Prince Seoul

... streets of Seoul right around our hotel. First impressions of Seoul: clean, super modern, sophisticated, snazzy, lots of smokers, trendy, very cool - cooler than New York (I know, right?). We stopped at a very small shop for some dumplings (mandu -- I'm trying to remember so I can learn the language), that were awesome and totally hit the spot. I was potentially interested in noodles too, but I couldn't figure out how to order them as they didn't have a menu with ...

... of rocks, eroded into some interesting forms. Young Korean couples were numerous here, giving an offering for their expectant children's births. We continued on past these rocks, beneath the trees and past some outdoor shrines, a natural spring and a buddha carving in the rock to a viewpoint at the top of the park. It was a spectacular view from here, down over the park out out over Seoul. There were just a handful of people around and the place was very peaceful ...

... side of the table/room was North Korean side and the South was the South Korean side.  In the middle of the table there were speakers that symbolized the 38th parallel.  We were able to walk on the North Korean side of the room and take pictures with a soldier.  We were not allowed to walk in front of or behind this soldier.  So, I stepped inside North Korea!  Crazy!  After this we stopped at a small souvenir shop outside of the army base and I bought a Korea patch!  I ...

... physical appearances are an obssession for many in Korea. If you go to Apujeong (one of the fashion centers of Seoul), you can easily find plastic surgeons within a block radius. In my opinion, it's sad. But I'll end the commentary here. Every country has its obssessions - good or bad.

... of classic Ben stupidity. I decided I'd sit outside my guest house and observe the water fight for the evening, and was asked by a group if i wanted to join them, which i did. They proceeded to engage in the festivities (dragging me in), and offer me drinks until i accepted (i was actually saying no, seriously!) however as the evening wore on it became more and more obvious that one of the women had much more on her mind ...

... when you see them it does not take much to see why they never caught on. Yes, yes, very original,... but not very good. Now, if they'd invented the walking St. Christopher they would've been on to something, but Buddah just is not famous for walking around. The stressed out Buddah pose never caught in either. Feckin' mosquitos!

... the houses of the locals. I doubt anyone else really does it, and when we said hello inThai it bought a smile to the locals face. We ended up hacving a quiet night because there wasn't much to do in the old town, plus we decided to leave a day earlier than planned as we had seen everything. Our evening was slkightly soured by these Israeli people who had moaned about the guesthouse and how they had been ripped off by TAT (the tourism people ...

... Cologne, Germany. This older couple plays the blues and their own original songs. We exchanged stories and backgrounds real quick and I couldn't have spent more than 10 minutes talking to them...but when they had to leave they told me to look them up online and if I am ever in Cologne I got a place to stay. This is why I love travelling...you meet the coolest and most genuine people from parts of the world you haven't been and may never get to and with each new ...

... hour later. I didn't even ask what happened during that extra hour, and I honestly don't ever want to know. Makes me shudder just thinking about it. So after that traumatic experience, we sleep for the night and go to Old Sukhothai the next day. This is the ancient capital of Thailand, and estimates put the age at about 700 years old or so. Much of it has been destroyed by the Burmese during wars long ago, but enough of it is ...

... God only knows how the soju fiends made the descent.

On the way down, my shaky legs, which had turned to jelly, gave out on me after I tried to jump in a mountain goat like manner off a rock. Of course, I managed to slip rather noisily on my butt, causing a bunch of Korean guys in front of me to turn around in alarm. Mortified, I pretended there was nothing wrong, but one of them started lagging behind to keep an eye on me. I'm pretty sure they were worried, no ...