South Korea!

Blogging as the sun sets in Incheon International Airport near Seoul, Korea. I'm riding out the last hour of a twelve hour layover here. I'm completely exhausted and days are running together in my mind, but I'm actually pretty happy with my extra long layover as it meant that I got a brief look at South Korea. My airlines, Asiana, offers a tour of Seoul free of charge.



I don't think we went anywhere that I would have wanted to go to if I had done it alone and our tour guide, though nice, acted like she would really rather be any where else. We (the twenty people in the tour) were absurdly underdressed for the 30º F weather as well, but hey! I got out of the airport!

Here is what we did:

1) Drove past (very quickly) the "Blue House" where the President lives.



We also saw the "Grey House" where visiting dignitaries stay.


In the same area, we visited the Cheongwadee Sarangchae Museum which is devoted to teaching tourists about contemporary Korean history. I wizzed through the whole museum in twenty minutes but I did leave with some pictures of me as the president of Korea and sitting at a mock G-20 table.





2) Visited a temple I do not know the name of. Our guide said it is unique because it is the only temple inside of downtown Seoul.



I loved the smiling baby Buddha and the really colorful interior of the temple.



It was interesting for me to observe the differences of Thai style and Korean style temples. Also, they pray differently. Koreans stand up and kneel down repeatedly while the Thais kneel and bow.



The monks also dress in a manner appropriate for Korean weather. In Thailand they wear orange robes.

3) Had lunch at a restaurant called "Traditional Korean Food." I tried several types of Kimchi!



The main course was Korean barbecue-- beef and vegetables with broth grilled on communal barbecues. I think the Korean name for it is Bulgogi.




4) Wandered around a "prime shopping district" called Itaewon. This is no shopping district I would ever shop in, as it was either wholesale shops, souvenir shops, or tailors. There were a few shoe stores and sporting goods places as well. We were forbidden to leave one side of this main road as our guide worried that she would lose us. Naturally, I wandered away from the main road and found a couple steep streets that seemed to have some cute restaurants on them.



Although I feel like I hardly got to see it, I really enjoyed visiting Seoul. It is so different from Hanoi and Bangkok, the two other cities I've been to over here. Everything is modern and shiny clean. There are many examples of interesting traditional and modern Korean architecture that caught my eye. Surprisingly, it reminded me of Seattle more than anything else. It's rather hilly and surrounded by beautiful mountains and water. The modern architecture in Seattle also is quite similar. Lastly, the streets reminded me of home. They drive on the right side of the road, the streets have lots of interesting angles, AND they actually follow traffic laws. I mean, they drive in their lanes. No motorcycles weaving or incessant honking.



I'm racing against my computer battery at this point. Next stop, home for the holidays! I don't plan on posting again until I return to Thailand in the new year. Happy Holidays!