Showing posts with label Korea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Korea. Show all posts

16 Jun - 18 Jun 2013 Seoul







East Asia
Republic of Korea aka South Korea
Seoul
Seodaemun/Mapo District
Mapo-gu, Yeonnam-dong 570-16
Kimchee Hongdae Guesthouse +82260826059 hongdae@kimcheekorea.com
Clean and comfortable double room with shared bathroom for KRW 40,000.- or US$ 35.50 per night. Free wifi and fully-equipped communal kitchen/lounge with fridge.
Great international backpacker atmosphere with very helpful and friendly staff, professional management; excellent (Canadian) English.
Beer: 500-ml bottles of ice-cold Korean Hite Dry Finish (c. 4.8 % alc./vol., “Refresh Your Spirits; Break away from the Daily Grind!”) for KRW 1,650.- or US$ 1.45 per bottle from the nearby Emart Everyday +8223360078, “Korea’s No. 1 Discount Store”; or even better: 640-ml bottles of ice-cold Korean Hite Ice Point (c. 4.5 % alc./vol.) for only KRW 1,600.- or US$ 1.40 per large bottle from the family-run KosaMart +8223322275; cheers!


Click below for an interactive road map of the Kimchee Hongdae Guesthouse in Seoul, which we would recommend, and for directions:
N 37° 33.53' E 126° 55.19' 




 




Matt: Poking my nose into this, that and the other in trendy Hongdae, known for its urban arts and indie music culture, and bumping into the funny Trickeye Museum (admission: a stiff KRW 13,000.- per adult) where boisterous and resourceful young Koreans experiment with their visual perception, play the familiar game “photographer and model” and experience at first hand that the map is not the territory.



 Matt: Consulting the beautiful and caring lady practitioners at Seoul’s Dae-Jang-Geum Traditional Korean Medicine Centre +82234460424, being diagnosed (on pulse, tongue and eyes) as able-bodied and physically fit enough and receiving my personal food recommendations for a potent long life: a bouquet garni of kudzu roots, cassia seeds, chrysanthemum flowers, aloe leaves and bamboo shoots plus some more ordinary stuff like buckwheat, malt and bean sprouts; masitge deuseyo.



Matt: Enjoying delightful and meaningful encounters with a diversity of friendly and energetic Koreans at (i) the Bukchon Hanok Village, Seoul’s largest concentration of traditional Korean homes, built from wood, stone and plaster and with window panes made from paper, and at (ii) the Namsangol Hanok Village where young people of both sexes demonstrated their incredible taekwondo techniques and destroyed with their bare hands and feet heaps of bricks, roof tiles and wooden boards.



Matt: Saying goodbye to wonderful and hospitable, traditional and modern Korea (“Annyeong-hi gyeseyo!”), taking the superb AREX train from Hongik University Station straight to Incheon International Airport (46 min, KRW 3,950.- or US$ 3.50 per person; being pretty much sure that God has really intended man to fly, otherwise he’d make it more difficult to get to the airports), taking off with Japanese low-cost carrier Peach Aviation (“Making Air Travel in Asia Closer and More Fun”) in an Airbus A 320-200 for KRW 107,900.- or US$ 95.50, one way and all inclusive, to Osaka’s futuristic Kansai International Airport, Terminal 2, built on an artificial island in Osaka Bay and designed by Italian star architect Renzo Piano, being issued with a Japanese 90-day “landing permission as a temporary visitor” on arrival, free of charge, and travelling on a discounted Peach Kyoto Sightseeing Ticket (already sold in-flight by Peach Aviation's eager flight attendants, JPY 1,500.- or US$ 15.- per person: Nankai Railway from Kansai Airport to Namba, Osaka Municipal Subway from Namba to Yodoyabashi and eventually Keihan Railway from Yodoyabashi to Gionshijo) to my next backpacker hostel, situated in the fascinating neighbourhood of Gion, one of the most exclusive and well-known geisha districts in all of Japan.
2013 Map Konni & Matt


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From the 2013 Moral Travel Compass for Our Grand Children's Journey of Life:
It’s bad to bank on the police;
It’s good to call your friends.
Keep your bearings!
Destination:

13 Jun - 16 Jun 2013 Gyeongju







East Asia
Republic of Korea aka South Korea
Gyeongju
232 Hwango-Dong
Guesthouse Santa +821053146448 happy-gray@hanmail.net
Comfortable and clean a/c dorm bed for KRW 17,000.- or US$ 15.- per night in a 3rd-floor hostel apartment; continental breakfast included. Free but agricultural wifi in all areas. Fully-equipped communal kitchen/lounge with fridge.
Laundry: KRW 3,000.- per load (washed and dried).
Central location and a relaxed international backpacker atmosphere.
Friendly and helpful host, sufficient English.
Beer: 500-ml bottles of unchilled Korean Hite Prime Max All Malt Beer (4.5 % alc./vol.), rich and full-bodied, for KRW 1,250.- or US$ 1.10 per bottle from the well-stocked Top Mart.


Click below for an interactive road map of the Guesthouse Santa in Gyeongju, which we would recommend, and for directions:
N 35° 50.52' E 129° 12.84' 





  




Matt: Twigging the fact that the East Asian monsoon, commonly called the plum rains aka jangma, has finally arrived on the Korean peninsula and deciding that the Gyeongju National Museum (free admission, +82547407518), arguably the finest history museum in Korea, is the best place to appreciate the significance of this ancient city in one fell swoop and learning that Gyeongju became the capital of the Shilla dynasty in 57 BCE and remained so for nearly 1000 years - one of the world’s longest sustained dynasties.



Matt: Rambling through Tumuli Park and Wolseong Park, getting lost in the maze of round grassy tombs aka tumuli of generations of Shilla kings and queens and admiring the 7th-century CE Cheomseongdae (admission: KRW 1,000.- per person), constructed between 632 and 646 CE during the reign of the supposedly very beautiful Shilla queen Seondeok and the Far East's oldest surviving astronomical/astrological observatory.

“Millionaires don't use astrology, billionaires do.”



Matt: Visiting the large 8th-century CE Bulguk-sa Temple (entrance: KRW 4,000.- per person, city bus no. 11 from a nearby bus stop for KRW 1,500.- per person), an ambitious architectural work through which Shilla revealed the world of Buddhism to the terrestrial world and at that time the spiritual centre of Shilla Buddhism but these days a busy UNESCO World Heritage Site and restored tourist attraction for pilgrims from all over Asia.



Matt: Taking an extremely punctual express bus from Gyeongju’s intercity-bus terminal straight to Seoul’s busy Dong Seoul Bus Terminal (c. 350 km, exactly 4 hours, KRW 21,100.- or US$ 18.70 per person) and thereafter Seoul’s efficient subway (line 2, fare: KRW 1,350.-) from the bus terminal straight to the reliable and lively Kimchee Hongdae Guesthouse, a place where the independent traveller arrives as a guest, but leaves as family.



2013 Map Konni & Matt 


Facing Korea
© Konni & Matt
Recommended books - click below for your Amazon order from Germany:
For Amazon bargains from the United States, please click here
For Amazon bargains from Canada, please click here
For Amazon bargains from the United Kingdom, please click here


From the 2013 Moral Travel Compass for our Grand Children's Journey of Life:
It’s bad to watch TV;
It’s good to improve the internet.
Keep your bearings!
Destination:

10 Jun - 13 Jun 2013 Andong






East Asia
Republic of Korea aka South Korea
Andong
20, Dongheung1-gil
GoTaYa Guest House +821043670226 travelhub25@gmail.com
Comfortable and clean a/c dorm bed for KRW 17,000.- or US$ 15.- per night in a modern 5th-floor apartment. Continental breakfast included. Free wifi. Fully-equipped communal kitchen/lounge.
Laundry: KRW 3,000.- per load (washed and dried).
Central location and genuine backpacker atmosphere.
Friendly, enthusiastic and very helpful young hosts, sufficient English.
Beer: 500-ml bottles of chilled Korean Hite Ice Point (c. 4.5 % alc./vol.) for KRW 1,600.- or US$ 1.40 from a mom-and-pop neighbourhood store; or cheaper: 500-ml bottles of ice-cold Korean Cass Fresh (c. 4.5 % alc./vol.) for KRW 1,200.- or US$ 1.05 from Home Plus supermarket.


Click below for an interactive road map of the GoTaYa Guesthouse in Andong, which we would recommend, and for directions:
N 36° 33.87' E 128° 44.06' 





 




Matt: Time-travelling back into the 16th century CE, having very amicable meetings with both (i) the ghosts of Ryu Unryong and Ryu Sengryong and (ii) their living offspring amidst the centuries-old tile-roofed and straw-roofed traditional houses at Hahoe Folk Village (UNESCO World Heritage Site, +82548543669, entrance fee: KRW 3,000.- or US$ 2.60 per person; city bus no. 46 from Andong for KRW 1,200.- per person, one way), learning about the two Ryu brothers’ merits in the Joseon Dynasty, ambling through well-tended veggie gardens, cherry orchards and rice paddies and, from the bottom of my heart, agreeing with Queen Elizabeth II who had visited Hahoe in 1999 CE and who wrote afterwards in the village's guest book: “… as I visit Hahoe Folk Village, where Korean culture is always alive, I feel the beauty of a Korean spring day…”



 Matt: Ascertaining beyond doubt that Andong’s major attraction is her local specialty food, indulging in (i) spicy Korean soft tofu stew aka soondubuchigae with mushrooms, which manages to be both hearty and healthy at the same time, at the only vegan eatery in town, the Loving Hut +82548419244 (KRW 5,000.- or US$ 4,40 for the complete meal with rice, fishy kimchee and veggies), (ii) grilled salted mackerel aka godeungeo gui, dressed up a little with a squeeze of lemon and grated ginger, (iii) Andong’s signature noodles aka guksi, served with a sauce made with sesame oil, soy sauce, scallions and a small amount of chili powder, sometimes topped for garnish with a fried egg, gim and zucchini (my favourite: Sunmi Restaurant +82548578498, sumptuous noodle meal with rice and eight side dishes for KRW 5,000.- or US$ 4.40), (iv) peculiar Andong heotjesabap, ancestor food for hungry living beings, and (v) the ubiquitous, hot tteokbokki (a generous helping for only KRW 2,000.- or US$ 1.80 from any of the friendly stalls on Seobu-dong), furthermore, learning to distinguish between sweet common sikhye (which was once a part of the Korean royal court cuisine) and spicy Andong sikhye (which includes radishes, carrots, ginger and the infamous powdered Andong red pepper), thus creating enough reasons to finish my food investigations with an extensive digestive visit of Ok-Hwa Cho, the 92-year old renowned master destiller and official skill-holder of the Andong Soju Museum +82548584541 (after all, Andong is being touted as “The Capital of the Korean Spirit”, cheers).
Matt: Driving Andong’s distinctive 45-proof soju out of my system and rejuvenating my body at the straight and rather non-LGBT Spa Land +82548578118 (entrance fee: KRW 5,000.- per person for 24 hours, no photos), one of these comfortable Korean bathhouses aka jimjilbang which are open 24 hours and where people can even stay overnight.

 Matt: Saving face in Andong’s phrenologically challenging, excellent Hahoe Mask Museum (admission: KRW 1,500.- or US$ 1.30 per senior citizen), practising my almost forgotten, non-computerised face-recognition skills and, finally, agreeing with Robert Bloch, best known as the writer of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, that “…horror is the removal of masks.”
Matt: Crossing the Wolyeonggyo Bridge, Korea’s largest wooden bridge (387 m long), over the Nakdong River to the state-run Andong Folk Museum (“The Lives and Wisdom of Our Ancestors Come Alive Here”, +82548210649, admission: KRW 1,000.- per person), rambling through the museum's outdoor part with its diversity of traditional Korean houses and learning in the adjacent exhibitions about Korea’s life culture from birth through to death with the focus on clothing, eating and housing, thus including displays of (i) the first birthday aka dol, (ii) the coming-of-age ceremony aka gwanrye, (iii) the wedding ceremony aka honrye, (iv) various distinctive funeral rites aka sangrye and (v) ancestral rites aka jerye.



 Matt: Taking, together with fellow traveller Lowine from France, an ordinary Korail train in 2nd class from the modern Andong Train Station to Gyeongju’s Train Station (c. 110 km, 2 ¼ hours, KRW 7,900.- or US$ 7.- per person) thus arriving at a town which is known as “the museum without walls” and which holds more tombs, temples, rock carvings, pagodas and palace ruins than any other place in South Korea or even in South Africa.



2013 Map Konni & Matt


Recommended books – click below for your Amazon order from Canada:

For Amazon schnaeppchens from Germany, please click here
For Amazon bargains from the United States, please click here
For Amazon bargains from the United Kingdom, please click here


From the 2013 Moral Travel Compass for Our Grand Children's Journey of Life:
It’s bad to worry;
It’s good to live.
Keep your bearings!
Destination:
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