Home From Home
Trip Start
Nov 16, 2007
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35
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Trip End
Aug 2008
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Seoul,
Korea Rep.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
After lunch, we hire bikes and cruise through the streets of Gyoenju. First stop are the Hwangman-ri Gohungun tombs. These are the largest mounded tombs in the city and are similar to the great barrows you get at sites in the east of England. One of the tombs has been half hollowed out so you can look inside and see the structure. Back on the bikes, we head to a large park that contains the remains of the oldest observatory in Asia, called Cheomseongdae. Up on top of the hill, you can poke your head into a vast ice store. Then back down to an ancient royal university. Peddling away, we reach the Anapji lake, with a large complex of palaces for the retainers of the royal family. Only a few of the buildings have been reconstructed, but you get a sense of what it would have looked like. Final stop is the Gyoenju Museum, the highlight being the grand bell in the courtyard. Back to the station and on a bus back to Busan.
In the evening, we head to the Jagalchi area by the docks, home to the Busan fishing fleet and a huge market. A series of escalators take you up the hill to an observation deck overlooking Busan's centre.
Bulguksa Temple
Then back down into the heart of the market, rows of dried and live fish from around SE Asia. Tired and hungry, we proceed to a restaurant serving a local speciality of whole boiled chicken in broth. It is traditionally eaten twice a year to sustain people through the long, hot summers. Thoroughly sustained, I bid farewell to Won and head back to the hostel.Monday is a day for chores. Laundry, letters and posting things. In the evening I have dinner locally and pack up ready for the train to Seoul in the morning. Another bright day helps me on the way to Busan station and the KTX express train to Seoul. An easy journey across the heart of Korea. Off the train I am met by my friend Jingu's mum and two of his friends, Sin-jan and Kim. Into a taxi and over to Jingu's mum's flat for lunch. We spend the afternoon chatting before a cousin and aunt arrive. Jingu's mum doesn't speak any English so the English speakers are welcome to help conversation. With it getting late, people depart and I settle into my room for the next few weeks.
The focus of Seoul is practicing kumdo (the Korean word for kendo) at Jingu and Kim's university, Yonsei. I head over in the morning, laden with my gear and drop it off ready for practice that evening. I meet Kim and Sin-jan and we catch a bus to the Insadong area near the city centre. Full of shops selling arts and crafts, this is the artistic centre of Seoul with an atmosphere similar to Soho's. After strolling through the streets and some lunch, we walk to the royal shrine of Jongmyo.
Bulguksa Temple
Traditional Korean buildings contain the sacred spirit stones of generations of the Korean royal family. A beautiful park acts as this shrine's host, a wonderful respite from the sweltering heat in Seoul's concrete jungle. Out to the north is the royal palace of Changgyeonggung. More traditional buildings in a dignified setting. Thoroughly walked out, we head back to Yonsei for a snack and then my first kumdo practice. A few beers afterwards before riding the subway back to Mullae.Up early the next day, I am greeted by a veritable banquet for breakfast. Korean hospitality is humbling and for someone used to being alone for the last year, it sometimes as a shock. Well and truly prepared for the day, I catch the subway into the centre of town to Deoksugung royal palace near the city hall. This was the residence of various princes over the years but has also been used for summits and hosting foreign dignatries in the nineteenth building at the back of the site. After a walk in the centre, I head back to Yonsei for the afternoon practice. Then home to Mullae for another feed fit fo a king.
Next morning I head to the Hapjeong area by the Hangang river. The focus of this area is the Jeoldusan Martyrs' Shrine dedicated to the countless Catholics that died in the purge of 1866. A touch morbid compared to your usual memorial with references to the Hangang running red with blood. A peaceful garden faces out across the river to the domed National Assembly building on the far bank. Away from the river, Hapjeong is a fairly pleasant place. The main road is a little concrete heavy, but there are some pretty relaxed side streets with good bars and restaurants, including one that looks like a Czech town hall. In the evening, after another two hours of practice at Yonsei, I head back to Mullae for Jingu's return. That evening we head out for some food with his brother and two cousins. Then a spot of karaoke.
Up at a reasonable time after the previous nights vocalities, Jingu and I head to the large mountainous park in the centre of Seoul called Namsam. After a hike up to the top, the heavens open and become trapped under one of Seoul's great landmarks, the Seoul Tower. A coffee and catch up help us see out the storm. Back down the hill, we grab a snack before catching the subway to the Gimpo area where Jingu went to high school. Meeting up with some of his high school friends, we start with pool before moving on for dinner and a large amount of shochu. The meal is a local speciality, stewed cow's spinal column. Tasty. After another beer or five at another two pubs, Jingu and I finally catch a cab back to Mullae.
Out early but feeling the 4am finish, we make for the Olympic Gymnastics venue in the east of town. This is the venue of the annual Korean Kumdo championships for social members. Yonsei have a number of teams entered, so we cheer on through the hangover. Competition over and Jingu leaving back to his course, I get back to Mullae and a very early night. Kumdo and exploring the order of next week.
