Entry #7
And I did. South Korea was awesome. There was so much to do and see in Seoul that the 3 days was not nearly enough. There were eight of us and because of that, deciding what to do that would please everyone was near impossible. So, we broke into two groups - my group had two people, the other group six. On Day One, the other six ran off to the Demilitarized Zone (the DMZ) between North and South Korea. I can't tell you much about their trip or the DMZ. My knowledge is lacking in that area. As much as I wanted to go, the trip to the DMZ didn't seem well organized (they booked the tour only that morning) and more importantly for me, I just wanted to experience it with a smaller group or by myself, so I could take my time and reflect on it - like I did in Nagasaki. It was just one of those things. I will be going back and when I do I will tell you all about it.
January 8, 2004
I had only been in Japan for a couple of months and already I was ready to get out for a bit. So, when some of my fellow Kuma-gunners said, "Let's go to Seoul!" I was all for it! Traveling to South Korea from Japan is quite inexpensive and the tremendous size of Seoul was quite a draw. Seoul has about ten million people which is slightly larger than Buxton. :-) I had been to Tokyo for four days but we were sheltered away in a corner of the city and kept there for the four days of orientation. I was determined to experience Seoul more thoroughly.
The Korean War Memorial at the Korean War Museum in Seoul |
A statue of two brothers who met on the battlefield during the Korean War. They fought on opposite sides of this political war and one brother found the other dying, possibly by his bullet. |
Beside the Korean War Museum and monuments is an area filled with different tanks, planes, and other weapons. I'm not sure if all the weapons were used during the Korean War or if it was just a display of weapons throughout modern warfare history. |
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So, off the two of us went - to Lotto World, The Olympic Stadium, and Seoul, exploring on our own. Lotto World is a massive indoor mall/amusement park built near the Olympic Stadium. I reckon it was built for the thousands of athletes and spectators who converged on Seoul for the 1988 Summer Olympics to enjoy. It is near the Stadium. Inside, there was a huge mall with endless stores and an amusement park with a roller coaster, ice skating rink, and many other rides and games. As we walked around, we saw all these people rushing down this corridor so we went along with the crowd and there in front of us was a mini-Disney land, complete with long lines and fairy tale castle! We stayed there for about an hour or so, never had the patience to wait for any rides. We ate some strange meat product for lunch. Dog is actually eaten quite regularly in South Korea, but I think we managed to avoid that. (I hope) Then we were off to the Olympic Stadium!
This is the first thing you see when you come up the stairs from the Mall into the amusement park area of Lotto World called Adventure Land. |
View from above of the indoor skating rink at Lotto World. |
These Korean ladies are about 25 feet above the floor on the Bungee Drop(like Dragons Decent at Funtown). I'm on the second floor so I was able to get an action photo. |
This dog grooming facility was located next to the food court in the Mall which made me a bit nervous considering dog is part of some Koreans diets. But, it was a legitimate dog grooming facility and not a prep area for dinner! |
Koreans are tough! I thought I would have no trouble when this girl challenged me to a judo match. How wrong I was!! She had me beaten and shackled in under 30 seconds!! |
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We were actually able to walk right into the stadium and run around if we wanted to. We chose not to run but we did walk a lap around the track and touch the Olympic torch. It was pretty awesome to be somewhere that the eyes of the world were on for one summer.
Entrance to Olympic Stadium |
Inside Olympic Stadium |
The Olympic Torch from the 1988 Summer Olympic Games |
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While there, we also visited a palace of a former Korean prince, the Korean War Museum, went to a Korean hip hop dance club, and finally we went to these massive outdoor shopping areas. There were just miles and miles of shops and stands set up in these back alleys and roads. There was a half a kilometer of just shoes! If you ever visit one of these outdoor market places, don't buy anything at the price they first quote you! It's kind of a game where there is no price on anything and you just ask. They will give you some ridiculously high price and then you make a ridiculously low counter offer. Then you just go back and forth until there is an agreeable price. In most cases you are probably still being ripped off, but at least you can feel you helped your cause!
This is a small street in one of the outdoor shopping areas. A few seconds after shooting this photo I had to dive into a stall to avoid being run over by the motorcycle |
This display of shoes is not even a fraction of the total size of the "shoe zone." |
There is no doubt that Seoul was an awesome experience. Even though I missed out on the DMZ, I felt that I did enough on my first trip to satisfy my Seoul ambitions. I have no doubt I will go back and experience some of what I missed. But, next on my list was a city called Changchun in China for New Years. I'll give you the low down later...
This boy was playing at a Sports Festival behind the Olympic Stadium. |
This is the castle of a former Korean prince. |
This is how Koreans walk their dogs? Who is getting the exercise? |
Security outside the United States Embassy in Seoul. The busses behind the guards block the main gate and contain various weapons. Off to the right is a guard running towards us telling us not to take pictures. But, I don't understand Korean so I snapped this one anyway! ;-) |
South Korea and Japan jointly hosted the Men's World Cup in 2002. This was as close as I got to the stadium in Seoul because we were late meeting the other group, which may surprise those of you that know me best as I am oh so punctual! Here is a link to the Stadium and a boatload of information about Seoul! http://www.2002worldcupkorea.org/ENG/SPE/spe_ven_seo.htm |
This is just a picture that I thought was kind of cool. I call it "Zooming Traffic." |