km long bike route that is almost entirely bike paths and back roads. If I have time before I head back home, I'll try to map the entire route out on Google Earth. But given my current schedule, it might have to wait until August or September.

In the meantime, some picture from my ride.

I found this horse stable in the fall. They actually have a small track for the horses to run around as well.

I was a bit surprised to find this cattle "ranch" in town.

I was even more surprised to find this deer "ranch". It seems they're being raised for their antlers, as several had had them cut off (see deer #27 in the photo). I don't know if it's some sort of Oriental Medicine thing, or what.

The Big Fill In

2007-06-21T21:18:00.000+09:00

This probably isn't of much interest to anyone not familiar with Incheon. But since I spent some time working on it, I figured I might as well post it. This is an image of Incheon with the boundaries of Incheon from 1950 overlayed onto it. The red overlay is actually a map of MacArthur's 1950 invasion. Everything outside of the red boundaries is reclaimed land. I knew there was a lot of reclaimed land, but I didn't know it was that much.

Muui-do

2007-06-16T21:16:00.001+09:00

The latest island I visited is Muui-do. It can be reached by a short ferry ride from Jamjin-do, which is accessible by bridge at the southwest corner of the airport island. It's a small island, about 6km long and 2-3km wide. There are a couple of nice beaches that look like they'll get pretty crowded. Crowds were already beginning to develop, and the Korean beach season doesn't begin until July. There is an admission fee to the beaches though - W2,000, or about $2 - and each beach requires a separate fee. Here is a picture of one of the beaches.

The ride to the island is quite easy. From Incheon station it's a short hop to Wolmi-do. Then take the ferry to the airport island. From the ferry, it is then a 20km very flat and straight ride to the next ferry. Another short ferry ride and you're back to biking. The island itself is fairly hilly, but given the size of the island, it's not too bad. But access to both beaches requires a steep climb and descent. It's an easy day trip, even by bicycle.

The DMZ

2007-06-10T18:46:00.000+09:00

Sunday was a trip that I've wanted to take for some time now. That was to venture as close to the DMZ as I could. To the north of Incheon, the Han River forms the border between North and South Korea, and I was hoping to get a glimpse across it. So we loaded up our bikes onto the subway and headed to the end of the line, Gyeyang station. It's an impressive new station that serves as the transfer point between the Incheon line and the airport line. From there, we headed north through Gimpo, and then northwest towards Ganghwa. The traffic was pretty busy, so I guess a lot of people were headed there for the day.

There were a couple of roads that headed up to the Han, so we took the first one we reached. All was going smoothly until we reached a town a couple kilometers from the river. Just past the town, we hit a marine checkpoint that wouldn't let us past. So we asked them about going to another spot on our map, a little red dot that was labeled 애기봉전망대 (aegibongjeonmangdae, whatever that means), and they seemed to suggest that it would be okay. So we back tracked a little and began heading west. A few kilometers of that, and we espied a body of water. The Han, we were guessing. So we headed north, a little leery of being stopped again. But fortunately, we are able to bike right up to the fence running alongside the river. Since it completely obstructed the view, we looked for higher ground. Unfortunately, that higher ground was occupied by a bunker. But since it didn't appear that anyone was occupying the bunker, we decided to test our luck. And what do you know, the two of us managed to capture the bunker and assume a position over looking the Han. I guess they're not expecting an invasion to come from the south.

From our position on top of the bunker. This is the fence that is keeping the North Koreans at bay. That, and a mile of river to cross and a couple of 20-something Korean marines.

Still not satisfied with the view, and spurred on by the little red dot on my map, we decided to continue onward. So we headed back down the hill, along the fence, and towards the hill where the little red dot beckoned us. The road, which is more like a driveway than a road, headed back into the hills. Still not sure if we we're supposed to be there, we continued along, passing by bunkers, a small marine post, and more bunkers. To the right, there was a dirt road heading up the hill with the red dot. So we took that road, which soon turned to a dirt path. Off the bikes we went, as we continued by hiking. Soon, the path reached a cul-de-sac, surrounded by the hill. But we could hear vehicles nearby. We soon noticed cars and vans driving overhead in front of us, and then discovered steps leading upwards. We took the steps, and discovered a nice, two-lane paved road heading towards the sought after red dot. Along the road we hiked for about one kilometer, and then, much to our surprise, discovered the red dot. Aegibong.

It was almost a let down, as it was more of a tourist trap then a hidden discovery. The parking lot was filled with cars and buses. There was a store selling all kinds of things. Mainly junky souvenirs, but they did have some North Korean liquor. While a bottle of DPRK Cognac would certainly be a nice conversation piece, $40 seemed a bit excessive. There was a large crowd that was being greatly entertained by a man telling stories. We're not sure what about, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it. After wondering around the area for a while, we finally found the vantage point that we came for. High on the hill, looking directly into North Korean territory.

Koreans taking a peak at the North

The contrast between North and South is quite stark. While South Korea has reforested the hills, the North remains bleak and bare. There's a small village for the South Koreans to look at as well. Apparently, people even live there as well. How it is suppose to entice the South Koreans is beyond me. The buildings are even more unappealing than the South Korean apartment buildings. And there's no sign of cars, nor any type of super market or norae bang (singing room), which are both basic staples of any Korean village. If that's the window display, I'd hate to see what the inside of the store looks like.

A couple views of North Korea

After getting our fill of North Korea, we headed back down to our bikes. Knowing that there was a road to be had, we went back to the little drive, and soon found the main road. After traveling a short way down the road, we came across another marine checkpoint. They looked rather surprised to see us, especially since we hadn't passed through the checkpoint on the way up. After a brief consultation with another guard, we were saluted and waved through. I'm still not sure if we were supposed to be up there though. It looked like the Koreans passing through the checkpoint had to produce some papers and the guard had a stack of ID cards that he was holding on to. But hey, playing the clueless foreigner card pays off sometimes.

From there, is was just the simple matter of following the roads back to the subway station. The overall trip was around 62 km.

The Greenway

2007-06-09T19:37:00.000+09:00

Saturday was another trip out to Ansan for lunch. I've been searching for new routes along the way, and I've discovered a few nice diversions. One interesting aspect of Korea, is that there is very little sprawl. The suburbs around Seoul are growing quickly, and new housing is being built all over. But the housing is not spacious subdivisions that over run the farmland. Rather, they are neat and compact high-ride apartment complexes. So you can quickly go from the crowded city to fields of rice. Below are a couple of examples where city meets country.

So I've been taking advantage of this, and heading out into the rice fields. Now that the rice has been planted, the fields are a lovely green. There are access roads which criss cross the fields, and these make nice leisurely routes. Occasionally, I also discover some hidden gems. Like the path below. It cuts through a small wilderness zone that is amongst the mudflats around Sorae.

Another discovery was this walking and biking path. It's name is the "Green Way." That's not a translation, it's literally "Green Way," written in Hangeul. It's a nice 7.5 km route through the fields, with only one road crossing to deal with. The map shows how blocks of apartment buildings dot the land.

A nice big pagoda for people to hang out in

So that's the latest discovery to reveal. Oh, and I had some very good Vietnamese food in Ansan. Shrimp fried rice with beef and onions.

Sorae, revisted

2007-06-03T22:31:00.001+09:00

I've posted about Sorae before, and I'll do so again today. I finally timed the arrival of the boats correctly and remembered to bring my camera. So here are some pictures of the action.

The most fascinating thing is how everything is in such close proximity. From the boats to the trading floor to the market or restaurant is a matter of feet. And while all the unloading and selling of fish is going on, the public is free to mill around, potentially falling off the dock, getting run over by a cart, or just being a general nuisance. It's definitely something you don't get to see in America.

The boats are crammed into the dock

The fish are offloaded and carted across an outgrowth of the market

Buyers check over the lot

The bidding begins

The lots are set aside and tagged

DeokJeok-do

2007-05-28T23:49:00.000+09:00

My latest weekend trip was to DeokJeok Island. It's a little further west (the pin in the bottom left corner), but it's still a manageable one hour away on the fast ferry. The slower car ferry, which we returned on, takes almost three hours. Unfortunately, Google Earth doesn't have a very clear picture of the island, so I'm just posting the larger overview.

The island itself it pretty small. We biked around it on Saturday, and it was about 15 km. But it is the hilliest place I've been to yet. The ride from the ferry terminal to the beach involved several climbs, including one up to 80 meters. The trip around the rest of the island had several larger hills as well, with a top elevation of just over 150 meters (approx. 500 feet). But the beach itself was quite nice. Almost 2 km long, with lots of flat sand to camp on.

In addition to my normal biking / traveling partner, we were joined by a large contingency of other westerners, who were making their semi-annual pilgrimage to the island. It was nice to have some company, and we had a veritable tent city going on. This is just one section of the camping area. We're finally starting to learn how to camp properly in Korea. This time I brought a portable stove. Next time, we'll have to remember to bring the hot dogs and condiments as these little islands don't have a lot of food to choose from.

A little bonus on the ferry ride was passing under the new bridge being constructed from Song-do to the airport island. We went right between the pylons that are going to hold up the section of the road that allows sea traffic into Incheon Harbor. It was a little hazy on the way back, so it's hard to see just how far the pylons stretch in both directions.

Bukdo-myeon

2007-05-20T19:27:00.001+09:00

With beaches of shallower depth and, smooth slope shapes and, beautiful White sand, Buk do beaches provide, Safest and joyful stay for Family [sic] - Ongjin County tourist information

Map key:
Red line = Saturday bike route
Orange line = Sunday bike route
Blue line = Saturday ferry rides
Purple line = Sunday ferry rides

Saturday distance: approximately 60 km
Sunday distance: approximately 40 km

It was another nice weekend, so we decided to check out some more of the local islands. This time, we headed up to Bukdo-myeon, which is a set of four islands just north of the airport island. After meeting my friend at Incheon station, we made the short ride over to Wolmi-do. From there, ferries run every 20 minutes to the airport island. The ride down the south coast of the airport island is nice and flat, with lots of room on the shoulder. Although there was a strong head wind pushing against us. On the southwest coast, there is a small bridge that connects to a small island and from there you can take a ferry to Mui-do. But that is another trip. We headed back to the main road and wound through the hills north. Turning west, we once again were on flat, man made land, this time with the wind at our backs. About halfway back across the island there is the next ferry departure point, Mokko.

From Mokko, there are hourly ferries to Sin-do. When we arrived in Sin-do, the people seemed very friendly. One guy greeted us in English and asked if we were looking for some hiking trails. The little old lady selling potatoes and corn on the top of the boat ramp asked us a few questions in Korean. Although answering where I'm from is about the extent of my linguistic abilities. Sin-do is a pretty small island that took us about half an hour to bike around. Sin-do is then connected to Si-do by bridge. It too is a small island that just took us about 10 minutes to cross. Finally, the third island of Mo-do is also connected by bridge.

On Mo-do, there is one of the more interesting attractions I've seen in Korea. There is a surrealistic sculpture garden on the beach. A lot of the works were inspired by Dali and other artists, but it is quite an unusual site here in Korea. Along with the sculpture garden, there is a nice looking pension you can spend the night it, a cafe, and an old fishing vessel on the beach.

This sculpture, for example, was obviously based on a Magritte painting.

From there, we backed tracked to Si-do and started looking for a beach to camp out at. We found a nice, and for the most part unoccupied, beach on the north side of the island. There was one neighbor - the house from the TV show Full House. Of course, not the American TV show, but the Korean TV show. It's a very un-Korean looking structure, with big windows and a large beach at its disposable. Apparently, you can rent the house out, as there was a group of Koreans staying there and having a little party on the beach. Other than that, there wasn't much there. Just a small convenience store that closed at 6 pm. After finding the beach, we headed back into town for dinner, collected some supplies, and went back to the beach. We set up our tents, watched the stars, drank some beer, listened to planes passing overhead, and watched the Koreans set off there obligatory roman candles and bottle rockets. We could also see a much more impressive fireworks display across the sea on Ganghwa-do.

Early to bed on Saturday night, we were up and ready to go early Sunday morning. After getting our gear packed up, we headed back to the ferry terminal on Sin-do. From there, we hopped a ferry to the fourth island in the group, Jangbong-do. This island is a little longer than the others, with a nice sized hill in the middle to cross. After getting over the hill, we stopped in the town for some lunch. It was a nice little Korean town, with just a couple of convenience stores and a few restaurants. No big apartment buildings, just small houses intermixed with vegetable gardens. Every half hour there was a small wave of traffic representing the ferry haul. Other than that, it was quiet and peaceful. After exploring a little more of the island, we headed back over the hill and to the ferry. On the way back, we saw a couple of kids going up and down the road on their little 4-wheeler. While we were crossing over the hill, they brought each of us a can of Gatorade. When we got to the ferry terminal, we had a good laugh when we saw this old Korean guy we'd met on the way over and talked to briefly. He knew a little Konglish, so we were actually able to have a little bit of conversation.

The ferry then took us back to the airport island, where we took the short route across the middle of the island. It was a pretty basic ride, so I tried to lead us across some back roads that ended up looping back to the road we just left. So instead of returning all the way back to that road, we ended up taking a short cut across some fields to the southern road. It's not very easy crossing over field embankments between flooded prawn farms and rice fields, much less with a bike, but we somehow managed to do it. Once we got back on the main road, it was smooth sailing. The wind was at our backs and I'm starting to get back up to speed. The ferry terminal was a lot more crowded this time, since many people go to school or work on Saturdays. Back at Wolmi-do, the crowds were even larger. Too tired to stay and enjoy the scene, we headed back to the subway station, bound for home. Outside of having to carry my bike down 10 flights of stairs at the transfer, and back up 4 more flights when I got to my station, the ride home was a piece of cake.

Overall, I'd say the people we met in Bukdo-myeon were some of the friendliest people I've met in Korea. A lot of people asked where we were from, and everyone was super helpful. I'd definitely put it on my list of places to return to.

Points of Interest

2007-05-05T21:52:00.000+09:00

I've successfully avoided completing the work I need to do for school. So I'm able to provide this follow up of interesting spots I like to visit. The furthest away, the Sihwa Seawall, is just under 20 km away. The closest, Sorae, is about 8 km away. Starting off, here is the map of the area.

Sihwa Seawall

The Sihwa Seaway is an 11 km long causeway that separates Lake Sihwa from the sea and will be home to the largest tidal power generator in the world. There's a nice little park at the north end of the seaway (seen in the foreground). And the seaway itself is more than just a seaway. It's almost like the Chicago lake front. Fishermen cast their reels from the rocks, a running and biking path extends along the entire causeway. Vendors have tents set up hawking food and drinks, renting bikes and roller blades, and providing a full range of fishing gear. There's also a kite flying group that hangs out near the middle of the causeway, taking advantage of the winds that whip across the area. It's an all around family fun destination.

When I went there today, the tide was way out there. Which gives people an opportunity to slog through the muddy sea bed and dig for clams.

Oido

Right around the corner from the causeway is Oido, or Cucumber Island. It's a small fishing town with a long stretch of seafood restaurants. But as much as I like seafood, I'm not sure whether or not I'm ready to indulge in Korean seafood. One of their favorite ingredients seems to be octopus, either still alive and kicking, or recently subjugated in the frying pan. Other dishes are doused in red pepper sauce, or combined with some weird vegetable in an unappealing manner. They do have king crab listed on the outdoor menus, and it looks relatively unadultured. But everyone uses the same stock photos, so I'm not sure how they actually prepare it. One of these days I'll be adventurous enough to try it.

Okgu Park

Close to Oido is another little gem of a place, Okgu Park. There's a small mountain to hike up, some nice gardens to stroll around, and excellent sports facilities. There are a number of small gazebos dotted around the park, providing some nice resting and picnic spots.

I'm not sure what's more interesting. The massive field of goldenrods (about 20 m by 1 km), or the crab statue located in the middle of the field.

Sorae

Next, there is Sorae. I've posted about Sorae before, but I just love the character that oozes out of this place. Fishing boats are pulled up right alongside the market. You can see them unloading their catch, or moving their nets to the boat or back to the dock. Meanwhile, crates of fish and other ocean animals are being transported across the walk straight into the market. People crowd the sidewalks, buying the fresh seafood, and immediately making a meal of it just outside the market. There are also more traditional seafood restaurants on the other side of the market.

Just make sure you check the tide schedule. A lot of the character oozes out with the sea water.

Wolgot

Wolgot is quite close to Sorae, and until today, I hadn't actually been through there. It's a lot more subdued, but still an interesting area. There's smaller stretch of seafood places than at the other places, and the crowds aren't quite as pressing.

It too is gravely affected by the tides. At low tide, the boats are laying on mud. In fact, the entire port area becomes a giant mud flat.

At high tide, the boats are happily floating, packed two and three deep around the pier.

Yeongheung-do

2007-05-02T08:38:00.000+09:00

I've got a lot of work to do this week, and I didn't take many photos on the trip. But here is our route to Yeongheung Island (including our side trip to Ansan):

Distance via Ansan: 66 km
Distance w/o detour: 50 km

The beach where we camped out:

If the weather holds out, I'll be going back this week to take some photos of a few interesting spots that are along the way.

Yeonan & Wolmido

2007-04-27T22:25:00.000+09:00

It's been almost two weeks, but I'm finally getting around to adding my last trip. I biked up to two of Incheon's vaunted tourist attractions. Yeonan Pier and Wolmido Island.

My first stop was Yeonan. Home of the ferry terminal and the largest fish market in Korea. The ferry terminal is valuable if you want to head to the west islands (except for the Airport Island, which has a ferry leaving from Wolmido). I definitely plan on taking advantage of that service this year. The fish market, while large than Sorae, has much less character. Sorae is located on an estuary, and the boats pull up right alongside the market. The market itself is crowded and brimming with activity. The fish market at Yeonan is a big warehouse like building, several blocks from the port. Meanwhile, the rest of Yeonan is a big industrial zone, with lots of dust and smoke being spewed in every direction. Unless you're catching a ferry to the islands, take a pass.

After biking 10km to traverse the 100 meters distance between Yeonan and Wolmido (circumnavigating the Port of Incheon) I arrived on Wolmido Island. No longer an island, it does have some interesting attractions. The seaside area is kind of a Coney Island like atmosphere, with a small amusement park and a touristy stretch of restaurants. But the best is Wolmido Park. It consists of a hill that offers some interesting overviews of the surrounding port. Even more interesting than the view itself, is watching other people take in the view. There is a small tower near the top of the hill that is crowded with older Koreans checking out the scenery. It's times that like I wish I could converse in Korean, because I'm sure they have some amazing "What it was like I was a kid" stories. Overall, Wolmido is worth a visit. Check out the park, the seaside attractions.

This weekend, I'm off on an overnight biking trip to one of the nearby islands. It's actually several islands connected by bridges to the mainland. So no ferries will be used. Hopefully, I'll get around to posting the report and pictures a little quicker.

The cherry blossoms were in full bloom as well

Ships in the docks

You can see Korea's number one export, cars, lined up and ready to go

Yellow Dust

2007-04-03T18:27:00.001+09:00

My plan to see the cherry blossoms were thwarted by the Chinese. Or rather, their dust and debris that gets occasionally blown across our skies. My throat and eyes were burning from just sitting inside, so I decided it was best to avoid physical activity outside.

The normal view from my window

A yellow dust day view

Videos

2007-03-27T19:48:00.000+09:00

I've added video of the bull fight to the post below. I've also added a video to this post from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Sometime soon (when I figure out how to edit them down), I'll be adding a few more videos in the future. You can just click on the video label below (or right here) to find all posts with videos.

The Bulls and the Blood

2007-03-25T17:50:00.000+09:00

Late in the week, I found out that some people I knew were headed down to Cheongdo to see a Korean bull fighting tournament. Quickly surmising that I haven't been on an out-of-province trip in a long time, I decided to make the trek down. After an early morning subway ride into Seoul and a 4.5 hour train ride to Cheongdo, we made our way via taxi to the bull fighting arena.

The bull fights in Korea are not the same as the bull fights in Spain or Mexico. Rather there are two bulls actually fighting each other. Well, not really fighting. More like wrestling. Actually, more like pushing. According to what I've heard, the bull fights in Korea date back over 1000 years. At that time, bulls would naturally fight each other for the right to chew on the best grass. When one farmer began bragging about how pushy his bull was, another farmer soon challenged his claims. And thus bull fighting in Korea began. The pre-fight action consists of each bull handler leading his fighter into the arena and trying to get him to engage in a match. Once the bulls engage, the battle begins and there is a head-to-head pushing match. Every once in a while, one bull will make a move to overpower the other bull. It seems that when one bull is finally able to get the other bull to run away, he wins the match. There also seems to be some scoring system involved, but I never figured it out.

Here, you can see the owners / handlers guiding their bulls in battle. The handlers would make hoots and haws at the bulls, and give them the occasional crack of the whip.

But the best part was not really the bulls. In addition to the bull fights, they had a full county fair going on, Korean style. Food stands surrounded the arena, with pigs on spits, corn on the cob, and whale meat soup. Like I said, it was Korean style. Vendors were also selling jewelry, face paintings, persimmon wine, and a whole host of other goods. They had some side show entertainment as well, including acrobatic performers, and an all-transvestite band. Kids, much to their chagrin, were also getting their pictures taken atop bulls. On Sunday afternoon, the entertainment was to include bull riding by American service members in Korea. Unfortunately, it was just a one day affair for us. After the festivities were over for the day, we headed to Daegu, where we spent the night revisiting some of my old joints. We even made it to the bus HOF, a bar built into a bus, that I had always wanted to visit when I lived there. All in all, it was a long, but enjoyable weekend adventure. I'm hoping the weather is nice enough next weekend, so that I can bike to Suwon. They have an old castle there, and lots of cherry trees which are supposed to be blossoming soon.