Asia

Seoraksan trip (part 1)

Our trip to Seoraksan National Park was forgettable–not in the sense that it was uninspiring or dull, but rather that we forgot to bring some important items for our trip.  We accidentally left my son’s stoller at home, for one.  Most tragically, my wife left the extra digital camera battery in our car, and we ran out of battery at the top of Gwongeumseong Mountain after riding up to the summit in a cable car.  We managed to take a few photos of the gorgeous view from the top of the mountain, which I will post tomorrow night.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take pictures of some of the best views in South Korea.  My only hope is that Wade3016, an avid hiker, will want to go to Seoraksan with me when he comes to Korea next year.  I’m more than happy to go back for another visit to the park.  It’s extremely beautiful.  It definitely does deserve a place on my Top Ten List of Things to Do in Korea.  They say that Geumgangsan in North Korea is even more beautiful.  Regardless, Seoraksan National Park is hard to beat when it comes to the beauty of cloistered, jagged granite peaks.
 
We left with my sister-in-law and nephew in tow on Saturday morning.  On my wife’s advice, we took what seemed like the shortest route to the park–highway 46 from Seoul through Chuncheon.  I suggested what I thought was a better route, but she convinced me otherwise.  She agreed later that it was a mistake, and we took another, better route home today.  While the scenery was beautiful, the road had so many hairpin turns that my nephew got car sick and threw up.  I felt bad for him.  Fortunately, my son was a trooper and did just fine.  The route we took passes about as close to the DMZ as you can drive in a commercial vehicle.  In fact, along the way past Chuncheon we passed through several checkpoints and saw soldiers and military vehicles, all on the lookout for elusive North Korean infilitrators.  (I am not sure why it is still an issue–it would seem that the moment any North Korean infilitrator came south, they would be so awed by what they see that they would instantly become defectors.)  Although we took the shortest, slowest route to Seoraksan, we still took advantage of the opportunity to stop in Chuncheon again and eat dakgalbi (spicy chicken and cabbage).  Dakgalbi is still my favorite Korean dish.  My sister-in-law and wife, both "Winter Sonata" Korean drama fans, had a great time strolling down Myeongdong Street, a pedestrian-only thoroughfare prominently featured in the drama.
 
After Chuncheon, we caught highway 46 and ascended into the eastern mountains.  The drive reminded me of the Road to Hana, Maui in the Hawaiian Islands because we made so many tight turns and climbed numerous switchbacks.  The Road to Hana from Kahului, Maui features some 500 turns.  Highway 46 might have even more because it is a much longer drive than the drive on Maui.  Nevertheless, the countryside was very beautiful, rewarding us with some stunning views.  I will post some photos from Highway 46 tomorrow, including one of a beautiful reservoir snaking between the mountains.  Very few people live in the rugged area of Gangwon Province close between Chuncheon and Inje.  It seems to be the least inhabited part of South Korea.  Highway 46 became Highway 31, and then we took a left turn at Highway 56 and drove to the north side of Seoraksan National Park.  By that time, the darkness and rain set in, and visibility descreased.  I drove slowly in a pack of cars along the winding highway bordering Seoraksan, wishing I could catch a glimpse of it.  The dark silhouettes of mountain peaks rose around us.   We turned off Highway 56 before we arrived at Sokcho, a city near Seoraksan on the coast of the East Sea, trying to find the solitary road leading from there into Seoraksan National Park.  I deciphered the small, cryptic map in my Korea Road Atlas and found the right road.  Somehow we ended up several miles south of our destination.  We backtracked and eventually pulled into Kensington Stars Hotel, the main park hotel.  To be continued…

Hooker Hill

I didn’t go to Pusan today as planned.  Instead, I made quite an unexpected detour to an infamous place in Seoul–"Hooker Hill," a narrow alleyway one block south of Itaewon’s main drag.  You can guess why they call it "Hooker Hill."  Yes, work took me there, and no, it is not a place I frequent.  I had to go there to secure some belongings for an American who had been staying there but could not retrieve their personal belongings.  I went with a Korean colleague who helped me with Korean translation.  We found the "hotel," a seedy place set back from the small bars lining both sides of the street, most of which really serve as fronts for prostitution.  Sure, you can order beer there.  But the couches and back rooms give away their other services.  The bars feature a variety of English names, including "Club Friend," "Grand Ole Opry," and "Texas Bar."  "Hooker Hill" is not the only Red Light District in Korea, let alone Seoul, but it is the one most frequented by foreigners.
 
My colleague and I waited on the Hill for a couple of hours until it was late enough for the establishments along the street to open (most clientele come in the evening and at night).  The "ajuma," an older lady who owned this particular hotel was not there when we arrived, and we had to talk to neighboring businesses to find that she usually arrived each night around 6 p.m.  We stood near the top of the hill, looking down at the two-block length of street lined with a hodge podge of bars and brothels featuring dated, kitschy decor.  After 5 o’clock, a couple of the scantily-clad "hostesses" came out of some of the bars to wait at the door for clientele to pass by.  I definitely felt out of place loitering across from the hotel, dressed in a suit, not far from where the hostesses waited.  Military police occasionally wander the Hill looking for GIs who break the rules and go to "off-limits" establishments, so it’s not uncommon to see official-looking people hanging out at the Hill.  I wasn’t wearing a uniform, but I imagine that not too many men who frequent Hooker Hill come wearing a business suit.
 
Sure enough, around 6 p.m. the ajuma arrived.  We talked to her and explained her in a mixture of English and Korean that we were there to retrieve someone’s belongings.  She knew who we were talking about and dug out a couple of suitcases that had been put into storage.  (The American had left behind their belongings and had been absent for several weeks–fortunately, the ajuma had not thrown them away.  I think she was holding them as colleteral.)  The ajuma voluntarily gave us the luggage so we could give them back to the American.  Mission accomplished.  We left soon thereafter with our prize.  The outing gave me a chance to legitimately visit a place that you hear about from time to time in foreign conversations about Seoul.  Most people, especially men, won’t admit to visiting "Hooker Hill," even just to look around, because they don’t want to be accused of impropriety.  My two hours on the Hill, surveying this place, gave me a chance to observe a side of life that is so different from my own.  I really didn’t know what to think.  Men and women, old and young, involved in one of the world’s oldest professions, a carefully orchestrated business where clientele are willing to pay big bucks, and workers are willing to do just about anything to earn big bucks.  Fascinating.

An old friend comes to visit

Darn.  When I woke up this morning I felt much better, but when I went to work I fell ill again with a head cold.  I felt worse as the day progressed.  I feel a little better now, but not much better.  Nevertheless, I stuck it out and stayed at work all day today.  My cubemate told me that I should go home and rest, but I had too much too do, too many fires to fight.  I was still very productive and accomplished as much as I could in eight hours while not feeling well.  I hope I’ll feel better tomorrow.  On Wednesday morning I have to fly to Busan for the day, so I hope I’m better by then.  Because I have a head cold, I’m afraid that the flight, even if it’s a short one, will cause my ears to plug.  When we arrived in Korea from Hawaii last February, that’s exactly what happened.  It took a week for me to completely regain my hearing.  Even now my wife says I’m often hard of hearing, so literally losing my hearing would be absolutely devastating. LOL
 
This weekend a colleague from Guangzhou, China arrived in town to stay for a couple of weeks.  He took the airport shuttle into town, and I picked him up and helped him settle into his temporary digs.  It was great to see him.  We hired in at the same time and went through training together in Washington, D.C.  He is a very jovial guy and rather comedic, the kind of person you want to volunteer to emcee a public event.  He’s also a new father and a bit more somber than I remember him.  It’s either because he misses his family or because he’s worn out from being a new father.  We went to dinner last night at a Korean restaurant, and he tried bulgogi for the first time (best to start out with the tried and true).  We talked a lot about living and working in Seoul and Guangzhou.  I have not yet been to Guangzhou, but I may go there for my next assignment.  He really likes Guangzhou.  He says that he misses Western culture, because Western culture is somewhat limited in Guangzhou.  For example, Guangzhou has an assortment of McDonald’s, Pizza Hut’s, and Starbucks, but other than that, non-Chinese dining is a bit hard to find.  It’s much easier to find Western food, particularly if you have access to a U.S. military base such as Yongsan Garrison in Seoul or Osan A.F.B. in Osan.  He gets his fill of Western whenever he leaves Guangzhou for destinations such as Hong Kong.  He’s very happy to see so much Western fare here in Seoul.
 
My colleague also says that, for a variety of reasons, it is somewhat difficult to meet Chinese locals and that his family spends most of their time with friends in the Guangzhou expatriate community.  I can understand that, because as I’ve previously mentioned, I rarely have an opportunity to get out and meet Koreans here.  Most of the time I either work, stay close to home, or go on family outings.  However, since my wife is from China and I know China well, I hope that my experience in China will be different than my colleague’s experience.  The Guangzhou Western expatriate community, at least those who live and work in the city, is apparently small–much smaller than it is in Seoul.  I believe that most expatriates who visit Guangdong Province are overseas Chinese (Huaqiao).
 
My friend has never been to Seoul.  This morning I showed him Seoul Tower, Seoul Station, Namdaemun (Gate), City Hall, Toksu Palace, the Statue of Yi Sunshin, the Blue House (Korean presidential palace), and Gyeongbok Palace on the way to work.  He thought it was wonderful to see so many Seoul highlights in one fell swoop.  I realized just how compact Seoul really is.  In the span of 15 minutes, we drove past most of Seoul’s famous landmarks.  I live and work around these monuments and have grown so accustomed to them that I forget about their significance.  Take the Statue of Yi Sun-shin, for instance.  On most mornings, I use my line of sight between the Yi Sun-shin’s Statue and Bukhansan, a mountain behind Gyeongbok Palace, to guage the day’s weather.  Much of the time the sky is hazy or overcast, indicating ominous weather patterns.   I rarely recall the historical significance of the statue.  Admiral Yi Sun-Shin is very significant in Korean history.  In 1592, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who unified feudal Japan, invaded Korea in order to launch an assault on Qing China.  Admiral Yi, credited with inventing the world’s first iron-clad ships, known as the "Turtle Ships," was instrumental in driving back the Japanese Navy.  I see Admiral Yi’s statue every day, but rarely do I think about the story of the man and the history behind his statue.  While Seoul is a vibrant, modern city, it is historical monuments such as these that make Seoul even more colorful. 
 
Blog Note:  I added some photo albums from our June trip to Gyeongju and the East Coast.  There are three albums–one featuring Bulguksa Temple and Lake Bomun, one with Gyeongju and Silla photos, and photos of the Korean countryside and seaside.  I’d been meaning to publish them, but didn’t have a chance until now.  Enjoy!