South Korea (Part 1)

March/April 2003

When US Kip and I arrived at Narita Airport in Tokyo, we discovered that the Gulf War had just started. After checking in, we sat and watched the usual talking heads on CNN. Quickly bored, we rehashed old Gulf war material from the late Bill Hicks to keep the other passengers entertained;
"Those guys are out there in hog heaven. Someone is sitting there with the Sears catalogue of military weaponry. One of the grunts asks, "What's G12 do, Tommy?" Tommy looks down at the catalogue "Well, it says here that it destroys everything but the fillings in their teeth and helps revitalise the American economy".
"Well, shit, Pull that one up".
"Pull up G12 please"
(loud fizzy noise as rocket disappears over the horizon followed by a loud bang)
"Cool. What's G13 do?"

"The Iraqi’s have incredible weapons... incredible weapons"
"How do you know?"
"Well, we sold them to them. But as soon as the cheque clears the bank, we’re going in".

"Did you know that the Iraqi's have the fourth largest army in the world?"
"Yeah, but there's a real big drop off after the first three. The Hari Krishna’s have the fifth largest army in the world and they have already taken the American airports".

CNN brought up a small biography of Suddam Hussein which mentioned that he had married his cousin. Cue the 'Deliverance' movie theme "duelling banjos" and the comment "What’s his family tree look like? A stump?"

Eventually my 6.30pm flight was called and it was bye bye time to Kip and Japan. I discovered that I had been upgraded to Business Class on the NorthWestern Airlines flight. Which was a first. Sparkling wine and beer before take off. Lots of grovelling service. Beer and red wine to accompany the large smoked salmon/cold chicken meal, a large chunk of cheesecake and my own movie channels. I noticed that even Business Class only had plastic knives. I could get used to travelling like this.

Arriving at the still looking brand spanking new Incheon Airport, outside Seoul, South Korea, it all looked familiar from my brief visit there last May. I knew the score. An airport bus took me down town and I checked into the comfortable Seoul Backpackers Hostel, which would be my home for the following week.

A Brief History of Korea; by the 3rd Century AD, three powerful kingdoms (Silla, Backje and Goguryeo) split the peninsula up for the next 400 years. Chinese influences were absorbed. Buddhism became the state religion. By 7th Century, Silla united the peninsula for the first time; it was the greatest era of cultural development; tombs, temples, palaces (esp at Gyeongju). By the 14th Century, the Joseon (Yi) dynasty was in place. This lasted until the Twentieth Century.

Korean history weighs heavily on all Koreans. The cost of their survival as a nation has, at times, been devastating. The most recent example of this was the Korean War in the early 1950s, but even before this, the Koreans had to suffer repeated incursions by belligerent neighbours. Japan invaded in 1592, China invaded early 17th Century. Afterwards, Korea became the `Hermit Kingdom for 200 years. It finally opened up only to be occupied by Japan for 50 years until the end of World War Two. Then the USSR/USA/UK divided up the country, with Russia occupying north of the 38th parallel. Their military support to North Korea encouraged an invasion of South Korea in 1950, only to be turned back by the USA and a 16 country UN coalition. In 1952, a De Militarised Zone (DMZ) was established, which still exists today.

At the end of the war, Korea lay in ruins. Seoul had changed hands four times and was flattened. Millions of people were left homeless, industry destroyed and the countryside devastated. North Korea went on to become one of the most closed countries in the world, ruled by the eccentric and uncompromising Kim II Sung and later by his son, Kim Jong II. Post war South Korea was a tangled mass of military dictatorships, student riots, strikes and the slow economic rise, which finally took off in the 1980s when a democracy of sorts was established.

Today, Seoul with 10.3 million people is the fifth largest city in the World. It was established by the Joseon Dynasty in 1392 and has been the capital ever since. It has risen from the Korean War ashes and become a modern metropolis; the high rise buildings with giant video screens on the sides and 12 lane boulevards contrast with the centuries old restored royal palaces and temples and imposing stone gateways. During my week here, it was very overcast and smoggy with heavy traffic.

Geography; The Korean peninsula borders China and Russia in the north, faces China in the west across the Yellow Sea (which the Koreans call the West Sea) and Japan to the east and south across the Sea of Japan (which the Koreans call the East Sea). The peninsula is divided roughly in half, just north of the 38th parallel between the two countries, North and South Korea. South Korea’s land area is about 100,000 sq. km, making it slightly larger than Portugal. Its overall length from north to south is about 500km, 70% of the country is mountainous, but few of the mountains are very high.

Economy; South Korea has witnessed an amazing rags to riches story over the past four decades. Rising from the debris of the Korean War, South Korea has gone on to achieve a standard of living which rivals the nations of Western Europe. A key feature of Korea’s economy are the `jaebeol`, huge family run conglomerates that owe their survival to government subsidised bank loans. The tight knit relationship between the jaebeol and government officials has led to more than a few indictments for corruption. Officially there are 30 jaebeol. The top five, Hyundai, Samsung, Daewoo, LG and SK account for more than a third of the total sales of all South Korean companies and 50% of the country’s exports. In 1997, Asia lurched into an economic crisis, and South Korea was badly affected. But it seems to be thriving again. They built 12 new brand new soccer stadiums for the 2002 World Cup. The currency is called the Won

Population & People; The population of South Korea stands at 47m and has one of the lowest rates of population growth (not that you would know this with all the kids running around). Over 70% live in urban areas and about 25% of South Koreans live in Seoul.

Dos and Don’ts; Take your shoes off outside, don't let them lose face, don’t blow your nose, 4 is an unlucky number, don’t write messages in red ink (unfriendliness), don’t leave your chopsticks pointing straight up (sign of death)

Treatment of Animals; Some Koreans like to eat octopus or giant prawn when they are still alive. The prawns squiggle but live tentacles make a meal that literally fights back. Diners need to be skilled with chopsticks to pry their squiggling delicacies off the plate, plus they need to chew fast to prevent the suckers from sticking to their teeth. Dog is still available but is less openly served. Surprisingly, I missed both these expensive treats

Religion; There are four broad streams of influence in the Korean spiritual and ethical outlook, they are; shamanism, which originated in central Asia; Buddhism, which entered Korea from China around the 4th Century AD; Confucianism, a system of ethics of Chinese origin; and Christianity which entered Korea in the 18th Century.

Society; Korea is probably the most Confucian nation in Asia. At the heart of Confucian doctrine are the so-called Five Relationships. These prescribe behaviour between ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife, old and young and between friends. This structuring of relationships is very important in making sense of Korean society. All relationships require a placement in some sort of hierarchy for one party to determine how to behave with respect towards the other.

Language; I found Korean difficult to master and never got beyond this; Anneyeong Hasimminikka (a formal hello), Gamsa Hamnida (thank you), Je ireumeun Bob imnida (my name’s Bob) and Jeoneun England eseo watseumnida (I come from England), Where? (Od-die) And "Juk In Da" (that kills me/It's great). (That's enough background; Ed)

It turned out to a hectic week of sightseeing and catching up with old friends and acquaintances. On the first morning I met up with Mr Kim and Mr Jeung. I had hung out with them on my last visit and two more hospitable hosts you could not find. They liked meeting westerners and over the previous months, when various teachers were coming over to pick up their Japanese work visas, I put them in contact. UK Jamie was here only a month previously and had been lavishly wined and dined.

Mr Kim (38) works as a ticket seller at the Oksu subway station and Mr Jeung (47) is his boss and friend. Mr Kim can speak reasonable English. Mr Jeung, basic English, but seems to pick up phrases such as "I'm going to take a leak". I met them on my first morning after they had been on the nightshift. We met in Incheon, an area known for its large US military base and we went to a Turkish restaurant for brunch. They like the fact that I am always keen to go sightseeing and its gives them an opportunity to see things in their own country which they have never visited. Plus, we all get to travel for free on the efficient Seoul subway system with a magic ticket.

Photo of Seoul Metro
Another Photo of Seoul Metro
Yet Another Photo of Seoul Metro

So we checked out the relatively new and small Namsangol Hanok Village. This was founded in 1998 by moving some of Joseon's (the long standing dynasty) magnificent 'Yangban' (noble class) houses still remaining in the capital. There were five major residences dating from the 1860s to 1890s; lovely squat wooden buildings raised on short stone platforms with heavy black sloping tiled roofs, polished floors and paper windows over wooden frames. When it got too hot in the summer, these could be hauled horizontally by pulleys and ropes to let a breeze in. In the winter, outside ovens with chimneys, forced hot air beneath the floorboards, to keep the rooms warm. The houses belonged to the (then) king's son in law, father in law, queen mother etc. There were opportunities to try out a couple of popular pastimes from that period; firstly, trying to throw sticks into three vertical pipes from 3m, which was like throwing giant darts at the wrong angle; and secondly, the stand-up seesaw. One person stands on one edge of the board and the other jumps on the other edge, propelling the first person into the air. When they land, the other person then gets lifted into the air. Repeat ad nuseum, gradually gaining height. It was a lot more difficult than it looked, especially when I was considerably heavily than Mr Kim who could hardly get any leverage.

On Friday afternoons at 2 pm, there is a colourful 'Korean military honour guard ceremony and performance' outside the War Museum (which is called the War Memorial). My hosts had never been there, so I became the tour guide. I had visited the external areas of the Museum on my previous visit with its massive and impressive collection of military hardware from the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Photos of Photos of War Museum exterior and military equipment outside the museum

There was a large audience of Korean soldiers, Korean tourists, kindergarten school trips, and surprisingly, no other westerners. We arrived as a troupe of traditionally dressed Korean soldiers (bright red, blue and yellow flapping cloaks, baggy trousers, and hats) wielding long spears/axes marched in; they were accompanied by a line of flag bearers and a traditional Korean band playing ye olde instruments. From the sides of the plaza, two more gangs of soldiers charged in to do synchronised movements with their flags and weapons (oo er). Then a dozen girls from the modern women's army, dressed like cheerleaders in short white skirts and blue tunics, did flawless synchronised displays with their short rifles, spinning them around in the air etc to the sounds of Chubby Checker. There was lots of whooping from the Korean male soldiers.

Finally, a couple of hundred modern day soldiers marched in with a military romp pomp pomp band and mesmerised the audience with another spell binding, synchronised display of throwing their rifles around their bodies in short sharp jerky movements. It was so fast, you couldn't blink for missing something. Lots of groups of soldiers moving around in blocks and finally lining up in one long line across the plaza. From the centre, two soldiers would set off a particular movement with their rifles and two waves of half-second delays would create a wave effect in both directions. The movements got more complicated; one involved throwing their rifles in the air to create rising and falling motion as it moved down the line. The timing was immaculate. Afterwards, all the participants posed for photo opportunities.

We then explored the vast museum itself. Its motto is "Freedom is not free!” Inevitably, there was an extensive area called the Korean War Room (more like 20) which covered the history of the Korean War (1950 to 1953) with lots of film footage, maps, explanations of each major battle, memorabilia and a collection of every (small) weapon used in the war by either side. The Korean Expeditionary Forces Room covered post Korean War activities. I didn't realise that the Korean army participated in both the Vietnam War and first Gulf War.

The War History Room in the basement covered Korea's earlier military history. You could walk around battlements and there was a full-scale model of a 'turtle boat’. The Koreans were the first to invent the ironclad warship. These boats had a roof and used iron spikes on the top and sides to keep assailants from jumping over onto the boats to attack them.

Photo of the Famous Turtle Boat

I was also interested to see that in the Fifteenth Century, they had invented a medieval rocket launcher; except that they attached a stick of gunpowder to a long arrow which were stored by the hundred in a box of slots, similar to today's missile launchers. Just light blue touch paper and watch a hail of arrows descend on your opponents. It was certainly one of the best military museums I have visited anywhere.

Gimchi is a Korean staple of chopped vegetables, mixed with various other ingredients; chilli, garlic and ginger and left to ferment in an earthenware pot. It has a raw, tangy taste and is very spicy. It appears to get served at every meal. It reminded me of that old joke about Mexicans. How does a Korean know when he's hungry? When his arse stops burning.

The Koreans certainly like to eat. After our large meal, Mr Jeung said, "We'll just pop down the road for a drink". We entered another restaurant where he ordered makgeolli and an oyster pancake, raw radish in hot gimchi sauce and green salad. Makgeolli is a white rice brew, a bit like drinking milk and flour with wine in it. My guidebook said that it was cheap but `potent enough to embalm a frog'. I waddled off home absolutely stuffed. It was nice to be back in Seoul again.

The streets are full of food market stalls like this

Photo of a Typical Night Foodstand
Another Photo of a Typical Night Foodstand

And at night, Seoul is a happening place. packed streets, heaving bars and cafes, beneath a blanket of neon lights

A Nightshot of Seoul

It was fabulous scenery; trails through woodlands and then scrambles up bare outcrops of white granite. It wasn't a route for those without a head for heights. At one point, having reached the first peak and moving on to the Suraksan peak, I disappeared down a minor trail and came across an overhang to negotiate with a long drop below. I was about to turn back, when an elderly woman came tottering around from the other side with relative ease. She gave me a quick lesson in how to get around and clinging on by my fingertips, leaning out above the abyss thinking "If she can do it...” I clawed my way around the obstacle. I was amazed at the age of the walkers from kids to very old people. They were all wrapped up well and laughed at my T-shirt and shorts. There was snow in the hollows and ropes had thoughtfully been provided to pull yourself up the steeper parts of the undulating ridge or down into the muddy hollows. Reaching the peak of Suraksan (a modest 638m), I found a penguin colony of hikers all spread out eating their lunches. Seoul was covered in smog/cloud but there were good views across the surrounding mountains. Coming down the other side, there was another interesting obstacle; a 40-degree drop down a steep granite rock face. of about 100m. I watched women in their 50s pull themselves up the slope by the rope which was steeper than both the early parts of Ayers Rock in Australia and the latter stages of Kota Kinabulu in Borneo. I grabbed the rope and descended in short sharp bursts. A lovely twisting trail lead from there down to the ugly urbanisation.

The Tourist blurb said it "compares favourably with the British Royal Guard Changing Ceremony" (I suppose so if the British Royal Guard decided to scrap their regal uniforms and turn up in Halloween costumes and McDonalds Happy hats instead). It was quite spectacular in a modest way. Various ranks dressed in bright reds and blues, banner carriers in green and the musicians in blinding yellow. A massive traditional colourfully painted Korean drum about a metre high stood horizontally on a stand near the gate for the ceremony.

There were six stages to the ceremony;
1. The new guard that has been patrolling around the palace (or on smoko break) arrives at the gate for shift change and the ceremony begins.
2. When the new guard arrives at the palace gate, each officer from the old guard and the new guard verifies the password of the day. This is to check if the new guard is a friendly guard or just a tourist masquerading as a guard. Today's password was probably "More bloody tourists".
3. The drummer marks the first stage by shouting "choem" ("Eyes down for a full house") and beats the drum six times. Following the drum beat, the officer from the old guard turns over the key box to the new guard under the supervision of the Office of Secretary and supervisor of the Household Office; a couple of ye olde traditional desk jockeys.
4. The drummer marks the second phrase by shouting "jungeom" ("Two Fat Ladies 88") and beats the drum three times. Then each piece of paperwork is checked for validity of the order and a ye olde ID card is passed on to the new guard.
5. The drummer marks the third stage by shouting "Sameom" ("Bingo!") and beats the drum twice. Following the drum beat the old guard and the new guard line up facing each other. After conducting honours, the old guard is replaced by the new guard.
6. The old guard takes on the new duty of patrolling the palace grounds, or having a smoke until the next shift.

As with all the palaces I visited, it is a lot easier just to look at the on line photos for a flavour, rather than suffer endless repetitive descriptions. Suffice to say I'll describe this one and you can just assume the rest of them are pretty similar with some variations. We entered the complex through the imposing double deckered entrance of Donhwamun Gate (1607). Atop it sat a hip roof ('look how cool I am") with both sloping sides and sloping ends. In order to support the weight of the eves, multiple interlocking brackets were placed both directly above the pillars (supporting the whole structure) and also in the spaces between them. All this woodwork was painted in floral decorations. Most traditional Korean architecture is built like this.

We found the majestic main hall of Injeongjeon lying before us across the expansive paved courtyard of white granite slabs. Rebuilt in 1804, it was here that the King sat on his throne to be honoured and receive foreign envoys (the ones that didn't try to burn it down). Behind the king stood a large screen decorated with images of the sun (King) and moon (Queen) and 5 green mountains (representing Korea). I saw the same kind of screen in every palace complex. We were route marched around endless reception rooms, living quarters, state business buildings, all with exterior wooden lattice work in browns and greens and arched, sloping black tiled roofs. We could not enter anything, just stare through the windows. I have to say that Korean traditional architecture beats the Japanese equivalent hands down. We then had a tour of the extensive "Secret Garden". The square pond represented earth and the small circular island in the middle, covered in pine trees, represented Heaven. It also needs to be said that Japanese gardens beat Korean equivalents hands down.

Photo of Inside Queen’s Court at Changdeokgung Palace
Photo of Secret Garden at Changdeokgung Palace
Photo of Changdeokgung Palace Roof Decoration

That evening, I met up with my old Bernard School buddy, Aussie Danielle. She had left Japan at Xmas, done some work in Australia and had decided to come to South Korea to teach. She had only been in Seoul for a week but was enjoying the 4 hour teaching days and her weekends off. She had had her flight paid over, had a spacious, if bare 8th floor apartment in the towerblocks, was missing the 100 Yen shops and already looking for garbage dumps to raid.

On Sunday I took in the rest of the major Palaces and other sights of Seoul;

Photo of Jongmyo Shrine
Another Photo of Jongmyo Shrine

Photo of First Entrance Gate to Gyeongbokgung Palace
Photo of Pagoda and Bridge at Gyeongbokgung Palace
Photo of Folk Museum Pagoda at Gyeongbokgung Palace

The Gwanghwamun Intersection downtown had a bronze statue of probably the most revered figure in Korean history. Yi Sun Shin was a masterful military strategist and the inventor of the 'Turtle Ship'. (see War Museum). By cladding the wooden ships of the time in sheets of armour, he was able to beat the militarily stronger Japanese navy. Of course when he died, they came back and kicked their butts anyway.

Photo of Lee Sun Sin"s Statue
Another Photo of Lee Sun Sin"s Statue

Nearby is the coolest building in Seoul - Jongro Tower.

Seoul Central Railway Station is the transport hub of South Korea. Built by the Japanese in 1931, it has an impressive, if reserved red brick and white granite facade and original entrance hall. Here, amongst the homeless/drunks I found the official World Cup souvenir shop selling everything at a 60% discount. Unfortunately, Korean T-shirts sizes are smaller than UK Fat Bastard sizes and even a XXL didn't fit. Their loss!

Photo of Seoul Central Railway Station

Lotte World; a city within a building, containing Lotte Dept Store (the largest in Seoul), an ice skating ring, Hotel Lotte World, Lotte Super Store, Lotte World Shopping Mall, Lotte World Sports, Lotte World Swimming, Lotte World Plaza. Just add the word 'Lotte' (as in a Lotte Lotte laughs) but don't tell the Koreans that it is Japanese owned! It was heaving with shoppers. I found the Seoul people to be pretty pushy in the stores and streets (just another city where its dog eat dog I guess). They bounce off you with no apologies. Everyone walks around talking into a mobile phone. When a phone rings in the metro, 20 people reach for their holsters. Yet at Lotte Dept store, another act of Korean generosity. There was no cheap shampoo, just huge designer packs. The counter girl gave me some free sachets to keep me going until I could find something more my style (i.e. cheap and degrading I think she suggested).

Photo of Lotte World Skating Rink

I was walking around the backalleys later that day and found myself surrounded by Riot Police. I had seen lots of them shaping up for the World Cup last May, but it was strange to find them all hunkered down in their blue helmets, bullet proof jackets, tall shields and black clubs that were longer than the men carrying them. I had stumbled upon the American Embassy. There had been lots of anti war protests here and they weren't taking any chances. There must have been over 200 riot police around the compound.

Photo of Seoul Riot Police

On my first day, I had made an abortive attempt to visit the Chinese Embassy, only to find that it had moved. It was also only open between 9 and 12am (don't work too hard people), I turned up early on Monday to the new 8th floor premises of a building that appeared to have a towering greenhouse as a reception area. I kept expecting Tarzan to swing out of the trees. I was in an out in 15 minutes, 4 days processing and collected my passport and Chinese visa just as quickly. Sadly, the same could not be said about finding a travel agent that supposedly sold ferry tickets to China. It took over an hour of going to and fro, asking people, getting them to call the place to ask for directions and not understanding them, and when I finally tracked down the tiny cramped orifice, they no longer sold tickets to my destination. Doh! Later in the week, I caught a metro train direct to a ferry company office and had a ferry ticket in my sweaty mits in 5 minutes.

The Village puts on some variety acts twice a day. First up were the Farmers' Dance with music. A dozen youths dressed in white baggy trousers, white shirts and blue waistcoats had conical hats with a long white streamer on a bobble. When they twisted their heads, they could make the streamers dance. They were accompanied by a loud band of a dozen drummers in hats covered in multicoloured pom poms and one guy wailing away on his horn. The whole troupe went through complicated circular dances with a wonderful hypnotic rhythmic drumming backdrop. The dancers would circle the band and throw themselves into 360-degree pirouettes with their streamers twisting into ever decreasing circles. It was times like this I wished I had a video camera to capture the movement and music. As it is, I'll probably have a number of photos of youths leaping motionless in the air with inane grins on their faces and complete silence. But my memory will remind me that it was really loud, colourful and animated.

Next up were a quartet of tiny girls who did stunts on a seesaw. For some reason, stand-up seesaws were big entertainment in the Joseon Period. It is all a matter of timing. You have to lift yourself up off one end, at the same moment as the person on the other end, descends and you are then sprung upwards. Repeat ad nuseum until you realise you can't do it and it is harder than it looks. These girls, being slight and nubile, could launch themselves 6m into the air, do poses, somersaults and still land on the end to spring the other girl up. Don't try this at home.

Then a comical, though obviously masterful 50 something man who did tightrope antics. Tightrope walking was another favourite at the fairs during the Joseon Period. Equipped with a fan, there was nothing this guy couldn't do on a rope. He'd drop down so the rope was between his legs (ouch!) and bounce back up, he'd bounce across it cross-legged, bounce down and land with one crossed leg, then bounce down and land on the other crossed leg. I'd never seen anything like this. I have no idea what he was saying (probably "Christ my nuts hurt") but he kept up the patter and antics for 30 minutes.

Finally, I attended a traditional Korean wedding at the Nobleman's House. Attendants led in the bridegroom under an umbrella while he held a cloth in front of his face to hide it. He was dressed in a bright blue tunic and hat. He knelt down on a large mat at the altar (a table with flowers and fruits positioned under a canopy in the courtyard) and went through blessings guided by a minister in ye olde costume. Then the bride walked out of the house with a female attendant on both arms; they were all made up and dressed in bright gowns, gold thread and cloaks down to their feet. They knelt down on the other side of the altar, facing the bridegroom. There was lots of standing up, kneeing down by both parties, drinking from cups etc. They remained separated by the altar. Then after the brief ceremony, they were joined together. No rings were exchanged. The bridegroom climbed onto a horse and the bride climbed into one of those tiny box carriages on poles, held up by four lackeys. She looked like a hamster in a cage. Followed by the entourage carrying the luggage on their backs, the entire party left the courtyard and kept up the pretence until out of sight and they could all light up their cigarettes. Great photos and another colourful affair.

The Official Korean Folk Village Homepage at Suwon, Seoul

Korean men are pretty macho. Noone drives a small car in South Korea. They swagger around, drink and smoke heavily, cough their lungs up, fight, ignore the wives and generally act like the South Americans of the Orient. A lot of them are big guys too. When I had met Mr Kim and Mr Jeung on the second occasion. I asked if they had told their wives about visiting the War Museum for the first time. "No. Why should we?" said Mr Kim. "We don’t have to tell our wives anything". I told them that in the West, you had to tell your wife everything. "Besides, what do you talk about over the breakfast table?” "We don't. We watch TV" (and this coming from someone married for just 3 years with a baby daughter). Mr Jeung concluded, "I've been married for 16 years. My wife doesn't care anymore what I do!” Strange customs. A lot of Korean women are known to file for divorce right after the honeymoon!

Noone around. I followed the rapidly dwindling trail, and ended up ascending the steep white outcrop, pulling myself up by the branches kind of stuff, standing on the edge looking down at the long drop below and waiting for Sly Stallion to appear from the "Cliffhanger" movie. So I'm thinking, there's no way I can climb up this beast, but eventually I found a small undulating trail around the side through the woods and in and out of cold hollows filled with frozen snow. I ended up climbing a frozen stream and found myself back on the main trail to the highest peak of Bulhansan (837m), 4 km away. It was a stark bare faced, oval shaped, white granite peak which stuck its head up above the leafless forests. Following the crowds of hikers ("Don’t you people have jobs to go to? Its a Tuesday!"), I had to pull myself up by ropes and the handrails that had been hammered into the rock faces. Some of it was quite severe, but the little old ladies gamely clung on and kept going. Finally, I reached the summit, following three climbers. "You are very tough,” one said as he stared at my shorts and T-shirt and then looked at his mates in their thermal waterproofs. More Korean hospitality; they shared their fruit and biscuits with me as we admired the fine views and laughed at the poor schmucks below us.

Photo of Bukhansan National Park

I retraced the route to my diversion and stayed on the trail, following it the newly reconstructed fortification walls. It reminded me of a similar walk in Northern Portugal back in 1991, I passed watchtowers, look out posts, gates in the walls. It was new territory to me and with many trails to choose from and no signposts to my original entrance, I didn't have a clue where I should head back into the valley. I asked a solitary hiker who spoke some English and he suggested that it would be a lot easier to walk out of the park on the western side. So I accompanied him down off the fortifications along a wonderful trail, slippery with thawing snow and finally to a bus stop. That day I spent 7 hours walking and my knees took a pounding. When I met up with Danielle that evening for more Korean pork BBQ in her neighbourhood, I could hardly climb the subway stairs. "You sad bastard" she laughed. "I'd better get the beers in".

That was pretty much my first week in South Korea. Walking the sights of Seoul all day, everyday, and socialising into the early hours with either the Koreans or Danielle. There is plenty to do in the capital. No wonder I was exhausted by the time I left the city and went off to explore the rest of the country.