Oncheon and Bird flu

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  Seoul, Seoul, Korea Rep.
Thursday, May 15, 2008

On Monday I took a bus from Busan up to Sokcho in the North East of the country. Sokcho is the gateway to the Seoraksan National Park, where I was hoping to do a bit of walking/sight seeing. Korea is a mountainous country, and the terrain is very similar to the Balkans. My journey took me up the whole of the East coast, almost to the North Korean border, and we never left the mountains. They aren't farmed at all as far as I can see, and they are covered in forests, which makes the country very green at this time of year. Autumn is also a popular time of year to visit Korea, and many people come just for the Autumn colours, which are spectacular by all accounts.
There have been two health scares while I've been here. The first is a movement to try and get American beef imports banned because of worries about BSE (complete with street protests and candlelight vigils), and the second one is good old Bird Flu (whatever happened to SARS?). The bus was sprayed and had to drive over disinfectant mats 3 times on the journey to Sokcho

Cloudbase, Seoraksan

. If only the birds could be persuaded to fly through disinfectant as well, this problem could be solved fairly quickly........
On the way up to Sochko the bus went through a place called Jeongdongjin, where there's a North Korean submarine parked in the middle of town. This is a memento of a bizarre incident that happened in 1996 when the submarine, containing 11 crew and 17 North Korean soldiers and spies, grounded on rocks a couple of miles up the coast. The Captain shot the crew, and tried to escape overland back to North Korea with the soldiers and agents. It took over 6 weeks before they were all either captured or killed, and 22 South Koreans lost their lives in the process.
Following on from London and Brighton in Chile, my hotel at the entrance to Seoraksan Park is called the Kensington. They've got a real English theme going here, with two London buses parked in the grounds, and a sceptre that once belonged to Edward VII in Reception. English memorabilia is quite a big thing in North East Asia. There were lots of English pubs in Japan, and one place in Busan had a collection of English beer mats (Flowers IPA and the like). It sometimes doesn't quite translate though: Mary and I went into one place in Tokyo that sold English pub food. A party of Japanese ordered fish and chips, which was served wrapped in fake newspaper like you sometimes see in England. The other things wrapped in fake newspaper were the chopsticks that you ate the stuff with........

Yew trees and rocks, Seoraksan

.
Korea has been quite chilly since I arrived, but as soon as I arrived in Sokcho it started raining too, not a good thing when you're in the great outdoors. There's a lot of good walking routes here, but it's very mountainous and when the mist is down, it's all pretty pointless really. Seoraksan is a lovely place though, and the hotel is good. The restaurants here specialise in Squid Sundae. This is squid stuffed with noodles, tofu, seaweed, spices etc, which is then sliced and fried with egg. It's lovely, and worth coming here for Sundae alone.  
The following morning, there was a break in the weather so I hightailed it to the beginning of a walk I had my eye on. One good thing about changeable weather like this, is that it's fairly quiet - or so I thought. As I approached the start of the walk, 14 coachloads of Korean schoolkids roared up (yes 14, I counted them). Er, let me see now......that'll be over 500 of the little scrotes. I instantly morphed into Victor Meldrew and harrumphed off in the other direction.
After a couple of hours walking, the weather closed in again, and I retreated back to the hotel. It's cold and it's raining, and I can't go out. I think it's time to go and get naked with the Koreans................
An Oncheon is a thermal bath where you can simmer and steam yourself round the clock (most of them are open 24 hours)

Temple Buddha's birthday

. It's an important part of Korean culture and there's an excellent one in Sokcho - I called a cab and went down there. You undress in the locker room, and shower before stepping naked into a series of public baths that range from scalding hot to freezing cold, and one of them was outdoors (fabulous in the rain). A cold spring provides mineral water on tap, but the hot water comes from 4,000 metres underground and arrives at 45C. There's also a collection of waterfall showers and high pressure water jets to play with. Some of them hurt.
One part of the setup that made me smile was a section where you sit/squat to exfoliate with a mit, a hand held shower, and lots of soap. The image of about 20 men sitting in a long line on what are effectively child's potties, soaping themselves in front of a big mirror will live with me for a long time (sorry ladies, no photographs). It looked OK though so I joined them, and it was strangely relaxing - second childhood for me most likely. This is fun for all ages, from toddlers to pensioners. One chap had even brought his old dad down there, and was busy giving him a good scrubbing, which was nice......
The morning I was due to leave, I woke to a cloudless sky - perfect weather to do the things I came here for. After a bit of  humming and hahing, I decided to stick to the original schedule and catch my bus to Seoul though.
Seoul has no obvious attractions, there are no Eiffel Towers or Empire State buildings here, but I found it a nice place, easy to get around, and friendly

Pagoda, Seoul

. When I arrived at the Metro station closest to my hotel, I set off in the wrong direction, and after about 5 minutes realised my mistake. Within about 30 seconds someone saw me looking at a map and came over to offer help. She didn't know where the hotel was, but phoned her boyfriend who gave me directions - it's always a good start in a new city when people are just so kind. 
There's plenty to see in Seoul though,and in my short stay I've visited palaces, temples, museums, gardens and markets. Korea has been a bit of a revelation really. I'd no pre-conceived ideas of the place, just snatches on TV of the Seoul Olympics, and the world cup. It shares some similarities with Japan, like a canned drink called "Pokari Sweat", 7/11 stores and Familymarts for example, but there are lots of differences. For example in Japan, the 7/11's are a great place to buy cheap sushi, but in Korea it's rubbish. In Japan you need to watch out for bikes on the pavement - same in Korea, but here you need to watch out for motorbikes as well......
The chopsticks are different here too. They're metal as opposed to wood or plastic, and in cross-section they are rectangular instead of square or circular. This means you've got to be careful how you pick them up, or they'll take on a life all of their own until it all starts to look a bit like War of the  Worlds. Still, I managed to fillet a mackrel with Korean chopsticks last night, so I must be getting there

Sit down protest, Seoul

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If you come here you can also play the Seoul pun game - Seoul food, the Godfather of Seoul, Heart and Seoul, Seoul of my shoe, etc, etc. The list is endless.
For anyone who wants to visit North East Asia, I'd definitely recommend this country. Korea is safe, civilised, friendly, there's loads of culture, history, scenery and it's affordable. Choose your time of year carefully though - during some battles of the Korean War, it was so cold that soldiers' blood froze in their wounds........
Tomorrow I leave for a country that doesn't exist - 10 points if you can name it. Another 10 points if you can work out what was going on in the "View from my room, Seoul" photo........

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

View from my room Seoraksan, when the sun came out	Silla period pagoda 634AD, Seoraksan	Roof Detail, Imperial Palace Seoul	Routemaster bus, Seoraksan
Temple Entrance. Buddha's birthday	Giant Korean flag. Seodaemun prison, Seoul	Riverbed and mountains, Seoraksan	Hotel Kensington, Seoraksan
Seated Bhudda, Seoraksan	Totems, Seoul	Guard, Imperial Palace Seoul	Ceremonial procession, Imperial Palace Seoul
More guards, Seoul	Roof lines, Imperial Palace Seoul	Pagoda, Seoul	View from my room, Seoul
I think I'll call my Cafe "Gout"	Probably seemed a good idea at the time....	Korean hip-hop. I'm speechless!	Fountains and high rise. Seoul
Downtown Seoul	Cool building, Seoul	Food stalls, Seoul	Ginseng stall, Seoul

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