Korea (대한민국) - Part 1
Spring vacation with a strong yen. That asks for a trip aborad, right? Actually, this trip was basically a last-second decision after being invited by a friend. I postponed the decision to the last second since I also had a lot on my mind, so we had to make all preparations and planning in one week. Then I went to South Korea from March 11th to 16th.
One observation I should make before I start: I don't speak anything in Korean. Neither does Theang (the friend who invited me). So, without being able to communicate in the local language, our alternatives were other languages we know. And in many cases, Japanese works better than English. Well, Japan and Korea are geographically close anyway... besides, the strong yen and the weakened won made Korea a shopping paradise for Japanese.
March 11th. That was a "basic reconnaissance" day. From Kansai Airport to Incheon Airport and then to the hostel (guest house) in Seoul. A very nice one in fact. And since it is close to Hongik University we decided to walk around Hongdae (famous for its nightlife), explore the surroundings and get something to eat. Since we can't take spicy food (which excluded good part of Korean cuisine from our possibility list), that was a little adventure by itself... an adventure that failed in some way because what we ate was quite spicy in my point of view.
Next day we moved from Seoul to Busan - Korea's secong largest city and the only big city that wasn't taken by the North during the Korean War - using the high-speed rail service KTX. The main plan for Busan was meeting a Korean friend - Kyeongsuk - and do some sightseeing together. With someone able to read and communicate in Korean, our lives became a lot easier.
Our first destination was Haedong Yonggungsa Temple along the shore. That characteristic gives it a different atmosphere; different even than other temples by the shore I've been (like Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima). A little far from the city, but reachable by bus. Nevertheless, after that bus ride I'll think twice before using a bus in Busan thanks to a crazy driver that thinks he's racing or something alike! And Kyeongsuk said that is common... Scary.
After surviving the bus ride, we went to Gwangalli Beach. Although the beach is famous for its fine sand, it was already night and the weather wasn't so warm. Our objective was to see a bridge from the beach and walk around for a while until our stomaches began to complain and we headed to Seomyeon - the main commercial area in Busan - to find something to eat.
Our local guide went through some trouble to find something not spicy for her guests, and still we thought it was spicy... Sorry for our low resistance to spicy food. Refueled, we went to a 24h store to chat until around three in the morning, when we took a taxi back to our hostel in Busan and our guide went back to her house. Very nice to see you again Kyeongsuk! And 감사합니다
On March 13th we went to yet another city: Gyeongju, the ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom for almost a thousand years. It has a large cultural value, although it is not a large city anymore and many of its structures were destroyed during the war with the Japanese and the Korean War. We went there by bus, and arriving at the bus station we were greeted by on old man (well, not so old) who was offering taxi services. According to him, the city public transportation system is not so practical for tourists (and that seems to be true) so he'd recommend we took a taxi. And he offered a service to use taxi for a whole day for a fixed price. Interesting enough, the entire conversation was held in Japanese; and the taxi driver also spoke Japanese. We were taken as Japanese tourists at the beginning, I suppose... We accepted, but with some reluctance it would be a tourist trap we were with our guards up.
Our suspicions proved to be unfounded. The tour went well and the taxi driver was nice.
The first stop was to see the Buddha statues in Bae-ri. Those three statues have the same basic design, but have different expressions and peculiarities.
Next was Poseokjeongji, located where a royal villa previously existed. A relaxation place, nobles used to gather at the place to drink wine and recite poems.
The next spots were the reason we went to Gyeongju. Seokguram Grotto, a Cultural Heritage site, is an artificial stone temple built to protect statues of the Bonjon Statue, Bodhi-sattva and his disciples. There was also a thick fog there, which gave a special atmosphere to the place.
From there, the second World Cultural Asset site is Bulguksa Temple. The temple has an impressive architecture and some interesting explanations (that I overheard from a Japanese guided tour). I particularly like one feature of seeing the Buddha face from a hole in a lantern. Different people see the statue from different positions (mainly because of height difference). That represents the difference between people.
With still some time, our next destination was Gyeongju National Museum. This museum features many relics from Buddhist sculptures and crown to household goods. The museum grounds also have features like King Seongdeok’s Bell, the largest bell in Korea and one of the largest of the world.
Finally, by the end of the day we had lunch... and what a lunch. We basically wrapped the food around the vegetables and ate. I guess the name was Ssam or something similar...
With the day coming to an end, we finished our tour around Gyeongju and returned by bus to Seoul.
The Korean saga continues...
One observation I should make before I start: I don't speak anything in Korean. Neither does Theang (the friend who invited me). So, without being able to communicate in the local language, our alternatives were other languages we know. And in many cases, Japanese works better than English. Well, Japan and Korea are geographically close anyway... besides, the strong yen and the weakened won made Korea a shopping paradise for Japanese.
March 11th. That was a "basic reconnaissance" day. From Kansai Airport to Incheon Airport and then to the hostel (guest house) in Seoul. A very nice one in fact. And since it is close to Hongik University we decided to walk around Hongdae (famous for its nightlife), explore the surroundings and get something to eat. Since we can't take spicy food (which excluded good part of Korean cuisine from our possibility list), that was a little adventure by itself... an adventure that failed in some way because what we ate was quite spicy in my point of view.
Next day we moved from Seoul to Busan - Korea's secong largest city and the only big city that wasn't taken by the North during the Korean War - using the high-speed rail service KTX. The main plan for Busan was meeting a Korean friend - Kyeongsuk - and do some sightseeing together. With someone able to read and communicate in Korean, our lives became a lot easier.
Our first destination was Haedong Yonggungsa Temple along the shore. That characteristic gives it a different atmosphere; different even than other temples by the shore I've been (like Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima). A little far from the city, but reachable by bus. Nevertheless, after that bus ride I'll think twice before using a bus in Busan thanks to a crazy driver that thinks he's racing or something alike! And Kyeongsuk said that is common... Scary.
After surviving the bus ride, we went to Gwangalli Beach. Although the beach is famous for its fine sand, it was already night and the weather wasn't so warm. Our objective was to see a bridge from the beach and walk around for a while until our stomaches began to complain and we headed to Seomyeon - the main commercial area in Busan - to find something to eat.
Our local guide went through some trouble to find something not spicy for her guests, and still we thought it was spicy... Sorry for our low resistance to spicy food. Refueled, we went to a 24h store to chat until around three in the morning, when we took a taxi back to our hostel in Busan and our guide went back to her house. Very nice to see you again Kyeongsuk! And 감사합니다
On March 13th we went to yet another city: Gyeongju, the ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom for almost a thousand years. It has a large cultural value, although it is not a large city anymore and many of its structures were destroyed during the war with the Japanese and the Korean War. We went there by bus, and arriving at the bus station we were greeted by on old man (well, not so old) who was offering taxi services. According to him, the city public transportation system is not so practical for tourists (and that seems to be true) so he'd recommend we took a taxi. And he offered a service to use taxi for a whole day for a fixed price. Interesting enough, the entire conversation was held in Japanese; and the taxi driver also spoke Japanese. We were taken as Japanese tourists at the beginning, I suppose... We accepted, but with some reluctance it would be a tourist trap we were with our guards up.
Our suspicions proved to be unfounded. The tour went well and the taxi driver was nice.
The first stop was to see the Buddha statues in Bae-ri. Those three statues have the same basic design, but have different expressions and peculiarities.
Next was Poseokjeongji, located where a royal villa previously existed. A relaxation place, nobles used to gather at the place to drink wine and recite poems.
The next spots were the reason we went to Gyeongju. Seokguram Grotto, a Cultural Heritage site, is an artificial stone temple built to protect statues of the Bonjon Statue, Bodhi-sattva and his disciples. There was also a thick fog there, which gave a special atmosphere to the place.
From there, the second World Cultural Asset site is Bulguksa Temple. The temple has an impressive architecture and some interesting explanations (that I overheard from a Japanese guided tour). I particularly like one feature of seeing the Buddha face from a hole in a lantern. Different people see the statue from different positions (mainly because of height difference). That represents the difference between people.
With still some time, our next destination was Gyeongju National Museum. This museum features many relics from Buddhist sculptures and crown to household goods. The museum grounds also have features like King Seongdeok’s Bell, the largest bell in Korea and one of the largest of the world.
Finally, by the end of the day we had lunch... and what a lunch. We basically wrapped the food around the vegetables and ate. I guess the name was Ssam or something similar...
With the day coming to an end, we finished our tour around Gyeongju and returned by bus to Seoul.
The Korean saga continues...
2 comments:
Yeah, your only option for non-spicy food in Korea is Fast food, basically.
Korea! Man, that's nice! You went there just 1 week after I was back here in Brazil from Japan!
I like spicy food, but it depends how strong it is, hehe.
As I can see, you trip to Korea seemed to be really nice and pleasing!
See ya!
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