Back here again??

  Seoul, Korea Rep.
Thursday, April 28, 2005

When you live in a country where practically the entire nation takes their vacation at the exact same time that you do, you come to learn that things won't always go according to plan. This Golden Week, Mayu and I had it in mind to get out of Nagoya and go someplace exotic for a spell. Given the last experience, China was right out, and much of mainland Southeast Asia at this time of year is too roasting hot to consider. So, after some careful thought, I had the Philippines and Bali dog-eared as the best options. For some reason, neither Mayu nor I had tremendous enthusiasm about going to the former, so we put all our eggs in the latter's basket. Yet when we went to the travel agent (about a month and a half in advance), we were immediately wait-listed for the discount tickets to Denpasar.

I figured it'd be a wise idea to have a back-up plan in case we couldn't get on the flight. Manila and Cebu were looking pricey for the end of April, Mayu had just gone to Hawaii in December, and a week's just too damn short to go to Europe or the continental U.S. Somehow Korea ended up fitting the bill. Unlike with Denpasar, the Seoul-bound flights had plenty of vacancies, so in the very least, we'd be going somewhere. Well, despite having planned ahead to a fair degree, nothing budged on the Bali flight, so by mid-April we basically had to bite the bullet. For the third time in as many years, I was off to the Land of the Morning Calm.

Thus, here we are in Seoul, a city that I know better than most others in Asia. Since I didn't actually do a whole lot of poking around South Korea when I lived here, I thought I'd take the opportunity to visit its more celebrated quarters. On top of that, since our original plan was to hit an island, I thought I'd try to kill two birds with one stone. So, after we spend a couple days here, we're going to mosey on down to Gyeongju, the country's most famous historical and cultural center, and then catch a flight out of nearby Busan airport for Jeju - "Korea's Hawaii" (at least, according to the local tourist lore). It may be a pale substitute for nasi goreng, wide stretches of white sand, and Balinese dance, but at least we'll get some variety.

The weather isn't especially lovely here at the moment. Although the rain has mostly held off, it went from hints of blue sky to gloomy overcast conditions. We spent most of the day just wandering about - first dropping by Seoul's gleaming central train station to pick up our Gyeongju tickets, then heading over to the chaotic confines of Namdaemun market. Stopping for a delightful bibimbap lunch, we nosed around the
various shops and stalls before strolling back towards downtown. Swinging past City Hall, the Statue of Yi Sun-Shin, and the Bigak and Bosingak pavilions for the obligatory photos, we then made our way to Insadong and its charming boutiques.

We took a quick break at our yeogwan before going out for dinner proper. For that though, we indulged in the standard affair: a feast of galbi accompanied with a couple bottles of Korean beer. Apart from a little walk along the neon-lit lanes of downtown Seoul's nightlife district, that was basically it for the day. Tomorrow we're planning on visiting the vast Gyeongbokgung palace complex and then taking the funicular up to the top of Namsan - a good overview of the sprawling South Korean capital before we move on to historic Gyeongju.